Sager M860tu/NP8660 Blu-Ray upgrade?

Hi guys, long time since I visited the forums. Kinda forgot about them once I got my Sager NP8660 . Now that Blu-Ray has won out over HD-DVD, and many more Blu-Ray movies are available, I'm considering getting a Blu-Ray drive for my laptop. I can get one from PowerNotebooks for less than $200 ("Blu-Ray Read - DVD-CD R-RW drive for Sager NP8660"--http://www.powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=165), or XoticPC offers a Price Match that might work ("X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive"--http://www.xoticpc.com/price_match.php?products_id=1797) Is this upgrade possible, and if so, how difficult would it be to complete? Would the PowerNotebooks listing, specifically for the NP8660, be more likely fully compatible than the XoticPC one?

 

Pretty much any SATA Slim Blu-Ray drive will work. The only concern I would have would be ensuring that the bezels are compatible to have the most aesthetic appeal, I know the NP8660 uses a proprietary bezel.

It's a super easy swap, one or two screws (not sure on this model) and the old drive slides right out. The new drive slides in, the screws go back in. Done.

 

^^ yup.

M860TU uses standard SATA slim optical drives.... which can be found at almost every computer online store... like Newegg.

 

Shadow like you I recently decided I wanted to upgrade my NP8660 to Blu Ray when I spoke to power notebooks I was told I would need to send my laptop in for them to switch the drives. That was out of the question since I live overseas. Based on the advice I got on the subject I decided to buy one off ebay the following is the ebay item I bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260358030217&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

When I received the drive in question I noticed the front cover of the new drive needs to be cut in order for the drive to slide in smoothly...I'm going to check with a local computer repair shop if they can make the slight mod for me. I posted a similar question here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=299572

I will update you on what feedback I will get from the repair shop tomorrow.

The following pictures show my current drive as well as the new drive I just got:

 

Thanks, guys! I'll check around and see what's the best deal I can find.

 

Yukon, didn't see your post until after I had already replied. I saw your thread a few minutes ago. Seem like we're stuck in a similar spot. I'd like to hear how your upgrade goes, as well as your feedback on a Blu-Ray drive in an 8660. I noticed that you bought a Blu-Ray writable drive... cool! I'm really only looking for Blu-Ray read right now, but I'll probably eventually upgrade to a writer. Just the way computers go: get what you can at the time, and upgrade when you can.

 

Shadow that's ok, its been a long road to upgrade the drive. I seriously hope I can post back tomorrow and say it's doable. The thing is it's not as simply as pulling out the drive and putting another one in nor can I find any visible screw I can unscrew to remove the drive.

 

Actually its very easy... less than a min to do... only one screw.

all in the User's Manual.

 

Yukon, I don't know why your Blur-Ray drive is giving you issues, but I think I found what Gophn is talking about. In the ONLINE manual (like on your Driver disc), Chapter 6, pages 11 & 12 (looks like 6 - 11 and 6 - 12) shows how to take out the optical drive. It seems simple enough... again, however, I have never tried it, so I don't know what you're running into with your laptop.

 

Thanks guys for the reference that will be useful when I open the drive however the problem with the drive black door/cover still remains I hope to be able to goto the tech shop in about 4 hours or so.

 

drive bezels are interchangeable.... and usually standard.

you can switch on bezel for another if the notebook uses a different shape.

 

Hey Gophn, that sounds like a good idea. I thought it looked like the bezels could be swapped when I looked in the manual. If I were to use my DVDRW bezel on the Blu-Ray drive, it would be like Blu-Ray stealth mode or something.

 

Ok great news guys I can now say I have successfully upgraded my NP8660 to Blu Ray!
I went looking for a computer tech shop to do the mod I mentioned before, at first I started losing hope since most of the stores I went to turned me down saying they won't risk damaging the drive door by cutting it, then thankfully I found a store whose specialty is Laptop repair! I told him about my situation and he informed me I had it all wrong, you can easily switch the drive door of the new drive with the existing drive door and just quite literally just push it in to place!
Here is a step by step procedure he went through:
1. He proceeded to unscrew the screws on the bottom of the laptop and then opened up the cover on the bottom exposing the insides of the laptop.
2. There was one screw holding the DVD drive slot he unscrewed that and then nudged the DVD drive out.
3. Upon removing the DVD slot he proceeded (with a Philips screwdriver) to remove the DVD drive door/mount by nudging two locks on both sides of it.
4. He removed the mount/door of the Blue Ray Drive and replaced it with the one from the old DVD drive.
5. He then pushed the Blue Ray Drive into the slot and replaced all the screws and closed up the laptop.
6. Vista started up and recognized the new drive and installed all relevant drivers.

Ok it's working perfectly only problem is the old mount button is not working with the new drive. Therefore I need to right click and eject the drive every time. Possible solutions for this problem is ordering the mount/door from Sager for the laptops that are shipping with BD drives installed. Now I don't know if they are willing to sell me that but it's worth a try.
Another thing I need to buy some software to play Blu rays and to record Blu rays. I'm thinking of getting Nero, will update with which one I choose, suggestions are welcome.

 

We [me and Gophn] had been basically telling you that, I guess you just weren't listening.

 

I'm sorry I never knew it was called bezel. As I mentioned above the old bezel's button is not compatible with the new drive. So I guess I need to see if Sager is willing to sell me the bezel for the Blu ray drive they are shipping, and there's the viewing software issue.

