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General discussion

installing dvd rom drive advice

Oct 17, 2006 8:35AM PDT

HI,
I want to install a dvd drive into my PC. I have a dell dmension 4300 pc and am looking at a cheap dell DVD combo drive (Model GCC-4481B) from eBay.

This pc is my old one and I need the dvd rom to install vista beta.

My question is: is installing a dvd drive pretty much like installing a hard drive ? Are they just 'plug n play' with xp ?

Any advice appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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Yes!
Oct 17, 2006 8:37AM PDT

I hope you get at least the combo DVD/CDRW so you have some other backup device. Remember that just because you have a DVD drive doesn't mean you can play DVD movies. Many discover that later.

Bob

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how to play dvd's ?
Oct 17, 2006 6:29PM PDT

Thanks for the tip, so if I did want a dvd drive that played movies, what would I need ?

If I went for a dvd writer combo, any suggestions ? I'm just after something cheap andeasy to get going for now and preferably compatible with my dell.

Thanks fro the advice.

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DVD Player Software.
Oct 17, 2006 10:43PM PDT

There's many out there like PowerDVD and so on. For non-protected DVDs VLCPLAYER will do in a pinch.

Bob

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Yup....installing is easy
Oct 17, 2006 12:47PM PDT

Good selection, pricing, service at Newegg.com. NEC 3550A is pretty decent ...I've got a couple of them.

Let us know how it works.

VAPCMD