System is a HP Pavilion ZD8460ea purchased in Dec of 2004. Guys I have another question and to be honest I feel kind of lame asking it because I think I already know the answer. As I discussed in my original post my dead drive is a TS-532M. While you can locate these drives in most cases they are pretty expensive when compared to other options. Once HP puts its brand name on it the price goes way up. I can by the same drive as a Toshiba SDR6572M at about a quarter of the cost. So my question is as long as I insure that the drive size is 128mm X 12.7mm X 127mm and the interface is a EIDE 40 pin connector can I install the drive of my choice? Say I pick up the LiteOn drive that meets these specifications will I have issues with the operating system seeing this drive? The BIOS on the notebook does not identify the drive like it does on a desktop unit. Also will the bezel on my current drive mount on the LiteOn? Next question is a bit out there. I notice that Panasonic has a slot loader the UJ-875. This drive is 128mm X 12.7mm X 129mm. If I have the option of installing any drive I like what issues would I face trying to mount this drive in this notebook? If it were mounted without the bezel would this offset the additional 2mm so the drive would be flush with the edge of the case? Thanks, John
Hi As long as the dimensions match the current drive I think it should fit perfectly (with EIDE interfaces). If you pick the LiteOn it probably would be listed as a "generic cd-rom drive" under BIOS but windows should detect the model etc. As for the bezel; Surely if the dimensions match I don't see why it won't fit but it might look a bit different. Now for the Panasonic, I doubt the bezel will offset the additional 2mm, that's probably a no go.
