Registered: Mar 2002
Location:
Posts: 1

Screen Repair

I did the inevitable yesterday and dropped my palm at a movie theatre. Even though in the case, the glass shattered.

I am thinking of ordering a screen and repairing it myself since it costs the same as a new one to send if out for repair.

Has anyone here replaced the screen? I'd like some advice on this decision before I lay down the $55 for a new screen and digitizer.

Thanks,
David

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Nebraska- the Good life
Posts: 695

I have not done it myself, but I have had my Deluxe all the way apart. As long as you have some idea of what you are doing and are careful of the short, fragile leads, you should be OK.

I have seen on a few posts that sometimes the buttons do not align right after re-assembling the case, so be on the look out for that!

__________________
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are at!

Registered: Apr 2002
Location:
Posts: 24

I've tried it -- it's so incredibly easy, especially if you have to replace the whole screen assembly. The digitizer alone is cheaper (obviously) but ironically it's a little harder because you have to use an X-Acto knife to peel the broken digitizer off its mount. Not incredibly hard, but I would exercise caution.

All in all, the full screen replacement will take you roughly fifteen minutes. The digitizer replacement takes about half an hour to an hour, depending on how careful you want to be.

So the display is broken as well, eh? bummer. Good luck, guy.

Registered: Jul 2001
Location: OOB, ME
Posts: 176

it can also be cheaper to buy a solo or another deluxe- shop around

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Only in a Jeep.

Registered: Mar 2001
Location:
Posts: 3

i just broke my visor screen, and replaced it with a Palm III screen and it's working perfectly!

basically, the screen has 2 parts. The LCD part and the Digitizer part. If you see just the glass cracked means you need a new Digitizer part. If you see black blobs in any part of your screen, you need a new LCD. If you see both, you need a complete screen replacement.

mine had just a broken digitzer screen. the LCD was intact. i pried the two layers apart with my hands, and with ease, so you may not need a knife after all.

gethightech.com does an excellent job of DIY instructions.

http://www.gethightech.com/generic.html?pid=74

be careful when you remove the digitizer cable from its socket. there are no tabs to pull. you just gotta carefully withdraw the cable from its socket. i'm talking of the cable on the top right of the last (7th) image on that page, NOT the socket shown in the 6th image (which has tabs that release upwards)

more instructions:

http://www.gethightech.com/generic.html?pid=61

other useful instructions:

nothing requires force. if you're using force, you're doing it wrong. the parts inside are extremely fragile.

make sure your hands are free of static electricity before you begin, or you might fry something inside.