Computer help

edited December 2008 in Tech
Hey people who are smarter than I am with computers.

I use a notebook, a Dell Vostro 1500. My DVD drive seems to have stopped working. Last night I wanted to play Bioshock, but when I put the disc in it didn't work. So I tried a few other discs, and none of them could be read. It would keep spinning, occasionally making little noises, but it would never actually read the disc.

So, I'm assuming my disc drive died. Are they easy to replace? Is there anything I should know about them before I try to get it replaced? There are lots of computer hardware stores around here, so I can pick up a new one easily. Do you have a rough estimate, ballpark, of what these should cost? In China a lot of merchants are assfucks and they overcharge me if I don't know what I'm doing.

Comments

  • edited December 2008
    This same problem happened to a guy in my work.
    Are you still in warranty?
    Cuz if you are they'll send someone out to wherever you are and fix it for you free of charge! Dell are normally good enough to fix their fuckups...
    Otherwise i don't know of prices and whatnot...
  • edited December 2008
    He's in China. I'm not sure if Dell's support is international.

    A quick Google search yields varying prices, as low as $39 for a replacement combo drive. Not sure if you have a combo drive or one with DVD-burning capabilities, so that may alter pricing somewhat, but even SuperDrives aren't terribly expensive these days (this one, though advertised for the Mac, would probably work fine on your Dell with the proper drivers).

    Another search shows that it's groin-grabbingly easy to remove said drive. One of the nice things about these sorts of PC laptops is their modular nature, allowing easy removal and replacement of internal components with minimal fuss or disassembly.
  • edited December 2008
    My sister just had this. It was a Vista update that hit some laptop DVD drives. Look to microsoft as there is a fix.

    EDIT: I'm trying to look it up, but if nothing else I can talk to her about it tomorrow.

    EDIT2: I think it happens with XP as well, but before I get carried away you'd want to check your device manager and see if there is a driver installed for it and functioning. It may help to uninstall the drive through the device manager and reboot, thus letting Windows reinstall the drive.
  • edited December 2008
    That could be the problem but sometimes when I insert a CD or DVD that has some media or file not compatible with my computer (like a movie from iTunes I am not authorized to play) then it will not recognize the drive as gone. my suggestion is to check if it is the hardware or software that is faulty before you buy an external drive.