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[Wicky]

First thing I'd do is calculate the value in dollars then compare repairing with buying a new one.
A dvd-burner nowadays costs 20 dollars. Now if you repaired it successfully in 1 hour, you saved the money, but think about this: Couldn't you have also gone to work and earn 20 dollars? Then you could end up with buying a new burner in the same time. What is more fun to you, spending 1 hour with your dvd-burner or working in your (assuming) office?

The question is, if you loose 1 hour in order to fix the problem anyway, would you rather prefer buying a new dvd-burner than fixing your old one?
PRO buying:
1) You'll end up with a modern dvd-burner w/ fresh guarantee.
2) No random chance of failure with unexpectedly breaking the lens for example, you'll be on your safe path.
3) No unpredictable expenses with buying a 10 dollar DVD-cleaning disc, then breaking the burner and having to buy a new one for another 20$, thus raising the expected cost of repair above the limit!

CONTRA buying:
1) Fiddling around with your old burner increases your skills. You might become a guru in computers!
2) Spending your money on repair tools, like cleaning discs or a real good screwdriver set for computers, will last forever. You could fix future problems more quickly.


Thanks for reading, now do what I would do: Buy a new dvd-burner always. Those original software CDs like games are so expensive, that even 1 corrupted disc because of a broken burner costs the double!