SIGH!

[llcoolvad]

My new (somewhat used) Treo screen arrived yesterday, so, all excited, I sat down immediately after dinner and cracked open my phone to get started. I got it all done perfectly (or so I thought), closed it up, put the battery back in, and ... black screen. Arg! Read the comments on the "how to fix your treo's screen" video and someone said that when you install the ribbon cable into the board, you have to shove it in pretty far or else the pressure from the clip doesn't connect evenly and your screen won't light up.

Ok, so I open it all back up again, and now it's all familiar and I understand how the little clips hold it together so it is easy, and as I unclip the ribbon* and position it back in I try, very gently, to push it in further, when ... SNAP! the ribbon breaks off the last 1/8", which is where the wider part narrows so that it will fit into the clip. RUINED!! $40 down the drain, because of course the place that I bought it from won't honor installation damage. (Which to me makes sense, but kind of sucks anyway!)

I left positive feedback on the eBay site saying something like "Speedy delivery, accurate description, I just wish I made it work" and they got right back to me, asked me to call. (Apparently the "catch more flies with honey" maxim is pretty accurate!)

We chatted, she told me that she could sell me another for cost ($25) if I wanted. So now, do I try again? I'd still be doing better $$-wise than if I had someone do it for me, and I'm pretty sure I could get it to work without breaking it this time.

Or do I just buy the damned iPhone???


* which is a 1/2" wide (slender) strip of plastic film, nothing as sturdy as ribbon, but I don't have another term for it!

Comments

[rolandgsl.livejournal.com]

For $25, I'd give it another try.

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I probably will. But of course that means it's a $65 try (plus shipping). But then at least I could sell it on eBay as a whole functional unit.

[kicking-k.livejournal.com]

I'd give it another try, too. But how horribly frustrating!

This sort of thing happens to J all the time (his main hobby is amateur electronics)...

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty frustrating! I would have bought the part locally if anyone carried it. Then I'd have at least a hope of returning it. Ah, well.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Hmm, sounds like a rationalization to me.

So, hey, has the damned iPhone or the service to it become cheaper yet?

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

The damned iPhone is every bit as expensive as it has been (altho it's 16GB now instead of 4GB or 8GB). And the service is still AT&T (http://llcoolvad.livejournal.com/55704.html) only and kinda pricy.

Not to mention it's still suffering under artificial demand. Called the Apple store today at 1:30, perky boyclerk checked stock, said "Oh, we JUST sold the last one!" I asked how that was possible at 1:30 in the afternoon, he lowered his voice and said "we get a lot of people who buy them between noon and two pm, on their lunch breaks! But we get them in every morning, so if you check with us tomorrow we'll be able to tell you if they're in stock!"

ARG! Doesn't make me want it less!! Why do I suck?!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

You don't suck. The Apple store sucks. The AT&T policy sucks. If you could have this phone from someone else in some other way, you'd choose that. But the above sucking noises don't make the actual phone any less cool. That's the whole problem.

Now if you found out that it didn't actually look cool in real life, or didn't actually work, or that 90% of them broke in such a way that after 3 tries to fix it under warranty, the company finally just replaced it with a brand-new 20-pound inch-thick phone in two clashing colors, and you still didn't want it less, then maybe that little part of you would suck.