I am looking to replace the CDRW/DVD ROM in my laptop. The laptop is a
Compal CL50 with a Compal Slim CD/DVD ROM that registers as a Toshiba
drive. I am wondering what information I will need to replace the
drive. I have looked at drives on the internet and newegg and see that
they are all of the same external dimensions and that the IDE and Power
connectors are all in the same spot. My drive has a small board that
acts as an adapter. It seems that I can use this adapter on a new
drive that I purchase.

My question is this, are laptop CD/DVD drives standardized, to the
point that I could purchase a drive off of newegg and then just connect
the cradle, front cover, and back adapter and have it work in my
laptop? Or are there other things that I will need to pay attention to
as I try and change this drive out.

<bdoggy******.com> wrote in message
news:1167755627.980341.106860@s34g2000cwa.googlegr oups.com...
>I am looking to replace the CDRW/DVD ROM in my laptop. The laptop is a
> Compal CL50 with a Compal Slim CD/DVD ROM that registers as a Toshiba
> drive. I am wondering what information I will need to replace the
> drive. I have looked at drives on the internet and newegg and see that
> they are all of the same external dimensions and that the IDE and Power
> connectors are all in the same spot. My drive has a small board that
> acts as an adapter. It seems that I can use this adapter on a new
> drive that I purchase.
>
> My question is this, are laptop CD/DVD drives standardized, to the
> point that I could purchase a drive off of newegg and then just connect
> the cradle, front cover, and back adapter and have it work in my
> laptop? Or are there other things that I will need to pay attention to
> as I try and change this drive out.
>

Laptop CD/DVD drives standard???

What an absurd notion.

On Jan 3, 12:47 am, "M.I.5¾" <no....@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote:
> Laptop CD/DVD drives standard???
>
> What an absurd notion.

So I take it as a "no" ? ;)

I have taken a few apart and as for the connections and sizes they
seems to be the same, but the front covers don't match up on the two
that I have disassembled and looked at. I was wondering if that has
changed or if the front covers are still a "get lucky" situation.

<bdoggy******.com> wrote in message
news:1167848253.242231.298720@a3g2000cwd.googlegro ups.com...
On Jan 3, 12:47 am, "M.I.5¾" <no....@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote:
> Laptop CD/DVD drives standard???
>
> What an absurd notion.

So I take it as a "no" ? ;)

I have taken a few apart and as for the connections and sizes they
seems to be the same, but the front covers don't match up on the two
that I have disassembled and looked at. I was wondering if that has
changed or if the front covers are still a "get lucky" situation.

------------------------

There have been some attempts at standardisation, but generally, there
isn't.

"M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
news:459cbd50$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net
> <bdoggy******.com> wrote in message
> news:1167848253.242231.298720@a3g2000cwd.googlegro ups.com...
> On Jan 3, 12:47 am, "M.I.5¾" <no....@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote:
>> Laptop CD/DVD drives standard???
>>
>> What an absurd notion.
>
> So I take it as a "no" ? ;)
>
> I have taken a few apart and as for the connections and sizes they
> seems to be the same, but the front covers don't match up on the two
> that I have disassembled and looked at. I was wondering if that has
> changed or if the front covers are still a "get lucky" situation.
>
> ------------------------
>
> There have been some attempts at standardisation, but generally,
> there isn't.

Well the size is right and the connectors are right. The face plate is
almost impossible to match (although I rather have a missing face plate
than a non-working drive myself). Then there is that dang signal select
thing. Some wants master, some wants slave, some others want cable
select. Then some rumors are that some won't work with neither of the
above. :(

--
Bill

They are "semi-standardized", but not enough to make it possible to
guarantee a trouble free swap. The biggest source of problem has to do
with very slight dimensional and mounting issues, and with faceplate
issues. Another factor is master / slave / cable select configuration:
These are set at the factory and are usually not intended to be field
changeable (and these do cause problems, often). There is no good
answer here: Sometimes a generic drive fits and works perfectly, but
other times an EXACT same drive model won't work because the faceplates
are customized and/or the configuration of master / slave / cable select
on retail drives was different than for the OEM models used by the
laptop maker (which also had the custom faceplate).

The bottom line is that you don't know, you won't know, until you
actually try it, or communicate with someone who has tried it using the
exact same drive that you plan to use. And note that "the exact same
drive" includes some parameters (drive select and faceplate among them)
that may not be reflected in the drive model number.


bdoggy******.com wrote:
> I am looking to replace the CDRW/DVD ROM in my laptop. The laptop is a
> Compal CL50 with a Compal Slim CD/DVD ROM that registers as a Toshiba
> drive. I am wondering what information I will need to replace the
> drive. I have looked at drives on the internet and newegg and see that
> they are all of the same external dimensions and that the IDE and Power
> connectors are all in the same spot. My drive has a small board that
> acts as an adapter. It seems that I can use this adapter on a new
> drive that I purchase.
>
> My question is this, are laptop CD/DVD drives standardized, to the
> point that I could purchase a drive off of newegg and then just connect
> the cradle, front cover, and back adapter and have it work in my
> laptop? Or are there other things that I will need to pay attention to
> as I try and change this drive out.
>