Hi folks, a friend has a Samsung X10 laptop with a CDRW/DVD-ROM combi drive (SU-408b model) which has failed. Samsung have quoted £200 (nearly $400US) to provide a replacement

The latest available OEM NEC DVD-RW drive (6750A model) is too thick to fit as the original drive is only 9.5mm thick. Can anyone suggest a cheap source for a replacement drive or suggest an OEM drive with similar features that is thin enough to fit? I've searched the web without success.

My mate really can't afford to spend that much on just an optical drive, and the laptop is pretty useless without it

Many, many thanks for reading and any suggestions/advice gladly appreciated

Pete

Hi and welcome!

in what way has the drive failed? Is it possible to use it as read-only drive? If yes, then an external drive might be an option.

Michael

Thanks for the reply - the drive won't read at all now, which obviously means he's in trouble if he needs to reinstall the OS. I guess I'm just asking whether there are 9.5mm drives out there (preferably with DVD writing capability to be honest) that are reasonably priced - they certainly seem to be rarer than hens teeth if my web searches are anything to go by...