I broke my DVD/CD burner!

**Plumtreed** · August 15th, 2009

I have a Acer Aspire 5315 laptop, this Sunday morning I pulled out the DVD that had been in the 'burner' when, with a crack, the centre spindle assembly fell apart. Black bits of plastic and tiny springs fell everywhere. It was the portable, laptop type that locks the DVD or CD into place. I have never been confident about the strength and ability of this spindle but they seem to be used in most laptops.

Has this happened to anybody else?

To fix this do I have to replace the whole burner assembly or is it possible to replace just the black plastic bit?

**BloGTK** · August 16th, 2009

My guess is that you'll have to replace the whole assembly, but it's probably something you can do yourself. I've seen laptop CD burners typically running from about $80. My guess is that you'd just have to connect it to the SATA or IDE cable and screw it in.

**Blacklightbulb** · August 16th, 2009

If this happens regularly maybe you'll find replacement parts (replacing only the spindle). Otherwise you can try to search for second hand replacement parts if that's a popular laptop.

**Plumtreed** · August 16th, 2009

Thanks Blog & Black, I am surprised that I haven't had replies from other people with similar experiences.

I didn't treat this thing roughly it just seemed fragile to start with and doomed to fall apart some day. I expected to hear from people with real experiences and real solutions to sorting it out.

I have noticed that the spindle on other devices seems more robust and able to withstand the normal use that would be given a DVD/CD drive. We have a couple of CD players designed to be used when jogging and they appear to be of much sturdier stuff.

Anyhow, I might 'ferret' around the electronic shops to see what I can find.

**Redache** · August 16th, 2009

It depends on your Laptop. Some have Integrated DVD Burners that can be awkward to get. Stories like this make me glad my Dell has a Slot Loading (although there's obviously some cons with this method as well).

Good luck on finding a replacement.

**gletob** · August 16th, 2009

Originally Posted by Redache

It depends on your Laptop. Some have Integrated DVD Burners that can be awkward to get. Stories like this make me glad my Dell has a Slot Loading (although there's obviously some cons with this method as well).

Good luck on finding a replacement.

Yes some drives are easy to replace and some are awful.

Just wondering: Is there a way to manually eject a slot loading drive?