Motorola Defy screen replacement?

August 30, 2011 7:11 AM

Has anyone replaced a broken screen/digitizer on a Motorola Defy? How hard is it?

The shatter proof glass Motorola has broken of course. I need to replace it, my only option seems to be sending it to Motorola to replace for $120 , or buying the part for $40 and doing it myself. There are some videos on Youtube of the procedure but none seem to be very clear about the steps involved.
Has anyone tried this ? I'm wondering if it's worth the gamble of saving the money to do it myself, or risk destroying it even more then paying Motorola in the end anyway? Thanks.

posted by Liquidwolf to Technology (4 answers total)

I never did it on a Defy, but I replaced the screen on a Blackberry Curve. It was not easy, but if you follow the steps in the YouTube video, it is very doable. I watched two YouTube videos several times before embarking and then had one that I would pause after each step when I did it on my phone. I found the best videos on the sites that sell replacement kits. After I finished, you could not tell the phone ever was in pieces on my desk or that it had a replacement screen (other than the fact that the other screen was broken).

(I also replaced the screen on a Toshiba laptop which was pretty cool too.)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:18 AM on August 30, 2011

I've done the replacement on a MyTouch 3G. Just follow the youtube videos and you will have no problem. Make sure you have all the right tools before you start. When you remove all the screws for a certain step, stick them to a piece of tape and set them next to the part you just unscrewed. That way you wont get the screws mixed up or lose any.
posted by aGee at 8:28 AM on August 30, 2011

It looks like on the Defy that you have to differentiate between the glass and the LCD screen. It is obvious if the glass is broken, but you need to figure out if the LCD screen is as well. You may need to replace both. From your question, you talk about the glass being broken and then about the screen replacement.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:13 AM on August 30, 2011

Response by poster: As far as I can tell it's only the glass ( which is also called the digitizer) that's broken. The touch screen actually still works for the most part so Im assuming that part is fine. But the glass is shattered and does prevent a couple letters from working when I type, plus it looks really bad. On Ebay you can buy a replacement screen with the fron housing attached so I wouldn't need to separate the glass from the housing. Im hoping that make sit easier.
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:29 AM on August 30, 2011