 

Hey yukon, glad to hear things turned out well. I'm sorry to hear that you had so much trouble over this. I guess with what Hep! and Gophn were trying to say, it goes to show "how much" some computer shops really know! Sounds like several didn't even know that you could simply switch the bezel covers out (of course, I only learned that a day or two ago, thanks to Hep! and Gophn...)!

 

I work in one of those PC shops, so you can be sure we know what we're talking about. That is, if you're ever in New Jersey

 

you can order a bezel that works and says blu-ray.

just contact a Clevo/Sager vendor and order one through them... remember to specify the drive so that the bezel and button is compatible.

 

I doubt I'll ever be up that far north... I don't mean any offense with what I said earlier; some places that claim to be "experts" on computer and tech stuff sometimes turn out to know less than one might expect, at least in some of my experience. On the other hand, I'll grant that I've got a lot to learn myself, and I've met many people, professional and amateur, who are much more advanced in tech stuff than me. I'm glad that people like you and Gophn are here on NBR, and I'm glad places like NBR are around!

 

I'll probably just get a drive through a vendor, so it'll probably come with the right bezel and all. The best deal I've found so far is on PowerNotebooks. Thinking about buying one in the next few days.

 

Well, I tried to order a Blu-ray drive from PowerNotebooks, but they called me and told me the same thing story yukon was talking about: they can't do it because Sager doesn't want people installing drives by themselves. I don't quite understand Sager's policy, but it looks like I'll just wait a while to get Blu-ray, because I can't afford to ship my laptop off right now.

 

Yeah I was curious when you said earlier you spoke to them and they told you they could sell you the BD Drive. Anyway I linked earlier the drive and the vender I bought my current drive from. He is legit and the item that was sent was as advertised.

Just to be clear however the current BD drive that ships on the NP8660 is the Panasonic UJ-130. Upon doing some research however I found the Panasonic UJ-230 is superior in every way you can burn Blu Rays as well as view them.

Currently I purchased WinDVD 9 ultra that supports viewing Blu Ray viewing but ran into a snag with windows updating that required me to format my laptop. So as soon as I'm done updating all the drivers and everything will update on my thoughts regarding WinDVD 9 ultra.

 

Yukon, how much did WinDVD 9 Ultra cost? Another question... I know the UJ-230 can burn BD discs, but can it read them any faster than the UJ-130?

 

Although I admit not to own a sager I am faced with a similiar upgrade possibility. I can get a compatible Blue ray drive for $260 is it worth upgrading or not?

 

Product Name: Upgrade to PowerDVD 9 Ultra from 7/8/9 previous versions (Download version)
Qty: 1
Price: $69.95

Now your second question is a bit harder. The following are site I found regarding the UJ-230A:
http://www.panasonic-industrial.com/public/eu/en/product-range/8/397/UJ230A.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260358030217&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123

Regarding the UJ-130A:
http://cgi.ebay.com.my/MATA-UJ-130A...rner-SATA_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ350166187653
http://cgi.ebay.com/SATA-Panasonic-...temQQimsxZ20090204?IMSfp=TL090204179007r33331

According to the sites mentioned above the UJ-230A reads Blu Ray 1.6x for video and 4x for data. While for the UJ-130 I got the following:
4X BD-ROM SL Reading
4X BD-R SL Reading
2X BD-ROM DL Reading
2X BD-R DL Reading
2X BD-RE DL Reading

Hope that helps I'm still installing the drivers and programs for the NP8660 hope to be done soon.

 

To answer your question I guess it really depends on your personal preference, I for one own a PS3 and buy Blu Ray movies regularly to view on the PS3 and have started a small Blu Ray library which I know will keep growing. Therefore I saw it as a logical step to upgrade the NP8660 to Blu Ray and paid around $400++ for the drive.

 

Guys I noticed something after installing PowerDVD 9 ultra for my NP8660. Bitdefender has detected Packer.RLPack.D virus in the PowerDVD folder. It classified this as a trojan! Now I got the file straight from the PowerDVD website what should I do?

 

Do you know what drive was used by Sager, ProStar, etc when a 2x Blu-Ray burner was still an option for certain Clevo models (about 6-7 months ago)?

The Blu-Ray burner seems to currently no longer be a configuration option, but I wasn't comfortable investing in a BD-R drive at the time I purchased my notebook (so I went with a DVD drive for the time being). Ideally I would get whatever is the best SATA, slimline, tray-loading BD-R combo drive, but I want to be able to get an appropriate bezel.

 

Unfortunately I am not aware of what drive was being offered by Sager at that time. I can only tell you what is being offered now. If you take a look at the drive I got it's everything you need and more.
Now I'm not sure what model you have currently but if you do have the NP8660 the UJ-230 is fully compatible and the old bezel fits perfectly on the drive it's just the problem with the button.
So what I'm trying to say is in terms of looks the drive looks fine, in terms of functionality you can't use the button. Now I am assuming I can fix this if I order the Blu Ray bezel from Sager. I haven’t gotten around to asking them yet but will update with price and if I get it does it work with the drive or not.

 

I don't what to tell you about this one... it might be a false positive, which sometimes happens in a virus scan. I don't know how Bitdefender works, but is there any way to have it ignore/exclude searching that download folder? Avast! lets you do that in some of its settings.

 

I have the M571TU.