I was using my plextor px-712a for over a year without any problems. Then one day it stopped reading or writing to any dvd media. It won't even read dvd-roms. I get a blinking error code on the drive: 2 orange flashes. Cds can currently be read by the drive but I do not know for how long before those go too. I have read that when this happens with known good media it means the drive is dead or near dead. Unfortunetly, since the drive is 17 months old, it is out of warrenty. Does that mean I have to fork over the $100+ dollars to get it replaced, or will plextor repair/replace an out of warranty drive? Any suggestions on how to fix this problem myself? If plextor won't fix it, I have nothing to lose by opening it up and trying to clean the lense or any other ideas you guys might have.
First try a laser cleaning disk, then compressed air, the calling Plextor. If all else fails, then smash it and purchase a BenQ1655 for $55.
