http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=1739738&image=677830044&images=677829835,677829904,677829975,677830044,677830133,677830200,677830262,677830346,677830413,677830489,677830572,677830652,677830732&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0Seller wants way too much money. But it looks curiously similar to the next version.
AFAIK these drives were all made by SONY. the one from SONY, obviously. and the Apple CD 150 and Apple CD 300. and the one from NeXT. they all share the same case and drives.
Thanks Mikeboss! From pictures, it looks like you're correct. The reason this comes up is that I've repaired a couple drives and was looking for a source of more commonly available parts. The apple drives should do nicely. If anyone is interested I've posted a capacitor repair guide on my site:
http://www.asterontech.com/Asterontech/next_cdrom_refurb.htmlAs usual, probably 90% of the drives have failed in this way.
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Brian
That's so cool. I don't think I've ever seen the external version of Sony's CD drives from that era.
I can confirm that if you manage to snag an Apple external, it's pretty much identical to the NeXT drives.
I took apart an AppleCD 300 today. I can confirm that the case is 100% identical to the next with the exception of the color. So if you need a power supply or feet this is a good place to get them. Unfortunately the drive itself is not a 100% match. I was hoping it would be a simple faceplate swap, but there are distinct physical differences that will make that impossible. The logic board also is not compatible. Luckily the part I -did- need, which is the laser assembly, is identical between them. I was able to remove it from the Apple drive and swap it into the Next and now have a working drive. On the Next drive there is an access panel on the bottom of the drive which makes the swap easy, but the apple drive is a full tear down to get to. Luckily I don't care about reassembling the apple drive.
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Brian
All,
I just opened up an appleCD 150 tonight and I can confirm that it is a 100% match for the Next drive outside of the color and branding. You can swap the faceplate over with no problems. The internals of the drive also have the same part numbers and layout.
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Brian