Laptop Optical drive replacement - Info required please

Trox

Trox

Trox

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Fife, Scotland
Hi there,

How hard is it to replace the DVD drive in a Sony Vaio laptop? The laptop is around 3 years old and the DVD drive has stopped reading disks.

The owner took the Vaio to the people in purple shirts who said... It'll cost £250 to replace and take 2 weeks, they will also sort anything else thats wrong with it up to a value of £500.

Obviously the guy that served them had a good sense of humour...

Any info on the cost of a drive and how hard itll be to replace is appreciated!

Trox


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I've still to see the laptop
 
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Generally it is 1 screw in the bottom of lappy,pull out old dvd drive,push in new drive,re screw....job done!
Purple shirt brigade don`t know their a** from their e**** and £250 for a dvd drive lol
 
Easy to replace as said.

What model is it? You should be able to find a step by step guide on how to do it

Really dont know how they could say £250 for changing a drive....thats criminal.
 
Be aware that some Sony Vaios have to be stripped down either bottom case off or top case, which is a bit more involved than 1 screw.

The £250 fixed price that they charge includes anything such as mainboards, lcd cpus etc. Its just a single price you pay so theres no hidden charges, yes its a lot for a simple job such as faulty memory or keyboard but for a mainboard replace its damn good value, as it includes pick up return parts and labour.
 
Thanks for the replies guys

The laptop model is Sony Vaio PCG 7G1M

Had a look at the underneath, nothing seem to be there for removing the drive :/
 
Sony machines are generally ******** for replacing parts.

Have you checked under any stickers etc that there might be? Sometimes these screws are accessed by taking off memory port covers etc. However, if my experience serves me correctly, most of the older Vaios that i've worked on it was a case of removing top plastic and keyboard to get to anything. This was mostly for HDD access, but it wouldnt suprise me if the optical drive screw(s) was in there too.

And £250 and 2 weeks from the purple shirts!! That is crazy money and time nowadays. You'd be better off finding someone local (though not a mate of a mate who works out the back of a van, a bit more official should any issues arise).
 
Yeh, some Vaio's need stripping right down which is a pita, and you also need to watch out for the fact that some drive bezels have a different LED, manual eject, button eject layout to what the original drive has.
 
thats the chasis number, is there a model number on the lcd bezel, i think its probably an FS in which case all the screws out the bottom case, memory panel hard drive will need to come then the bottom case comes off and its 3 screws for the cd drive caddy.
 
Ahh ok mate, cheers

The model number its VGN FS415S

Also heres a pic of the underside
back.JPG


I just want to be certain before i start removing all the screws, as its not mine :o

Easy access to the hard drive and memory...
 
Possibility there are no screws...eject tray and gently, i repeat GENTLY pull on the tray ,see if the drive comes out
 
Trox said:
Ahh ok mate, cheers

The model number its VGN FS415S

Also heres a pic of the underside
back.JPG


I just want to be certain before i start removing all the screws, as its not mine :o

Easy access to the hard drive and memory...
Click to expand...

take out all the screws you can see, take the 2 panels off, there is a couple under the ram cover and 5ish under the hd panel, the base should then just ease off, be careful with the wifi switch, you;ll then see the 3 screws holding the cd caddy, remove the caddy and replace drive, but you may find the cd bezel won;'t fit unless you get the same make model drive

hope this helps
 
Thanks a lot guys and cheers for the guide Beermonster! :)

After the Newyear ill phone around a couple of places for the new drive.

Happy New Year when it comes guys!

Trox
 
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