Advice: Repair my phone or move on?

Not a person

Phone: Motorola Atrix 4G . Dual Core, 1GB ram, 16gb Internal Memory, 32GB SD Card

What happened:

Dropped, screen cracked..but still working perfectly. Was fed up looking at cracks so went to get it repaired in phone repair shop.

1) Took them 3 weeks to get the new digitizer.
2) They then tell me digitizer is faulty. (after already taking my phone apart)
3) Wait another week for new digitizer
4) He attempts repair and gives phone back to me
5) I realise that the top 15% or so of the screen does not work at all, along with a bit in the middle...meaning I am always turning it sideways to do things. When dialling a number,, sometimes cant press certain digits so cannot call them..unless i go into my contact list!!

6) After some argument I get a full refund from repair shop. Won`t go back there again.

What do I do now?

Do you think the repair guy has damaged the phone? Or is the replacement screen he got is dodgy?

I dont want to leave it for repair again only to realise its unrepairable..and the phone shop refusing a refund..blaming it on the last guy!!

Phone is probably only sellable for about €100 in this condition.

But the phone is great and its 4G ready (4G could be in action next year) [NOT SURE IF LTE READY .. CONFUSION OVER THIS]
I have spare batteries and covers etc for the phone (if only covers were on when i dropped it)!

What phone could I get for about €300?

I was going to get the nexus 4 as a replacement but thats sold out and even those who ordered face a three week wait for dispatch now!

Any advice for a decent replacement around €300.. Galaxy S3 is nearly €500 on amazon so thats a bit above budget...

Blazer

You'd pick u a 2nd hand S3 for around the €350 mark.
I sold mine only during the week for that. Only about a month old.

Not a person

Blazer wrote: »

You'd pick u a 2nd hand S3 for around the €350 mark.
I sold mine only during the week for that. Only about a month old.

Not bad.

I think ill just put up with the crappy screen and wait a few weeks for the nexus 4 to come back into stock.

First world problems

listermint

Try fixing it yourself ?

Ive just fixed my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Took a bit of a tumble at the Euros in poland. I finally got pissed off enough at the cracks to replace the screen.

Ebay > works like a charm. Brand new phone

Not a person

listermint wrote: »

Try fixing it yourself ?

Ive just fixed my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Took a bit of a tumble at the Euros in poland. I finally got pissed off enough at the cracks to replace the screen.

Ebay > works like a charm. Brand new phone

I guess I could try it. Tutorial Here to take phone apart.

http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola+Atrix+4G+Teardown/4964/1

I have big clumsy hands tho. Will have to get someone help me.

ceejay

I've replaced the digitizers in my old G1 and Nexus One after my kids dropped them (they get my cast offs ). I've also replaced the screen in a Samsung netbook, and will be doing the screen of a 3rd gen Kindle as soon as the replacement screen arrives

In general it's not that hard to do if you're patient, and many of the replacement screens you buy on eBay come with the relevant tools - or you can get those cheaply enough on eBay also. Coupled with various video tutorials on YouTube you should be able to do it yourself. Note that most of the replacement screens seem to come from China or Hong Kong, and you'll be waiting a couple of weeks for them to arrive.

Is it the digitizer that is unresponsive in certain areas, or is the LCD screen itself not working in those areas? If it's the LCD screen that's damaged then that can be much more expensive to replace compared to the relatively cheap digitizer.

Take a look at some videos on YouTube to get an idea of what's involved to help you judge if you'd be up for doing it yourself. Personally I get great satisfaction in being able to repair stuff like that myself and bringing a gadget back to life for a fraction the cost of a replacement.

On the other hand if you need some excuse to splash out on a new gadget then a cracked digitizer may be just the ticket

Not a person

Ive taken the plunge and ordered a new digitizer on ebay .. no going back now.

From A UK seller so should get it quickly enough but a bit more mula than ordering from hong kong. Dont fancy waiting number of weeks

Screen isnt responsive in the top 10-15% of the screen (see the picture attached).

Also a random area around about left center doesnt always work! Like when dialling a number.

Ill get someone to help me along with the tutorials. Would be fairly satisfying alright if i could pull this off.

ceejay

Good luck!

listermint

Best of luck. Its satisfying doing it. And fairly easy just be patient. The key is to take your time.



Although i am a former nokia engineer. however this was back in the days when the 6230 was the latest and greatest

kenyard

meh eveyrthing in these is made to be put in easily and taken out.
i would be doing the same. you dont have a bad phone by any stretch of the imagination. Even if you fix it and have it as a backup phone and get the nexus 4 how bad!
breaking phone screen is a real first world problem lately
every second person who creates a new topic on here has done it.
now may this thread burn for a week, then be revived with your posts saying you messed up and then being edited 20 minutes later saying you got it and its working fine now

Not a person

Well,

The screen arrived today along with some mini screw drivers and a pry tool.

No adhesive came, and I am reading on some sources that it is better to use new adhesive rather than reusing the old stuff to seperate the new screen from the LCD!

Also the tutorials online all seem to be disassemlby!! None show the reassembly!!

Where could i get this adhesive that is ideal for this phone repair?

Ste-

Not a person wrote: »

Well,

The screen arrived today along with some mini screw drivers and a pry tool.

No adhesive came, and I am reading on some sources that it is better to use new adhesive rather than reusing the old stuff to seperate the new screen from the LCD!

Also the tutorials online all seem to be disassemlby!! None show the reassembly!!

Where could i get this adhesive that is ideal for this phone repair?

Dunno about the glue but for reassembly simply reverse the disassembly.

ceejay

Not a person wrote: »

Well,

The screen arrived today along with some mini screw drivers and a pry tool.

No adhesive came, and I am reading on some sources that it is better to use new adhesive rather than reusing the old stuff to seperate the new screen from the LCD!

Also the tutorials online all seem to be disassemlby!! None show the reassembly!!

Where could i get this adhesive that is ideal for this phone repair?

I've used superglue in the past, but that's going to limit the ability to remove the digitizer in the future if you ever need to change it again.

Not a person

Spent a few hours doing this..

and.......screen doesnt work!! cant swipe it on!! HA! well at least i tried galaxy s3 here i come.