I have recently gutted an old pc. the dvd drive is "ok" but probly far better than what is in the xbox. Is it possible to but it in, and is it hard. I have limited tech know how but can put together a pc and fix small hardware problems. here are the specs Panasonic SR 8583-B (SR-8583-B) Internal DVD Drive Key Features Type DVD-ROM Enclosure Type Internal Read Speed 5x (DVD), 32x (CD) Platform PC Technical Features Tray Qty. 1 Interface IDE / EIDE System Requirements Operating System Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, microsoft windows 95, Microsoft Windows 2000 Dimensions Width 5.75 in. Depth 8 in. Height 1.62 in. Miscellaneous Package Qty. 1 MPN SR-8583-B Product ID 20140752 my problem is that I cannot read dvd +r and have not tried but probly not dvd _r either.
You may be able to fix an xbox drive that doesn't read. If you can ftp into your xbox, go to E:\cache and delete all the files. I was getting dirty disk errors with every game until I deleted those files. If your drive is broken you can get a replacement on ebay. There are at least 2 different brands to choose from. I'm looking at my xbox and I cant see anyway you could fit your drive in one. Hope this helps.
You could go ghetto though and just leave the top of your xbox off with a pc dvd drive sitting on the old drive. I hooked up my dvd drive from my pc to the xbox and was very pleased with the results. To bad they can't read originals!
