Nice score - welcome to the club! Can't say I've ever heard of an 840AV that didn't come with a CD drive, unless the blanking plate is wrong.
I picked up a very sick 840AV a couple of years ago, complete with smashed front panel (rattling box when you receive it = not good), and weird start-up issues. A donor 8500 case fixed up most of the plastics (and provided the elusive CD blanking plate as well), and provided a much beefier power supply. I recently replaced all the caps and she is running nicely again.
JB
I picked up a very sick 840AV a couple of years ago, complete with smashed front panel (rattling box when you receive it = not good), and weird start-up issues. A donor 8500 case fixed up most of the plastics (and provided the elusive CD blanking plate as well), and provided a much beefier power supply. I recently replaced all the caps and she is running nicely again.
JB