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    M14xR1 - Ordering a Blu-Ray Drive?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by Jazza_C, May 3, 2012.

  1. Jazza_C

    Jazza_C Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey all,

    Now with the R2 out and a Blu-Ray slot drive available, anyone know what part number or device name it is?

    I want to order one for my m14xR1 as I feel it is the only thing that is missing.

    I've called Dell (Australia) and the customer service seem to have no idea, so I'm going to ask you lot for information :)
     
    Jazza_C, May 3, 2012
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  2. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

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    Well you can just get one from ebay, neweggs or tiger direct, It's not like it is require that you must have the same part number as the R2 has, you can just pop in any Blu Ray drive (according to 2 of Dell tech when they came to replace stuff).
     
    CGSDR, May 4, 2012
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  3. Lancer91

    Lancer91 Notebook Consultant

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    Be careful ordering the internal blu-ray slot load drives of ebay.. most are 12.7mm and will NOT FIT. Be sure you get a 9.5mm as that will be the ONLY type that works.
     
    Lancer91, May 4, 2012
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  4. Voodooi

    Voodooi AFK for a while...

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    The slot loads are expensive (like 150-200$ for a reader ...which is the cost of a slide tray burner).

    Get a 9.5mm slide tray one if money is a concern.
     
    Voodooi, May 4, 2012
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  5. Jazza_C

    Jazza_C Notebook Enthusiast

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    But apparently the standard slot Blu-ray drive is 12.7mm - which will not fit the M14xR1. We need a 9.5mm Slot drive.

    As far as I knew there were no 9.5mm slot drives out there at the time but now with the R2 with a Blu Ray option there must be a manufacturer that does it?

    Unless the R2 is re-engineered and uses a 12.7mm drive?
     
    Jazza_C, May 6, 2012
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  6. littlezipp

    littlezipp Notebook Consultant

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    BluRay in my R2 is a MATA DVDRWBD UJ167
     
    littlezipp, May 6, 2012
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  7. Kingofheart4711

    Kingofheart4711 Notebook Consultant

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    My question is: Now that the R2 has Blu Ray does that mean that they made a 9.5mm blu ray drive or did they just reconfigure the optical drive in the M14x to fit a 12.7mm drive?? Anyone know? Id like to install one. I could always get an external I suppose though
     
    Kingofheart4711, May 7, 2012
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  8. ptulluri

    ptulluri Newbie

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    the following information is listed on Dell's website. So it looks like a 9.5mm drive.

    Manufacturer Model Name and Number

    Panasonic UJ167 Ultra Slim Slot BD Combo Drive

    Drive Description

    This drive reads and writes to CD, DVD and BD media (Refer to Specification section for specific media types). This drive has a 9.5 mm slot form factor.

    Special Features Of the Drive

    9.5-mm internal Ultra Slim BD Combo Slot Type Drive
    Serial ATA Interface (SATA) model.
    Supports reading and writing to CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, and DVD-RAM.
    Supports reading to CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and BD-ROM.
    Supports Buffer Under Run Free Recording.
     
    ptulluri, May 7, 2012
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  9. Rogeliocenit

    Rogeliocenit Notebook Enthusiast

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    Rogeliocenit, Aug 4, 2012
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  10. vr6-gti

    vr6-gti Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anyone try installing the Panasonic UJ167 Ultra Slim Slot BD Combo Drive into the M14xR1 yet?
    joey
     
    vr6-gti, Oct 11, 2012
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  11. Hengst2404

    Hengst2404 Notebook Geek

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    I m happy to announce that I purchased the previously mentioned 9mm slot loading blu ray drive for my M14xR1. Cost me 200 dollars, but it was an easy install and the thing works perfectly. Of course to play movies you will need to find or purchase the right software, but the bd-rom stuff works fine. While 100% unnecessary for me, it felt cathartic to finally have a Blu-ray drive in this laptop after looking for so long and even purchasing a useless 12.7mm drive.
     
    Hengst2404, Jan 11, 2013
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  12. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    so I was just checking eBay to see if the price of the 1 BDR drive that would fit a 9.5mm and I found a new model by Pioneer. its the BDR-US01. just bought one so ill let everyone know how it goes once it arrives. it was $140 us after shipping. it looks like it supports more formats (bdxl 3/4 layer) and runs faster than the Panasonic as well. the seller said it was a working machine pull and they have 5. no feedback from one of these yet and I haven't had the best luck with buying components from china, but Ill give it another go for the team.
     
    shnarf, Jan 14, 2013
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  13. PDSway

    PDSway Notebook Consultant

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    Looks awesome, please report back!
     
    PDSway, Jan 15, 2013
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  14. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    So it looks like it gonna be waiting for me when I get home today according to the tracking. I'll update everyone once I get it installed and get to play with it.
     
    shnarf, Jan 22, 2013
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  15. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    well, I got the Pioneer burner and am having some strange issues. it works perfectly so far in my r1, but its does something weird in the r2. It initially was showing optical drive as "not installed" in the bios. so the first thing I did was load the bios defaults to clear out all my OC settings. it showed up and worked in windows 8, but after rebooting it was gone again! again I reset the bios and again it came back till I rebooted! that's when I figured I got a shady- drive, so I threw it in my r1 and what do ya know it works fine so far. I burned a 25GB disc in the r1 and it worked fine.
    I am on A09 and I heard that A10 uses new sata firmware, so I may try updating. I am running a 2xSSD RAID and 16GB of 1866 which may or may-not play into it.
    So for the weird stuff. For starters this drive doesn't exist anywhere I can find in English on Google except the ebay listing for it. Searching pioneer support brings up 0 records. whats even more strange is it is being sold as "not new, fully tested" I thought the recent Panasonic was the 1st 9.5 bdr and if I recall thats only a few months old. so these must have been a parted out machine pull right? well it has a MFR date of 2011 on it!? To top it off it was shipped completely wrapped in like a whole roll of yellow packing tape like it was a brick of blow.
    Maybe it was a pre-production sample that got axed or didnt meet speed specs. I only burned 1 disc, but ill update everyone once I get the BD-RE discs I ordered and update the bios on the r2.
     
    shnarf, Jan 23, 2013
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  16. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    UPDATE: after trying every possible configuration on bios a08, a09 and a10 I was unable to get the drive to show up in the bios and stay. seeing that the bios on the r1 was pre-uefi, I decided to go to one of the pre-uefi bios numbers on the r2. this required a bios blind flash which is a little more involved than a windows bios update. after going to a04 the drive began to show and stay in the bios and now appears to be a solid piece of hardware.

    RECAP: $125+$15s&h for a now solid BD-RE burner that has better specs than the Panasonic uj267 that costs twice as much. this Pioneer BDR-US01 also supports 3 and 4 layer BDXL burning and single layer burning at 6x instead of 4x on the Panasonic.

    I can say im quite happy with it now. I may buy another since the seller has 3 left and I cant find it anywhere else. I feel as though I bought a unicorn that actually arrived and wasn't a horse with a strap-on horn.
     
    shnarf, Jan 24, 2013
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  17. PDSway

    PDSway Notebook Consultant

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    Good job, thanks for the report.
     
    PDSway, Feb 1, 2013
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