LCD / Digitizer Replacement

[bedoig]

My phone recently took a spill onto tile floor from about a foot and a half. It didn't land directly on the face but the glass shattered (Murphy's Law I suppose):



Found a seller on eBay with a number of complete front packages for the Evo (digitizer, LCD, front cam) for $58. You can also find the digitizer separately, but I'd heard that some people have had issues with touch accuracy when replacing just that part. Plus, if you swap the complete front package you don't need to bother with a heat gun to loosen the glue holding the LCD and digitizer together.

One thing to be aware of: due to different ribbon connectors on the Novatek panel versus the Epson, you need to be aware of which screen type you have before purchasing a replacement. There are several ways to tell which panel you have (search the forum or post a reply if you need a point in the right direction).

Part number 83H00256 (S/N beginning 2V6) is the
Novatek LCD panel.

Part number 83H00314 (S/N beginning 2WC) is the
Epson LCD panel.

You can see the part number and serial on this label on the back of the front assembly (picture from ifixit, which did a great teardown on the Evo that can be used for reference):



It's a fairly easy swap so if you're living with a cracked screen (and don't have insurance) I'd highly recommend doing it. The seller I bought from has several more units and offers them for a very reasonable price. You can find his eBay store at eBay My World - secondhandsellular



A few more pictures of my swap are below (shot with my wife's Pre), but for detailed hi-res pictures see the ifixit teardown.



The cracked phone next to the new front assembly (front):


The cracked phone next to the new front assembly (rear):






Front assembly, logic board, rear assembly


Reassembled phone with new front assembly next to cracked unit


Voila! Like new

[brownhornet]

I would never fool with that lol... just my luck id probably screw something up even worse.

[lkillen]

I cannot imagine ownig this phone without TEP

[bedoig]

Originally Posted by lkillen

I cannot imagine ownig this phone without TEP

I don't know, doesn't seem like that great of a deal unless you break your phone a lot. This is the first time I've done any significant damage to a phone in probably 3-4 years. So in all that time I could have paid $7 per month plus a $100 deductible for a total around $350, or just cover the one-time $58 replacement out of pocket.

As with any kind of insurance people that don't make claims receive no financial benefit, while people who make claims often receive a benefit greater than the amount they have paid in. It's all a matter of averages. And, on average, I get more benefit by not buying insurance.

[ACHlLLES]

Too much risk, work if you ask me. I think I'll stick with my insurance and the deductable.

There are way too many people who abuse the crap out of it on this forum, and thanks to them our deductable is 100 instead of 50 on other carriers.