My PHILIPS DVD+-RW DVD8801 cannot read any types of cd. Whenever i insert a cd, it reads it as a blank cd even if it's not but when i try to burn something it says that the cd is blank. Can this be caused by a dirty lens? Or is my drive already crashed. I checked the device manager and it says that there is nothing wrong with the drive. I have a dell dimension e310 desktop with windows xp.

DVD drives has from two to four lasers. The read and write lasers are different components, so one can burn out while the other remains good. DVD drives are among the most failure prone items in all computers. Philips is one of the more reliable brands.
If still under warranty, get it replaced. If not, you will find new ones on eBay for about half the price of the ones sold by Dell... $59 to $89 plus shipping. Follow the reselleer ratings closely as there are a lot of bad used ones at eBay. Be sure it is new, and by a seller with a high rating.

Best place to buy DVD Burners http://newegg.com. Highly reccommended, I've used them many times and never had problems. For example here is a Sony/NEC for $34 incl shipping http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827152079

My bad. I mistook the DVD model for a laptop computer model. The eBay choice is only good for Dell laptops.
For Desktop DVD drives, Wal-Mart and Best Buy are as good as any... LG, Lite-On, and Pioneer. but avoid their Sony, HP, and unbranded HLDS.
The New Egg Sony/Nec requires a firmware upgrade for most systems and has an early failure rate. Which is why NewEgg is unloading it at a low price with free shipping.

They are not unloading anything.. I use an NEC ND-3500A (16x) DVD burner with easily over 1500 burns and it's still going.. Maybe their quality could have down after they merged with Sony but the when I bought my NEC drive it had very good ratings and like I said it's still going. As for the notebook drives, Newegg also sells them as "slim" DVD burners.. LG is good as well just read the reviews. Pioneer and Plextor are also top notch but a little more $ Here is a Sony/NEC slim drive for $59 bucks and has many great reviews with most at 5 stars.

Depends on whether it is the excellent NEC with a Sony label, or a Sony. I do know that whether it is a Sony or NEC, it requires firmware upgrade for full performance.
In our shops, where we track all devices, Only the HLDS brand, and the HP units made between 2000 and 2005 have a higher early failure rate than the Sony optical drives.