hi there,
my m1330 has the same matshita uj-867s ata drive.
a few months ago it started with bluescreens or a frozen system when putting a cd in. burning cds or dvds (i tried different programms) worked normally, but sometimes i couldn't read out the data from the cd (i tried different drives). then i noticed the "disappearing drive" but couldn't
make out why this happened. thanks to grecinos' post "possible design flaw" i now know when this problem appears.
after getting these problems more often i contacted dell.
by now dell sent me a new hdd - much work (new install, no image), no success.
today a new drive was installed - the problem remains.
i think the whole thing started shortly after getting a new motherboard ( because of a faulty graphic chip).
when did you buy your m1330?
i bought mine at the beginning of 2008 - the new board was installed at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.
maybe the "new" boards have had some changes?
i just informed my dell-tech that there are others with the same problem. hopefully one of his colleagues has a solution.
or one of you?
. I'm not sure what to do at this point... Should I request a 3rd laptop and cross my fingers? 
