For the first time in five years of ownership, I dropped my acer laptop onto the floor (well, it slid off the bed). The side with the DVD-RW struck the ground and as a result, the plastic tab where the screw goes through to secure the ODD to the chassis is broken. Only way I could see to fixing this would be to open the case and install a new ODD (provided I could find a matching one - unlikely given the age of the laptop.

So any recommendations?

EDIT: The brackets can be bought on e-gay for £15, but is it worth it? Are there other places people have used for laptop repairs/spare parts?

If you're feeling very brave or foolish the magic of Araldite on the screw fixing area might work (once)... I take it you're not in the market to upgrade the thing?

I could upgrade it but given that I barely use it much other than for emails, internet, PDFs and the usual word/excel/powerpoint stuff, it's perfectly powered. Runs XP. Runs all the software perfectly fine. I see no point in upgrading until something like the screen gives out.

Part of the issue is I've already upgraded the HDD recently and spent ages reinstalling software. In my student days, this wasn't a problem, but when you're working, you just want to be able to get on and do things rather than tinker.

Will try the glue trick. Failing that, new bracket off ebay and a screwdriver. If I bugger the laptop, I may end up with an alienware/XPS type jobby.

which bracket i have a few ood's lying around .