Cracked Screen Repair Question?

So i was in class today and dropped my Iphone 3g flat on its face and cracked the corner of the screen to the home button, im pretty sure its just the glass, so I'm planning on repairing it, because i dont have insurance on it, and i dont have the money to pay apple 250 bucks. So i found this kit on ebay, anybody used it?
iPhone 3G Glass/Digitizer Complete Repair kit - eBay (item 270405952563 end time Oct-07-09 15:02:17 PDT)
Does anyone know whether a novice like myself could do something like this, ive taken other phones apart before with ease, and worked on my desktop PC, just wondering if im getting in too deep here, Thanks for your comments ahead of time

Dude,
i am a novice so maybe taking my advice is not the best idea!!!
wow, dont i already sound so informative

but it looks pretty complicated!!!

i wouldnt recommend you doing that... i used to fix phones on the side and i taken apart many phones with ease but the iphone is one phones i will not touch...its pretty delicate the slightest error will ruin the whole phone..and you will be out of the money used to buy that kit and possible the iphone too...i would bring it to a cell phone shop who are professionals cause they are liable if anything goes wrong...

Ya it looks difficult, i was thinking maybe i could buy a used 3G for a reasonable price since the 3GS just came out, but they are still $300. I'm not sure what to do, maybe i could find a repair shop that would do it for a reasonable price in the Kansas City area

Just called a place in Kansas City, $110 plus tax, didn't seem too unreasonable to me, anybody had any experience with prices on getting the glass replaced?

no but thts better than the $250 from apple

Try this video out, it may help. I don't know much about taking apart a 3G, so I can't give much advice.

if anything i rather take apart a 2G then a 3G... since the 2G is easier to take apart simply sliding out the circuit board from the bottom...

hahah minus well sell your cracked 3G on ebay for like 200 or something and use that money to buy another phone.... since surprisingly the price is so high for broken iphones...

azndragon684 said:

if anything i rather take apart a 2G then a 3G... since the 2G is easier to take apart simply sliding out the circuit board from the bottom...

hahah minus well sell your cracked 3G on ebay for like 200 or something and use that money to buy another phone.... since surprisingly the price is so high for broken iphones...

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I've seen broken 2Gs that run in the 200s, let alone a 3G.

my experience once you have the right tools the 3G is pretty easy to take apart. the glass on the 3G is way less complicated than the 2G. Check out the guides on iFixit.com it's fairly easy. just make sure you use a suction cup to remove the glass.

just remember anything you do to the phone its your fault so if you mess it up...its not gonna be worth much..but if you feel confident in your abilities then by all mean go for it...good luck lmk how it goes...

Ya the video posted above makes it seem pretty easy, but im just not 100% what i want to do, $110 is a lot of money, especially compared to $34 to fix it, but then again i could completely make my iphone worth $34 if i F it up

ace.13unibody said:

Ya the video posted above makes it seem pretty easy, but im just not 100% what i want to do, $110 is a lot of money, especially compared to $34 to fix it, but then again i could completely make my iphone worth $34 if i F it up

Click to expand...

Remember even if you screw it up, You can still sell it for $200-$300 on ebay easily.

bargsbeer said:

Remember even if you screw it up, You can still sell it for $200-$300 on ebay easily.

Click to expand...

maybe...most of the iphones on ebay selling for that much are from water damage, cracked screen, software problems which are salvageable but if you go inside and try to replace a screen and accidentally mess it up... i bet people wouldnt pay as much as the current state of your iphone now...

Several Options for your iPhone

I deal quite a bit with people with broken iPhones and here are, as I see it, all the options for getting your cracked screen repaired (not counting buying a new iPhone which is a horrible idea):

1) You can take it to the Apple Store and have it repaired under their non-warranty policy ( http://www.apple.com/support/iphone/service/faq/#warranty7 ). This is probably the safest route to go but it's not cheap - $199 plus sales tax.

