Have NEC 6500 for Presario 2800 - it fits, but connector w..

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Just one more reason to call Compaq and get the answer from the original
equipment manufacturer. As you have now found out, all notebook optical
drives are not created equal.

"Leon Willard" <leonwill@pacbell.net> wrote in message
news:zeYCe.6623$NU2.1174@newssvr13.news.prodigy.com...
>I just recived an NEC ND-6500A DVD-RW that I ordered to update my Compaq
>Presario 2800CL. It fits the slot, but the DVD drive connector is smaller
>and mounted on the oposite side. -- I thought all notebook DVD/CD drives
>were the same size and had the same connectors - They don't. -- Bummer!!
>
> My question is: Is there an adapter available to fix this problem? Also,
> my existing DVD-CDRW drive is a Teac DW-28E. Is there a newer, faster
> drive that will fit in place of this one?
>
> Thanks. --- Leon
>
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Did you remove the original connector and fit it to the new drive?"

Actually, that's not possible. They are way too different. Too bad, though.

Leon

"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in message
news:XfWdnaOT1Ma-jEDfRVn-uw@comcast.com...
> Leon Willard wrote:
>> I just recived an NEC ND-6500A DVD-RW that I ordered to update my
>> Compaq Presario 2800CL. It fits the slot, but the DVD drive connector
>> is smaller and mounted on the oposite side. -- I thought all notebook
>> DVD/CD drives were the same size and had the same connectors - They
>> don't. -- Bummer!!
>> My question is: Is there an adapter available to fix this problem?
>> Also, my existing DVD-CDRW drive is a Teac DW-28E. Is there a newer,
>> faster drive that will fit in place of this one?
>>
>> Thanks. --- Leon
>
> Did you remove the original connector and fit it to the new drive?
>
> Q
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Well, the original connector protrudes out the back of the drive and is
about twice as wide as the new one. The new one is on the opposite side of
the drive, is only half size, is internal to the drive case, and appears to
be soldered to the circuit board. There ain't no way.

Leon


"JHEM" <James@ESAD.SPAMMERS.thinkpads.com> wrote in message
news:8pcDe.9506$YD3.4759@trndny03...
> Leon Willard wrote:
>> "Did you remove the original connector and fit it to the new drive?"
>>
>> Actually, that's not possible. They are way too different. Too bad,
>> though.
>
> How do you know until you take it off the old drive?
>
> Regards,
>
> James
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

"Don't assume anything about the two connectors until you remove the
original connector. I can't visualize what you are saying about one
drive having a connector "on the other side", but if the original drive
is a 5 inch slim(line) as is the NEC, then the original connector should
fit the new one over what you see soldered the board and allow the
connection to be made to the laptop."

Have you actually seen the NEC slim drive out of the computer? Or maybe you
haven't seen one like the Teac. Here's a better way of visualizing them:

Take the two drives and place them on a flat surface side by side facing
you. Make sure the bezels are lined up horizontally with each other and the
logos of each are right side up. Then go around and view them from the back.
The connector on the NEC will be on the RIGHT side, enclosed in the metal
case, and will be about one inch wide. Then without moving either drive, and
still viewing them from the rear, take a look at the back side of the Teac.
The connector on the Teac will be on the LEFT side (opposite the right side)
of the case, and will be about two inches wide. Also, notice that the Teac
connector is not enclosed in the case, but instead is fastened solidly to
the back of the metal case. Then try to imagine how you would remove the
Teac connector and get it to mate with the recessed, much smaller connector
on the NEC. -- Like I said, there is no way -- that is, unless you'd like to
try unsoldering and seriously modifying the main board of the NEC to accept
the much larger connector. If that seems practical to you, give it a try. I
kinda think it might void the warranty on the NEC, and won't work anyway.

Leon




> Don't assume anything about the two connectors until you remove the
> original connector. I can't visualize what you are saying about one drive
> having a connector "on the other side", but if the original drive is a 5
> inch slim(line) as is the NEC, then the original connector should fit the
> new one over what you see soldered the board and allow the connection to
> be made to the laptop.
>

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Even though my Compaq notebook is 1.3 inches thick, has a P4 Mobile CPU, and
its Teac DVD-CDRW optical has exactly the same physical dimensions as the
NEC 6500A (except for the larger connector in a different place), it does
appear to be an earlier generation compared to the notebooks sold over the
last year or so.

Since I posted this problem, I've done a bit more 'googling', and found the
site below that sells DVD burners with the 'Teac' type connector -- although
at prices I'm not willing to pay. Notice the location of the rear connector.

The second site below (newegg.com) shows the NEC drive, and a small window
shows the location of the rear connector that appears to be common on nearly
all of today's optical drives for notebook computers.

Leon

http://store.yahoo.com/impactcompu [...] 42069.html

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827152028



"Quaoar" <quaoar@tenthplanet.net> wrote in message
news:B6OdnY2pF-0RRUDfRVn-vw@comcast.com...
> Leon Willard wrote:
>> "Don't assume anything about the two connectors until you remove the
>> original connector. I can't visualize what you are saying about one
>> drive having a connector "on the other side", but if the original
>> drive is a 5 inch slim(line) as is the NEC, then the original connector
>> should fit the new one over what you see soldered the board and allow
>> the connection to be made to the laptop."
>>
>> Have you actually seen the NEC slim drive out of the computer? Or
>> maybe you haven't seen one like the Teac. Here's a better way of
>> visualizing them:
>> Take the two drives and place them on a flat surface side by side
>> facing you. Make sure the bezels are lined up horizontally with each
>> other and the logos of each are right side up. Then go around and
>> view them from the back. The connector on the NEC will be on the
>> RIGHT side, enclosed in the metal case, and will be about one inch
>> wide. Then without moving either drive, and still viewing them from
>> the rear, take a look at the back side of the Teac. The connector on
>> the Teac will be on the LEFT side (opposite the right side) of the
>> case, and will be about two inches wide. Also, notice that the Teac
>> connector is not enclosed in the case, but instead is fastened
>> solidly to the back of the metal case. Then try to imagine how you
>> would remove the Teac connector and get it to mate with the recessed,
>> much smaller connector on the NEC. -- Like I said, there is no way --
>> that is, unless you'd like to try unsoldering and seriously modifying
>> the main board of the NEC to accept the much larger connector. If
>> that seems practical to you, give it a try. I kinda think it might
>> void the warranty on the NEC, and won't work anyway.
>> Leon
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> Don't assume anything about the two connectors until you remove the
>>> original connector. I can't visualize what you are saying about one
>>> drive having a connector "on the other side", but if the original
>>> drive is a 5 inch slim(line) as is the NEC, then the original
>>> connector should fit the new one over what you see soldered the
>>> board and allow the connection to be made to the laptop.
>
> Is the Teac drive a 5.25 inch slim compared to a 5 inch slimline drive?
> There were slim desktop drives for some custom boxes; I'm wondering if the
> Teac drive is one of these? The slimline drives began to appear in mid
> 2002, but there were other "thin" drives in some older laptops prior to
> this that are not the same as the 5 inch slimline drives.
>
> In any event, if the Teac connector is not in the same exact location as
> the NEC connector then there is no hope of replacing the Teac drive with a
> slimline replacement, but only with a drive that matches the Teac drive
> exactly, and if Compaq was still customizing its components when this
> laptop was designed, then an upgrade to a DVD burner might be out of the
> question. If the laptop has USB2 or firewire, or can support a USB2 or
> firewire PC-Card, you can get an enclosure for the drive and use it
> externally.
>
> Q
>