Problem with playing CDs

[Michael22]

I've been playing some music CDs on my IBM T21 Thinkpad using iTunes & a Matshita DVD-CDRW device. I'm noticing that the spinning sound is a lot louder. a little like driving a car at 20mph in first gear. It used to. . . & at times still is. . . quieter.
I tried a different device, & it was a lot quieter. Like what the Matshita used to be like. I'd just switch, but the Matshita can write CDs while the Toshiba can't.
Any thoughts?

[Patonb]

Your drive is going. Thats why it's good idea to run a cheap drive for everyday use, and a dvdrw for burning.

As it's a laptop...... get use to it.

[bob clark]

Your drive is going. Thats why it's good idea to run a cheap drive for everyday use, and a dvdrw for burning.

As it's a laptop...... get use to it.

Hi Michael22,

When I first ordered my current Thunderbox PC, to keep the cost down I only chose to get a single Sony CD/DVD burner. But upon quick reflection I called the company the very next day and ordered an additional CD/DVD (read only) player so I could burn CDs and DVDs on the fly. Their CD/DVD player only cost 30 bucks (and you can buy them elsewhere for as low as $18) and it's always nice to have a backup optical drive. Lately I've noticed the player skipping a little bit while playing mp3s on it. It may have been a bad CD-R disk though so I'll need to do a little testing on it. It plays all of my other CDAs perfectly.

I don't believe you can put two optical drives in a notebook.... only a second external optical drive.

Like Paton wrote, when they start getting loud and/or making a whirring sound it's time to start thinking about replacing it. Just like a hard drive, when they start whirring or getting loud it's usually time for a replacement. Since it's in a laptop/notebook it's more subject to "going bad" because optical drives like hard drives are fairly delicate mechanical devices and a single jolt can put a hurtin' on them.

You should be able to replace it yourself especially if it's not still under warranty. The bad thing about laptops/notebooks or your IBM T21 notebook in particular is that replacement parts are usually proprietary so you don't have the options of shopping around for different brands of CDRW-DVD combo drives or whatever component so you'll be paying quite a lot to replace it. Since I don't know your exact model# I can't find the exact replacement drive but it appears as though a new one will cost you around $115-$200..... HERE'S an example (http://www.compu-america.com/ProdDisplay.asp?CatID=0&ProdID=253202&ExportID=5) of one that may fit and work with your T21. There are at least 3 different T21 series of notebooks so I can't know for sure. I've seen many refurbished T21 series CDRW-DVD combo drives for $59 and above (only 90 day warranty!) but I wouldn't buy one. Too many very fine mechanical parts that could have been damaged and not recognized when they fixed them.

The Matshita is actually a Panasonic product built by Matsushita. Or built by Matsushita and labeled Matshita for Panasonic.

If you have a desktop the odds are that you can choose from many different manufacturers and buy a CDRW-DVD combo drive for $30 or less. There are perhaps certain proprietary optical drives from PC manufacturers such as Dell or Gateway but you can usually get around that if you check out the Support forums of these manufacturers and "talk" with people (customers) who are "in the know".

You should probably give IBM Support a call at the number below and find out what's up. I wouldn't recommend emailing them... ya usually get a computer generated generic reply that's just frustrating. :) Their website sucks as far as finding replacement parts.... especially CDRW-DVD combo drives but you can try to HERE (http://www.ibm.com/support/us/). I don't why they make it so difficult... maybe they want you to send the whole Thinkpad back to them so they can do the replacement work then charge you an arm and leg for the service... and we're already lacking in the working limb department. :) But it may be easier if you have your individual "Product Number" and search via that, I don't know.

General information: United States
IBM North America
1133 Westchester Avenue
White Plains, NY 10604
United States

Tel:
Toll Free: 1-800-IBM-4YOU
(1-800-426-4968)

E-mail:
askibm@vnet.ibm.com

Web site:
www.ibm.com/us/

Shopping: United States
Tel: Toll Free: 1-888-SHOP-IBM = (1-888-746-7426)

Technical support: United States
System Service Contacts

IBM hardware, software, and systems support
Phone # 1-800-IBM-SERV = (1-800-426-7378)

Good luck Michael.

[Patonb]

Following wht Bob said I checked ebay and Stinkpad drives:) (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=IBM+T21+Thinkpad++dvd+drive&category0=)

If yha got hands, it's fairly straight forward to change.

[bob clark]

Following wht Bob said I checked ebay and Stinkpad drives:) (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=IBM+T21+Thinkpad++dvd+drive&category0=)

If yha got hands, it's fairly straight forward to change.

I'm always afraid to recommend eBay to anyone for fear they may get ripped off. But I finally took the plunge myself a few months back for a used replacement for my Alienware's PSU. I got it for $10 plus $10 for S&H. Not a bad deal to resurrect my old Ali and the transaction went very smoothly.

And they have quite an assortment of compatible Thinkpad T21 series optical drives and they're a lot cheaper than I thought they would be. Seems as though many Thinkpad models use the same model optical drives. One or two of them are DVD burners as well.... so that's cool. But read about them carefully. Some are refurbished and kinda masquerade as new, some are new and some are used.

And check out the past ratings from whoever you decide to buy from. I still think eBay is the biggest "legalized" fencing operation ever to grace the planet! A bunch of crack addicts selling stolen stuff. I'm just kidding.... probably 95% of the stuff sold there is legitimate.

[Patonb]

Yha, Ivebought off ebay a bunch, especially odd computer parts for older machines. network cards, laptop MB, keyboard and more.

Trick is to do alittle research into the seller, stay away from asia, india, africa, and TRIPLE CHECK SHIPPING.

I try to buy in Cda, but also US. Had 1 issue, but it was my fault.

[Michael22]

Hey PatonB & Bob--
Thanks for all your input!
I bought my T21 on eBay in mid-2004 for $450 & I have been very happy with it. But the $50 or more that a CD-RW/DVD drive would cost I'm thinking of using toward an upgrade.
I really like the IBM black look with the rubberized top. I mostly use it for email, iTunes, watching DVDs, & of course the Net. no games.
I've been browsing Craigslist for T40 series offerings.
Then I saw PN post info on a new Lenovo from Office Depot for $650.
Do you see much difference between Windows XP Pro & Home?
Also is Word Perfect included in either of the above Windows offerings?
I didn't see it in the specs of the Office Depot Lenovo 3000 N100.
Again, thanks! -M22

[Patonb]

For the average user, XP home is just Duckie. Word perfect usually isn't included with something unless it's specifically advertised.

[PN]

I don't recall using Word Perfect (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl=en&btnG=Search+Froogle&q=WordPerfect) (use MS Office) but AbiWord (http://www.abisource.com/) and OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) are Free.