On Sale in Japan...

[Black Aeronaut]

An External Blue Ray Burner/Multi-Burner... measuring measuring at 127mm x 154mm x 20mm and weighing only 330 grams.
This article's a bit old, of course... the price is already down by about USD100 - I know because I just got back from looking at one at a Yodobashi's.  The only reason why I'm not buying one right now is because it's not region free, nor do I know how to make one so.  I have yet to see a similar American product in that form-factor.  Although, Panasonic is said to have had, for a little bit, an internal model for notebooks.  Damned if I can find one, though, and it's not as fast as this one.

[Wiregeek]

bet ya a buck there's a laptop drive in there.

Also,

http://www.newegg.com/Pro...spx?Item=N82E16827118037

Also,

http://www.newegg.com/Pro...100600&SpeTabStoreType=1
"No can brain today. Want cheezeburger."
From NGE: Nobody Dies, by Gregg Landsman
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5579457/1/NGE_Nobody_Dies

[Rod.H]

Yeah, that's definably a laptop drive in an external enclosure. It's amazing where they can pop-up, 1U rack-mount servers, inside self-service checkouts, ATM's, cash registers, sat-navs, Mac mini.......

--Rod.H

[Black Aeronaut]

Re: http://www.newegg.com/Pro...-RSSDailyDeals-_-na-_-na

GAH!? (O_o

I *LOOKED* for these damn things on Newegg! How the heck did you turn one up?
ETA: more importantly, how do you set the region code to '0' on the damn thing...

[Bob Schroeck]

Hm. I still haven't replaced by DVD burner yet -- maybe I should get this.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

[Rod.H]

Re: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... -_-na-_-na

GAH!? (O_o

I *LOOKED* for these damn things on Newegg! How the heck did you turn one up?
ETA: more importantly, how do you set the region code to '0' on the damn thing...

Supposedly on the blu-ray side the region coding should be fine for you, as for the DVD side..... I'd suggest looking in the firmware groups that work on those things.

[Black Aeronaut]

Okay then. I got a system worked out now where I first go to such a firmware place, look up the models of the BD Drives they have firmwares listed, and then do a Google-Shopping search. From there, I know that I must ensure that it is a notebook-type drive and that it has a SATA interface.
One final question: has anyone here had any trouble with changing out a notebook's optical disc drive? Any issues with physical (does not fit in slot), hardware/firmware (does not talk to computer), or software (drivers do not play well with others) compatability?