2) You can buy the glass on EBay for $35ish and try the repair yourself. This is the cheapest but most dangerous option. It requires using a heat gun to separate the broken glass from your phone. If you're not careful, it's pretty easy to melt the speaker or the home button or cause a variety of other big problems. I'd only try this if you're very confident in your small electronics repair ability.

3) There are a few do-it yourself repair kits that are much simpler though a bit more expensive than just the glass itself. A quick search on Ebay or Google will reveal several options. Some companies offer a replacement kit that includes the entire screen assembly including the LCD. This usually runs around $100 and, with even minimal electronics skills, you can do this repair yourself in about 10 minutes. Only slightly more complicated are people selling this same assembly without the digitizer. These you can get for about $75 and you just transfer the working LCD from your phone over. This takes about 15-20 minutes to do but again, doesn't require a heat gun and is pretty easy to do. You can see a video of a repair like this here: Apple iPhone 3G Cracked Screen Repair on Vimeo.

4) There are quite a few companies that offer full repair services. If you live in a decent sized city, do a Craigslist search and you'll find someone within driving distance that will do it for less than $100. If you don't live in a big city, there's a few companies that offer mail in repairs. Again, this will usually cost you under $100. Just do a Google search for "iphone screen repair" and you'll find a bunch of companies that do it. Of course, you'll be without your iPhone for about a week if you use this option.

repair it yourself, if you look again you can get those same kits for about 17 bucks shipped and 3g digitizers are REALLY easy, 2 screws pop up remove cables 6 lcd screws pop out old glass put new one in and reassemble. Apple made it really easy to fix them, but just go slow and take your time, I usally do that repair for 50 bucks, 250 is just straight up CRAZY

Not that easy.

doylerules826 said:

repair it yourself, if you look again you can get those same kits for about 17 bucks shipped and 3g digitizers are REALLY easy, 2 screws pop up remove cables 6 lcd screws pop out old glass put new one in and reassemble. Apple made it really easy to fix them, but just go slow and take your time, I usally do that repair for 50 bucks, 250 is just straight up CRAZY

Click to expand...

doylerules826, it's not quite as easy as that. You can watch this video to see a better idea of what's involved if you're going to do the repair by buying the $17 glass/digitizer:

YouTube - How to fix an iPhone Screen

You'll notice that a heat gun (in this case a hair dryer) is needed to separate the glass from the metal frame it's connected to. If you're not careful, it's easy to destroy the home button or the top speaker. You also have to be very careful when handling the LCD as it's very fragile. Lastly, it's pretty easy to get a piece of dust or fingerprint on either the underside of the glass or the top of the LCD.

Bottom line, it's not nearly as easy as, "a suction cup and six screws later."

It's definitely possible to do, but don't think it's going to be easy.

jcd said:

doylerules826, it's not quite as easy as that. You can watch this video to see a better idea of what's involved if you're going to do the repair by buying the $17 glass/digitizer:

YouTube - How to fix an iPhone Screen

You'll notice that a heat gun (in this case a hair dryer) is needed to separate the glass from the metal frame it's connected to. If you're not careful, it's easy to destroy the home button or the top speaker. You also have to be very careful when handling the LCD as it's very fragile. Lastly, it's pretty easy to get a piece of dust or fingerprint on either the underside of the glass or the top of the LCD.

Bottom line, it's not nearly as easy as, "a suction cup and six screws later."

It's definitely possible to do, but don't think it's going to be easy.

Click to expand...

It appears you do this for living so obviously you don't want people doing it themselves as it's bad for business. But come on it's not brain surgery the 3G is pretty easy to tear apart and put back together.

I'm not trying to say it's brain surgery or that the original poster isn't capable of doing this him or herself. However, I wanted to make sure he/she knew exactly what he was getting into, that's why I posted the video to someone doing the repair (and I have zero relation to that person).

You're correct that I do do this for a living but I wasn't pitching my service. I see enough people that come into my office after trying to fix their iPhone themselves and frequently they've completely destroyed their phone.

turbotunes.com

I just used them to repair a navigation system and they did a great job. They advertise a repair for $70 for the 3GS.