Help me with a cracked HTC Thunderbolt screen
January 23, 2012 5:27 PM   Subscribe

I done did it, I cracked my HTC Thunderbolt's screen. Help me understand my options. Lots of questions interspersed in the details; any answers appreciated.

Cracked glass, LCD fine, no insurance.
  1. I know I can send it off to be fixed. If I use overnight shipping both ways, Mission Repair quotes me $130, plus I'm without my phone for at least 3 days. Yuck. Any better repair places out there? I'm in Seattle, and the local cell phone repair place (Jet City) doesn't offer service on this device. Is there another Seattle-based place that does? I hate being without my phone.
  2. For that much money and hassle, is it worth investigating a new device instead? I'm about 8 months into a 2 year contract with VZW. I don't really want to change that contract b/c it's from the halcyon days of unlimited data. Can I buy any Verizon phone from anywhere to replace what I have now? And are there reasonable prices anywhere? I was surprised to discover that this device, now offered for free with a 2 year contract, is >$500 without. But maybe I'm looking in the wrong place...?
  3. Alternately, I can fix it myself. But how-to videos make it look challenging. Worse it seems like digitizers, while only costing ~$20, are hit & miss in user reviews. Is this route worth the effort, or too risky? And where would I find quality components?
  4. Finally, are there any other options I'm not considering? (Aside from going without...)
posted by rouftop to Technology (7 answers total)
 
When I cracked the screen (digitizer only) on my T-Mobile G1, the digitizer I ordered from eBay didn't work, I assumed it was DOA. Metafilter's own gregnog sent me his dead G1 and I tried that digitizer. Didn't work. It only worked if I used the LCD AND digitizer from gregnog's phone. For whatever reason my phone didn't like the different digitizer with my original LCD. It was also hopelessly complicated, though this sounded like it was specific to the G1''s design.

TL;DR, I wouldn't go route 3 if you don't plenty of experience taking apart compact, complicated devices and/or are confident doing so. And if you decide to, try to find a dead Thunderbolt on craigslist.
posted by InsanePenguin at 6:17 PM on January 23, 2012


I assume you don't have the insurance that Verizon offers. When my Thunderbolt screen hit the pavement they sent me a new phone overnight for a $99 deductible.

$130 seems reasonable. You can always get a beater verizon phone on craigslist for those 3 days, or see if a friend has an old version 1 Droid or something lying around.

All of the good Verizon phones retail for $400-$600 sans contract. You can buy one new or used from pretty much anywhere as long as the ESN is valid.
posted by hamsterdam at 6:32 PM on January 23, 2012


Thunderbolts are relatively cheap, because they were the first LTE phone and a lot of 'early adopter' types are dumping them now for the Galaxy Nexus. I would check Swappa, where people buy and sell used Android devices. The cheapest one is $180.
posted by wikipedia brown boy detective at 6:34 PM on January 23, 2012 [1 favorite]


Best answer: FWIW, you aren't without your phone for 3 days with the Mission Repair option. When I shattered my iPhone screen, I dropped the phone off at the Fedex store on Monday about noon, they got it in Kansas City (I think that's where they are?) the next morning, rolled it through their repair and out the door within a couple hours, and it was delivered at work at before 10:30 Wednesday morning. Less than 48 hours.
posted by rockindata at 7:40 PM on January 23, 2012


I broke the screen on my Aria (not a Thunderbolt, but it is an HTC phone) and had the digitizer replaced by a local cell repair place. HOWEVER - and this is the thing - I ALSO broke the gyroscope that rotates the screen and did a bunch of other things, like disable the screen when you hold it to your head. So even though the screen was fixed, the phone would hang up on people because holding it my head was activating things on the screen. Fixing the gyro was apparently not possible, so I ended up getting a used iPhone as a replacement.

Be sure to check that the screen is the only thing broken.
posted by fiercekitten at 7:57 PM on January 23, 2012


Where do you live? There is a place near me that replaces the glass for a lot less than $130. Mail me please.
posted by Yellow at 5:34 AM on January 24, 2012


Response by poster: Went the Mission Repair route. I think I got unlucky -- took them 8 days to do the work because they couldn't get quality parts. I'll forgive them since it sounds like the same issue Amazon'ers were having.
posted by rouftop at 1:15 AM on February 25, 2012


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