Thanks everyone. I appreciate the information. I didn't expect more than a 2x DVD out of the stock DRN8080B - it is nice to know it has a better speed rating. I'll save some more $$ for the right drive - good links. I'll share my little story, I posted it on http://www.pbsource.com/forum about two months ago. I haven't done much since. Maybe this will help somebody someday. Any further insight is welcome too. [stats: PB500, 256mb (both slots), 20gb HD, OS 9.2.2, DVD]
I had bought a Pismo 500 through an internal company auction as the business was dissolving. It had problems that noone could solve. The IT dept. couldn't figure it out, the local Apple auth. repair couldn't figure it out - it should have been shipped off to apple but instead it got shelved and then sold to me for dirt. It was labeled as 'software corrupted'. It was two months past the AppleCare purchase expiration (damn). I went through the whole restore/OS & software updates/hardware test CD/etc. but in the end it was to no avail. I was left with a $3500 (originally) laptop that couldn't even boot sometimes. It would play through a whole DVD but then lockup as soon as fullscreen ended. Surf at your own risk - it would lockdown out of nowhere. At most appearances it appeared to be overheating - the PB would heat up, no fan, crash. I cooled the heck out of it but it would still crash so I ruled out the heat. I considered the $400 plus to send it to Apple for their repair service but I don't bend over that easy - even though three months later I still hadn't figured it out. It came to me while I was going to sleep the other night. I have taken every thing out of that machine in attempts to solve the mystery problem but I had NEVER removed the DVD drive! Sure enough, after a boot without the DVD, the machine ran perfectly for 24 hours. I ran Quake3, Unreal Tournament, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, all kinds of websites, Photoshop, Final Cut, etc. and nothing could bring it down. Thermograph registered temperatures (up to 155'F) I had NEVER reached in the past - without even a burp. Putting the DVD back in did not show any problems initially. Within 24 hours the the notebook was reduced to a grey screen, unbootable, unresponsive mess through a series of worsening crashes and lockups. When I went to bed last night it would do nothing on power up except show a grey screen. This morning, I pop out the DVD and start it up without issue. Everything solid as a rock. Q3, UT, TH, and more has shown it is rock solid. I am elated at this confirmation and look forward to constant enjoyment at my now functioning laptop. Now I can spend less time on my PC. I don't profess to know what is going on with the drive. I hope a replacement drive will not share the same problems. Question 1: Can anyone recommend a combo or DVD drive replacement and a retailer? Question 2: Has anyone else had a mystery problem that was solved by replacing the DVD drive? Thanks to all. stein -- G-Books is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- Check our web site for refurbished PowerBooks | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-Books list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-books.html> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-books%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
