I posted this over at 123MacMini.com and thought I'd post it over here too:
Just installed a Pioneer DVR-K06 DVD burner into my Intel Mini and it's running flawlessly (upgraded from a CD-RW/DVD-ROM). PatchBurn was not required; my Intel Mini recognized it instantly. The DVR-K06 is a drop-in replacement for the existing CD-RW/DVD-ROM (or SuperDrive, if you want to upgrade from that for some reason). It burns both CDs and DVDs, including dual-layer DVDs. Normal DVD burn speed is 8x (non-DL). This is the probably the best slimline slotload drive on the market right now. Here are the specs:
Read speeds:
CD-ROM: 24x
DVD-ROM: 8x
Write speeds:
CD-R: 24X
CD-RW: 24X
DVD+R: 8X
DVD+RW: 8X
DVD-R: 8X
DVD-RW: 6X
DVD+R DL: 4X
DVD-RAM: 5X
Newegg has it for just $74:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827129003
Installation is as follows:
1. Remove the lid (top case)
2. Unscrew 2 screws from each side of the drive (4 total)
3. Unscrew 2 screws from the rear board
4. Pull out from the rear jack and then up and out to remove the drive
5. Swap the 2 pads from the bottom of the old drive to the new drive (soft silver-colored spacer pads; they have some kind of tape-like adhesive on the bottom for sticking onto the new drive)
6. Reinstall the drive and 6 screws
7. Reset the PRAM if you want (I think that's what the button is, it's on the right side of the motherboard near the middle)
8. Test out the Mini for functionality before putting the lid back on
9. Put the lid back on
Pretty simple - pop the lid off, remove the screws, swap the spacer pads, test, and reassemble. OWC has a video tutorial available on their website; the optical drive swap is about 3/4 of the way into the video:
http://media.macsales.com/videos/mini/intel/medres.html
