Q: Should I Repair My CD Player or Repair My DVD Player?

A: I often am asked where a good place to get hardware repaired.  My opinion is, in this day of "disposable hardware" - I recommend you just buy a new one.  Almost any PCI card or storage device can be purchased brand new for less than the price of having one repaired by a technician.

Head to your local big box retailer, or check out Tiger Direct or eBay and you'll surely find what you're looking for. 

Typically, I check eBay for a replacement. It should be easy to install yourself. You may just have to go to the computer manufacturer's support site and look at their repair manual to figure out how to disassemble the laptop, but if you're at all technical it shouldn't be too difficult. (I do it for clients all the time.)

At eBay, just search for <Your manufactuer & model> DVD Drive - you'll be surprised how inexpensive it is. e.g. "Dell Inspiron 6400 DVD".

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