[skamal4u]

Just Placed order for Dell Mini 10V as my dell vostro 1500 system board is completely dead , i dont want to invest much now on a external DVD drive .. is there a way to use the DVD drive from my dead vostro1500 as a external drive for 10v ..please suggest enclosure if any or some cheap DVD writers

[holmes4]

The connections for internal DVD drives are not standardized. If there were an adapter, it might cost as much as an inexpensive external drive.

[reflex]

Originally Posted by skamal4u

is there a way to use the DVD drive from my dead vostro1500 as a external drive for 10v

Probably. Try searching for "slim optical enclosure".

[MarkProvanP]

Remove the ODD from the Dell Vostro and check what kind of connection it has. If it is two L-shaped connectors, then it is SATA. If it is lots of pins (about 44) then it is PATA. Unfortunately, unlike SATA, PATA has different connectors on notebooks compared to desktops. You can get little adapters which turn notebook PATA into desktop PATA, but the best bet would be to get a slim-DVD enclosure. Here is an example:

Slimline CD/DVD enclosure - Storage Depot

[Toasty]

Originally Posted by holmes4

The connections for internal DVD drives are not standardized. If there were an adapter, it might cost as much as an inexpensive external drive.

Actually, they are standardized, either between IDE or SATA. IDE drives have a 50 pin connector, it's somewhat of a rectangle shape. SATA drives will have 2 flat connectors side by side, one for data and one forpower.

That being said, from what I can find on Google and Ebay, the Vostro 1500 drives are IDE.

I just did this same thing with an old drive from a laptop -- I bought a slim external cd/dvd enclosure from TigerDirect/CompUSA like this one -includes the enclosure itself, a replacement universal bezel for the drive (works with most drives, if you need it) and 2 usb cables - one for the data/power, and one for additional usb bus power if needed. all for $20 bucks. (I live near a retail outlet, so no shipping) you may be able to find one for less on ebay, but who knows what you'd end up with.

all in all, it's a pretty easy solution.