topic Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive in PCs & Accessories

XL201 - replacing the cd drive

pasquir79 — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 18:48:42 GMT

Hi all

My XL201 has another problem...

There is a CD stuck in the drive. The XL201 has a front-loading CD (ie where the CD slips in, rather than opening a tray). It appears to be a mechanical fault in the drive unit.

I spoke to Vaio customer services and they are happy to investigate and fix the problem - at a minimum charge of £140 (!!!!!)

I asked them whether buying just the drive is possible, and they said no.

I can't really afford this and clearly it might cost much more than £140. Does anyone have any ideas - can I buy this drive elsewhere?

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

rsebre — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:12:15 GMT

Hello,
I understand your problem here,
My best advice is have sony done any previous repairs?
If so you may be entitled to the repairs being service for free.
If SONY has done a repair, then the item they repaired is entitled to a 6 or 12 month warrenty.
Unfortunately you can not take a VGX-201 in to your local computer shop as they couldnt get parts for it anyway.
SONY have the only supply of parts, from the custom motherbaord to the matshita drives, which is an annoance. I woudnt pay £140 for it to be repaired, buy an external USB2.1 cd/dvd drive from amazon you will save a packet and I know it will work.

I have had sony repair my VGX-201 5 times now and its up for collection this wednesday again too.
Since its purchase sony have repaired it 5 times - 4 new cd/dvd drives and 1 new motherbaord. Each repaired part is entitled to 6 or 12 moths warrenty. Mine is out of warrenty, and now refuses to burn DL DVD's again, but luckly sony only under a month ago gave me a new drive, which is now faulty, so entiltled to a free repair.

I have wrote it several times on these forums, in future dont buy a sony branded pc, as the parts are impossible to get and thus your stuck with that £140 bill every time something goes wrong.

Another idea is that you can get a VGX-201 (the same model youve got) from ebay now for under £100 delivered, buy 1 and salvae it, youd get another 2x 512 (1gb) of memory, your replacement cd/dvd drive and another graphics card all from it which will intergrate seemlessly into your media center pc, and it cost a hell of a lot less than sony doing it for you, its easy to do and there are even guides on how to do it on here.

Well I hope any of these ideas has helped and some sort of result is had in your case.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

andysp5 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:40:06 GMT

You can get after market drives, but they are scarce. There is the Panasonic UJ-210 and 220 which you occasionally find on eBay. I am also looking at the Sony Optiarc 5500 which you can get at dabs.com.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

pasquir79 — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:15:32 GMT

Hi Andy,

Many thanks for your response - much appreciated. The Sony Optiarc 5500 looks good - particularly as it's cheap! One further question on that front - do you know which size drive fits in the unit? I've had a look and it's available in quite a few sizes so I just want to ensure that it fits into the Vaio.

Thanks in advance,
Paul

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

andysp5 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 17:29:02 GMT

Hi Paul,
I accidently misled you before, it's the 5600 you want, not the 5500. The 5500 is a tray loader, the 5600 a slot loader. I think they are both 12.7mm height which is the height you want. Please check on that though. PS, I can't find anybody selling the 5600 yet!

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ChalkyWhite71 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:03:11 GMT

Hello Andy/Paul,

I am also looking to replace the DVD combo drive in my XL201 with a blu-ray slot loader. Sony OptiArc in Europe have told me;

The Sony NEC Optiarc BC5600S is available from the following distributors -

CCi Distribution
Bell Micro
Ingram Micro
VIP
Ezyinfotech

I have left a message with CCi, and will report back how i get on.

Cheers, Tony

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

pasquir79 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:03:22 GMT

Hi Tony,

Many thanks for your post and the info - did you get any joy from the suppliers which Sony recommended?

Cheers, Paul

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ChalkyWhite71 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:03:34 GMT

After a local Reading retailer said that they don't infact stock the OptiArc product range, i went back to the distributors VIP Computers to ask again who else may be available within the UK. Waiting for a response.
Toyed with getting a PS3 instead, but reminded myself that i'd like all my media exploits within the one box solution, and the Vaio is pretty good at games anyway, e.g. GTR2 with a Logitech wheel! 😉

Will update this post when i get more news.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 19:51:08 GMT

Just a little warning about the BC-5600s drive - it has SATA data and power connectors. The standard drive in the XL201 (and others in the VGX series) has a 50-pin laptop ATAPI connector. However, the data connection is actually converted to SATA using a small converter module attached to the rear of the drive (power is obtained from the motherboard via a custom floppy power connector).

