Dead(ish) Superdrive.
 

Damned DVD burner won't burn anymore due to hardware failure. For those curious it's the 'Unable to calibrate laser for the media' error.

Anyways, I'm looking for suggestions on where to get a DVD writer that'd be compatible with a Mac Mini. They seem quite expensive, and I was hoping that someone might know a relatively cheap way to get one.

This has to be a drive suitable for internal use, I know I can get a 5 1/4" one for cheaper, but I want the slot loading laptop style form factor.

Thanks in advance.

You'll want to check the physical height of the drive that's in your Mac mini at the moment, since there are two standard heights for laptop drives, and you don't want to buy one that won't fit.

I'm assuming if you're asking here, that means you've already run out of your first year of AppleCare (and didn't purchase the three year warranty in the first place—bad move). If that's the case, just crack open your mini and see if the drive you have now still has a manufacturer/model number on it. Heck, open your System Profiler (Apple > About this Mac... > More Info...) and go to the ATA section to check that info. If you can find that out, you may be able to find a place online to buy the same part for a decent price.

Thanks for the reply

Even if I bought a full priced better drive than the machine shipped with, it'd be cheaper than having bought the extended warranty.

I don't know anywhere that'll sell the Matsushita UJ-835f that it shipped with. If anyone knows a decent place to buy a similar drive like a Pioneer DVR-K06, for a good price that'd be great.

Still waiting to talk to Apple about what they can/will do about it, but I figured I'd check into the DIY aproach ahead of time.