DVD-ROM Issues

Just the other day my Dell Dimension XPS DVD-ROM drive stopped reading CD's. I've tested this with CD-R's, pristine CD-ROM's from different vendors and audio CD's. What's strange is that it still can read DVD's (DVD-R. DVD+R, DVD movies, ect...). I thought it might be an OS issue but it happens in both Windows XP and in Vista.

I checked the Dell support website hoping there would be a firmware update or other help but there was nothing available for my particular model. The only suggestion was to contact Dell to have them replace it but since my system was purchased in 2004 it's already out of warranty.

Rather then pay for a inflated Dell non-warranty replacement part I ended up just buying a new Pioneer DVR-111D 16X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW drive from ZipZoomFly for only $38.99 (NewEgg had it cheaper but they were out of stock). Now I don't need a burner in my PC since I use my Mac for that but I figure I would swap the 8X SuperDrive in the G5 with this new drive and put the Mac one in my PC. I went with Pioneer since that's the brand Apple ships in all their PowerMac's and I wanted no compatibility issues with iLife. Apple doesn't really say on their website what "compatible third-party DVD burner" means.