A Real Cheap Latitude CPx.

Hi Folks:

   While I wait for my dream laptop, I need a laptop
I can take to customer sites to demo a program I've
been working on for the last two years.

   A friend has a machine for me.  A Latitude CPxJ
with a couple of problems.

   The battery won't charge and the CD drive won't
work.  But I can FTP my program to it and that should
be just good enough for my needs.

   But, I'd like to have more.

   First, the CD.  I suspect the problem lies with
the CD drive, and not the system board.  Windows
explore recognizes the D: drive as a CD, and if I
pop the drive out of the bay Windows sees that
there is no D: drive.  But the eject button, on the
drive or in Windows Explore, does nothing.  I can force
the eject by poking something in that little hole, but
no CD I insert can be read.

   I'm ready to drop $75 for a CD/DVD burner on Ebay.
But I'd rather not blow those bucks if the problem
lies with the system board.  So, I was wondering if
anyone in the Portland, Or. area, with a compatible
CD drive in their Latitude or Inspiron, would care
to let me try their drive in my PC.  There's a free
lunch in it for you.  My friend who let me have this
laptop has an Inspiron 8200 with a side mount CD/DVD,
but any Inspiron would need to have the drive in the
front bay.

   If the Ebay sellers are to be believed, these
Dells have compatible drives:

Dell Latitude CP, CPi, CPi A, CPi D, CPi R, CPt, CPt C, CPt S, CPt V, CPx, CPx H, CPx J
Dell Latitude CS, CSx, CSx H, CS R
Dell Latitude L, LS L400
DELL Latitude C400, C500, C600, C610, C640, C800, C810 and C840
DELL Inspiron 2100,2500, 3700, 3800, 4000, 4100, 4150, 8000, 8100 and 8200
Dell Precision M40, M50
Dell OptiPlex SX260 SX270

   Second, the battery.  My friend put the battery
from his Inspiron into the Latitude and it ran.  He
tried replacing the Latitude's battery, but the
problem seems to be in the charger.  I didn't see
anything like this at Dell's site, but did DELL,
or anybody, make an external charger I could use to
charge the batteries?

   If you'd like to help, my email is
larryl_2003AThotmailDOTcom.

                                          Thanks
                                          Larry
.

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