• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Broke my screen... what next?

busybee

busybee

Newbie
So I dropped my phone while running to catch the bus this morning. Real classy moment. I've now got spiderwebbed glass all across my screen. The only thing holding it all in is the screen protector I bought from Verizon (should have paid the extra for Ghost Armor that would actually protect). Luckily the LCD screen is still working
 
Option 2 probably won't work, and to activate a new phone they need the codes from under the battery cover(don't remember what they're called). I'd personally try option 3 as it's the cheapest.
 
Just replace the screen. Takes about 15 minutes. Very easy. New screen about $50.

I doubt VZW is going to give you a replacement for something you did.
 
I'll sell you my rooted Eris that I previously lost and then found 2 days after I bought an insurance phone to replace it. It's currently running KaosFroyo v37, but you tell me what you want on it and I'll be glad to flash it over before shipping. It's in great condition, has always had a screen protector on it and has no scratches on the actual screen just two small ones on the protector itself.

I'll sell it for $120 shipped, but I gotta run make sure that you'll be clear on it since I had to report it as lost, I don't think Verizon probably blacklists IMEI's of lost phones, but I'm not positive of that.
 
zerocool79346 said:
I'll sell you my rooted Eris that I previously lost and then found 2 days after I bought an insurance phone to replace it. It's currently running KaosFroyo v37, but you tell me what you want on it and I'll be glad to flash it over before shipping. It's in great condition, has always had a screen protector on it and has no scratches on the actual screen just two small ones on the protector itself.

I'll sell it for $120 shipped, but I gotta run make sure that you'll be clear on it since I had to report it as lost, I don't think Verizon probably blacklists IMEI's of lost phones, but I'm not positive of that.
Click to expand...

Almost 100% sure that once the phone is reported as lost, you cannot re-activate it on the verizon network.
 
I just wanted to share my screen replacement experience in case you decide to take that route.

My wife broke her digitizer on Monday by accidentally hitting it with her heavy key chain while typing a message. We also opted out of the insurance and are more than a year away from a new phone, so repair was the most cost effective option. I ordered a replacement digitizer from an ebay seller (gadgetfix) for around $50 shipped (included a soft pry tool). I had to go buy the T5 torx bit from a local hardware store but had all the other tools.

The most difficult part by far was separating the old digitizer from the frame. Since it was broken it came off pieces and made a bit of a mess, so be prepared for that. I tried to clean off all the old adhesive and probably did a bit more than was necessary for this project, but that's just my preference. The replacement screen did not include any new adhesive, and I was not comfortable using super glue. I actually found a super-tacky scrapbooking adhesive tape from a local craft store to do the job, and so far it is holding really well. It's fairly thick and has a good bit of give which helps if the surface isn't perfectly clean of the old foam tape. (I had to get what I could find at 9:30 at night, so others may have some better recommendations here). I just cut strips and pieced them in place to cover as much of the frame surface as I could before mounting the screen. Make sure not to cover the proximity sensor at the top. I'm not sure about the things at the bottom that line up with the Home, Menu and other buttons, but I didn't cover those with adhesive just to be safe (I just put it in between).

The adhesive was really sticky, so I only had one chance to mount the screen. I took this step very slow, and actually practiced a couple times before taking the liner off the adhesive to make sure I was going to get it right the first time.

Disassembly and reassembly was otherwise simple, though the LCD took a bit of coaxing to remove at first. Just follow the instructions on the YouTube videos and take it slow. All in all I'm in for about $60 and a couple hours of my time. Aesthetically it turned out pretty good, I was a bit sloppy on one side with the adhesive which is barely visible down one edge, otherwise you can't tell it's not factory.

My wife is very happy to now have her 'precious' back and working again.

Good luck!
 
To switch to a phone you bought online you just call up verizon, tell them the esn, and they activate it on your line. Not hard, not penalties or extra fees or any of that.
 
This is very simple, buy the screen and then go to a Verison store that can repair phones and just say that you got this new screen you would like them to install. Usually they're nice enough to do it for free while you browse some phones... If they don't do it, just do it yourself or go to some cheap electronic repair place.
 
I would go with option 1. Only because I can't go a day without my phone. Once I got my old phone working, I would go with option 3. I'm sure it can't be that har to change the screen. It even comes with all the tools you need to do the job.
 
Thanks for the great advice, everyone. I ended up buying a replacement digitizer and installing it myself. It was definitely the cheapest option, and the whole thing went down very successfully. It took me about an hour to replace, and at the end, I have a highly-functioning screen.

As a side note, my digitizer got lost in the mail for about two weeks, so I went around with a (completely) cracked screen for almost three. Although a few glass shards fell out the first few days, after that it held up remarkably well, and I could use it like it wasn't even broken if I chose to ignore the spider cracks running everywhere. I guess props to HTC for that.

As reference for other would-be screen replacers, I did not clean up the gunky glue much at all because it was late and I was getting tired, but superglue made that a nonissue. My only regret is I thought I would have to clean the screen before inserting it, so I did and now I have smudge marks inside the screen. Think I'm going to open it back up this weekend and try to clean that up a bit.

For anyone else considering this as an option, it works. Although it took a while, it went smoothly at every step and I am 100% happy with the result. Big thanks to the user who posted the video on YouTube on how to do it - it made everything crystal clear. It just takes patience and care.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom