dead cdrom on TI500 - what are my options

[mac2 mail]

I have a TI 500 with the stock CDROM/DVD-ROM drive which has recently 
died.  It will accept a cd then in a few seconds, eject it.  When the 
cd is in the drive, the drive never spins up.  I will probably keep 
this system for another 9-12 months and definately need some type of 
optical drive.  If for nothing else, Panther will be out in September 
and I want to load that.  I feel that I have (2) options:

1. get the drive replaced with another oem drive
2. get an external drive

If I go with option (1), I would not want to send the unit off.  I have 
upgraded the ram in this system and have r&r'ed the oem 20gb drive with 
a 60gb one.  If a person with these skills could replace the optical 
drive, this would probably be a good option.  I couldn't live with out 
my powerbook for any amount of time so sending it off is not an option 
for me.

If I go with option (2), in addition to the cdrom/dvd-rom, I would like 
to be able to burn cdrom's.  It is my understanding that Apple's dvd 
burning software only works with certain dvd writers, so it is probably 
best if I just wait on burning DVD's till my next system.  Also, it 
goes without saying that since I want to load Panther next month, I 
would need to be able boot off this external drive.

What are your thoughts??

Thanks,

Jerry K