Therefore the BC-5600s should in theory work using a direct SATA data connection. Power would have to be obtained from one of the SATA power connectors. The XL201 has three of these so as long as you don't have three hard drives you will have one spare.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

pasquir79 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 21:58:38 GMT

Hi guys, loads of great info, many thanks for your continued endeavours and Tony, good luck with VIP Computers.

Cheers, Paul

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

andysp5 — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:17:43 GMT

IT-Troll, your comment about the 5600S was a little confusing. You say the current drive uses an ATAPI connector, but this is converted to SATA on the drive itself? You mean the current drive already has this converter on as standard?
So the 5600S needs a SATA data connection, so where does this come from? Do we have to buy a converter for ATAPI to SATA data cable?

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 12:34:37 GMT

The factory drive has an ATAPI to SATA converter module bolted to the back of the drive. This is then connected to the motherboard board using a standard SATA data cable. So you should be able to use this existing data cable direct with the 5600S as it has native SATA.

However you would have to use one of the SATA power connectors rather than the floppy-type connector that the factory converter module uses.

Hope that is clearer. If not, crack open the lid and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

pasquir79 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:32:36 GMT

Hi all,

Well, it looks like the 5600 is starting to be widely stocked , although it's not cheap. What I will probably do to quickly resolve the problem is to buy a standard SATA DVD-Rom (something like this ) and plug it into the socket currently occupied by the OEM DVD-Rom and leave it hanging out of the case for the infrequent times that I need to run from it. It's a temporary £10 fix in advance of the permanent £200 one.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:24:39 GMT

I've got a 5600S on the way, they turn up on eBay for around £100.
I'll let you know how I get on...

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:40:39 GMT

Received my 5600S but have hit a snag. Although the drive has a standard SATA data connection it does not have a standard SATA power connection. It has what is known as a slimline SATA connector. A converter cable is available but it is intended for use with a molex power connector - of which the XL201 has none. My plan is to get one of these anyway and try to modify it to work with what is available...

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ChalkyWhite71 — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 12:15:19 GMT

Sorry i haven't followed up the lead from VIP Computers. I've discovered that Blu-Ray discs are still far too expensive to buy, and will wait until they drop to a tenner or so, before investing in the drive.

I appreciate renting BR discs is probably better value.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

andysp5 — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:15:36 GMT

Got my 5600S and as quoted previously, it has a Slimline SATA connector.
Now I already have a FloppyDTV card in my XL201, and for this I bought a SATA Power to Molex power converter.
So for the 5600S, I am going to buy one of these Molex power splitters, and then use the following connector in the back of the 5600S:

http://www.span.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=22745&source=gbaseuk&currency=GBP

I will let you know when I have got it hooked up and working (or not working).

One more question: I understand MCE does not support Blu-ray. Correct? If so, when I install this drive and I play a normal DVD, will it still play through MCE? And then when I play a Blu-ray DVD, what will happen? Will I have shut down MCE and play the DVD through some other software? What happens on XL202's?

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:52:59 GMT

Just a quick note to say I now have the 5600S fitted and working in the XL201 using a modified converter cable. I will post a full account tomorrow.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ITTroll — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:57:44 GMT

One more question:  I understand MCE does not support Blu-ray.  Correct?  If so, when I install this drive and I play a normal DVD, will it still play through MCE?  And then when I play a Blu-ray DVD, what will happen?  Will I have shut down MCE and play the DVD through some other software?  What happens on XL202's?

Correct, no native support for Blu-ray in MCE. DVDs and CDs will continue to play OK but you will need some other software to play Blu-ray. The XL202 comes with WinDVD, but Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater is a better choice as this fully integrates with Media Center.

Re: XL201 - replacing the cd drive

ChalkyWhite71 — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:43:56 GMT

Thanks guys, wouldn't mind the parts list, suppliers and install instructions if you get a moment, anything that isn't already in this thread. Cheers, Tony