Has it always done this? Has it only started recently? Does it read some disks and not others? Which disks does it read, and which disks wont it read?

It's been doing this for about the past year. Sometimes it's able to read some disks, but there is no trend to what kind of disks it reads, it has lots of trouble reading music cd's, video game cd's pretty much

I'd opt for swapping it out, cd/dvd roms are not expensive, 50 dollars will get you a brand new state of the art DVD+-RW/DL which will do everything

sounds good, ya this one's a piece of trash anyways

Mine died recently and I found this deal on the NEC 3520A:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827152039

This was selling for $63.00 around last Christmas, now it's going for $39.99 plus $4.00 shipping.

alright, cool. but does it matter what kind i get? is there some specific kind that will work with my computer or can i just get anything that i want?

It is pretty much a standard, you shuold be able to just R/R it in just a few minutes. There is a data and a power cable that only goes on one way, just don't try to force it. I don't know what your OS is, but if you're running MS Windows your computer should recognize the new device and the install wizard will walk you through it. You will need software with it, I bought the Nero 6.0 Ultra a Ebay for $13.99 plus shipping, not a bad deal! Just take that puppy and pop it the DVD and follow the prompts. You may be able to find a cheaper unit out there, but the NEC has a solid reputation, it is not a POS, and at that price you ain't gonna get took! lol