[Jacob1733]

My UJ 845e drive just stopped accepting discs and I thought it would be more cost effective to buy a drive for $50-80 than to have a mac service center charge me $100 just to tell me it really is broken.

Is there a compatibility or fit issue with using the UJ-845c?
What models don't fit (835/825)?

Any other thoughts on verifying the drive is messed up or an easier fix (there isn't a disc stuck in the drive)? There weren't any signs of the drive going bad...I just opened it up one day and it wouldn't take a disc (40 days out of warranty).

thanks

[ginoledesma]

Since you're in the market for a replacement, might as well look for an RPC-1 drive for DVD region-free goodness. Other drives Apple has used in the past include:
* Matsushita UJ-815/825/835/835-E/845/845-E/846
* Pioneer DVR-K05

They should be usable in the PowerBook G4 (AlBook) series. Refer to this list of other RPC-1 drives used in the PowerBook line.

MCE Tech also offers SuperDrive upgrades. They list an 8X DL DVD±RW burner for $99 (exclusive of optional upgrade service). I don't know what kind of drive they use, though.