I would guess there are many die-hard CD users out there with high-end players that need the optical pickup replacing.
![cd rom reader lens cd rom reader lens](https://c1.neweggimages.com/ProductImageCompressAll1280/A9DCD21111204IWTJ86.jpg)
I would estimate the manufacturing cost of these units to be around three pounds, hence there is a nice wide profit margin for all the eBay sellers selling these. After a few days it arrived from China, and after installing it, the CD player worked! The cost of this mechanism ranges from around £10.00 to £25.00, however I am just a poor blogger, and I do not have twenty-five pounds to spare, so I chose the cheapest one. There are many sellers on eBay selling this. This two-speed pickup adheres to the red-book standard IEC908 where the disc orients horizontally. The direct replacement optical pickup is the Philips VAM 1202 for CDM 12.1. It will not tell you that the laser has failed. If the laser is dead, then the built-in computer system simply tells you that there is no disc in the tray. The reflected laser beam detects the CD in the tray. I was getting the dreaded "TOC READING" followed by "NO DISC" error for every disc I inserted.
#CD ROM READER LENS PROFESSIONAL#
Troubleshooting was not required, because I had cleaned the lens using a professional cleaner and that did not help. Usually visible from a distance in the dark - was no longer present.
![cd rom reader lens cd rom reader lens](https://content.instructables.com/ORIG/F2R/U48B/FJ64CD1Y/F2RU48BFJ64CD1Y.jpg)
When my Marantz CD player stopped reading discs, I knew that the laser had failed, as the faint glow of the laser beam - which was The VAM1201J is a CD player laser assembly ( Optical Pickup) designed by the Philips Corporation, and manufactured in China.