Need to replace my laptop's DVD drive with a caddy but I cant find the correct size of the DVD drive

[Zenith007]

Hey everyone, 
I recently upgrade my main storage from 1TB HDD to a 500GB SSD. It's currently in the original HDD slot. 
Since a lot of my data is in the main 1TB HDD, I wanted to use it as secondary drive by replacing it with DVD drive using a caddy, as the DVD drive serves no purpose to me.
But, I'm unable to find the exact size of the caddy which would fit my DVD drive space, so that I can order one from Amazon and replace it on my own.
Laptop model : HP Pavilion 15-au003tx

I did find out that the drive maybe 9mm thick but almost all caddys that I find on Amazon are either 9.5mm or 12.7mm and I'm not sure if it would fit properly. 

Help please !!!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

All I can say is that chapter 1 of the maintenance and service guide indicates the optical drive is 9.0 mm.

HP Pavilion 15-au003tx Manuals | HP® Customer Support

When you google the part number of the optical drive in chapter 3, the description indicates that it is also 9.0 mm thick.

803929-005 - Hewlett-packard (HP) - ODD SATA DVDSM 9.0mm Tray Puff | Impact Computers

The parts list for your notebook indicates the same...

HP PartSurfer

803929-005

GNRC ODD SATA DVDSM 9.0mm Tray Puff

[Zenith007]

Yes sir, I found the same info. 
But would a standard caddy fit into the DVD bay ? I cannot find out physically as there is no caddy available in nearby computer sales and service shops. 
And on amazon, there is no return for the caddy. So, I have to make the right purchase else its simply waste of time and money.

What do you suggest ? A standard 9.5mm caddy will fit into the 9mm DVD bay of the laptop ? 

[Huffer]

A 9.5mm will not fit in a 9.0 mm bay, There are 9.0 mm caddies but I also could not find one in India. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384553470903?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item59892c4bb7:g:gTkAAOSwLm1dpaUo&am...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/403171179799?_trkparms=ispr%3D1&hash=item5ddedffd17:g:-0oAAOSw1SBhXVgq&am...

I am not a big fan of the DVD caddy solution to extra storage. A drive runs very slow in a DVD caddy and often the devices are not very well made as they are not an official replacement part; kind of a grey market thing. 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I agree with what Huffer wrote.

I also agree with why you want to remove the optical drive, but if you are like me, the minute you did, you will come across a dire need for one. 😊

I had to purchase an external DVD burner to use on several of my notebooks that didn't come with optical drives to install old programs of mine that are on CD's.

Since it appears a 9.0mm caddy will be hard to find, a less attractive alternative would be to purchase a SATA to USB cable and when you need to use the hard drive for storage, plug it in. 

Keep your backups on the drive too.

At least you will be able to use the drive and not have it sit around gathering dust.

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