One of my HP laptops, HP Pavilion dv9650us, went off warranty about two months ago. I was using the machine to help fix another computer's problem when I noticed that its dvd-drive is making loud grinding noises and is slowing down the computer whenever I would access the drive. I suspect that the drive is about to die.

I am not sure how long the drive has been doing this since the laptop is being used primarily by another family member.

I purchased an extended warranty through Office Depot, but that family member cannot afford for that computer to be sent off for an unknown amount of time so I am actively considering replacing the drive myself.

I am looking at drives on amazon.com and unsure if a 'universal laptop slimline drive' will fit. Are the drives fairly universal between manufactorers? The current drive is an HD-DVD drive so I was hoping to upgrade to a blu-ray drive. Is it possible?



FYI: These kind of internal laptop dvd drives are not available from newegg or even frys. I'd rather not buy directly through hp.

www.span.com Found a few laptop BD-Roms there. Panasonic makes the UJ-220 for laptops as well. They are a bit pricey. I would google something like 'Notebook Internal Blu-Ray' and see what pops up for you.