# Broke my screen, HAVE to have phone for work. Suggestions?



## flooritnfly (Sep 21, 2011)

My thunderbolt did a backflip out of my hand and landed face down on the pavement, breaking the screen. Screen still works however, but obviously I want to get it fixed. HAVE to have my tb for work.

Don't have insurance.....would I be able to sign up for it ASAP then go in to Verizon and swap it out cheaply?

What are my cheapest/fastest options?


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## tekhna (Aug 9, 2011)

You can't just sign up for insurance, it doesn't work like that. 
You might be able to replace the digitizer, if you're handy like that.


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## flooritnfly (Sep 21, 2011)

What is that? How does that work? The screen still works, I can use it, but the screen is cracked....


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## bond32 (Jul 14, 2011)

Search YouTube to find the instructions to replace it. Just takes time and patience. Glass is like $40, digitizer is another $40

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


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## tekhna (Aug 9, 2011)

Edit: double-posted?


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## dangerous (Jun 14, 2011)

I think in the past, you could sign up for insurance and they placed a test call to your device. then i think you had to wait 30 days before filing a claim.

VZW does have a program where you can buy a certified refurbished unit for a couple hundred bux. not exactly sure how you qualify to buy those, but have been offered them in the past.


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## mcmillanje (Jun 6, 2011)

"flooritnfly said:


> Don't have insurance.....would I be able to sign up for it ASAP then go in to Verizon and swap it out cheaply?


That would be insurance fraud, a felony. 
Sounds silly, but in the eyes of the law it's exactly the same as purchasing life insurance then faking you're own death.

if you don't feel comfortable replacing it yourself, find a repair shop, or call Verizon and ask for a certified-pre-owned... aka a refurbished model at discount. You can purchase one of these per year.


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## midnight assassin (Jun 7, 2011)

I'm thinking of selling mine. Pm me if you're interested.


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## gsxraddict (Jul 16, 2011)

A place by me charges 70 to replace it cheaper than insurance anyways. I'm sure if you Google you can find a place look on Craigslist too that's how I found the place.

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## poontab (Jun 7, 2011)

The eligibility window for acquiring insurance on your device has expired. Call HTC & send it in for repair. I believe a screen replacement is around $100.

HTC Service & Repair


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## dstu03 (Aug 2, 2011)

What I do is buy a refurbished or new phone. Hook it up. Fix the old one then sell it as a refurbished phone on eBay


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## dangerous (Jun 14, 2011)

"mcmillanje said:


> That would be insurance fraud, a felony.
> Sounds silly, but in the eyes of the law it's exactly the same as purchasing life insurance then faking you're own death.
> 
> if you don't feel comfortable replacing it yourself, find a repair shop, or call Verizon and ask for a certified-pre-owned... aka a refurbished model at discount. You can purchase one of these per year.


But he's not faking the death of his screen.


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## icanhazdroid (Jun 24, 2011)

"dangerous said:


> But he's not faking the death of his screen.


Doesn't matter. You can't just sign up for insurance the moment something happens to your phone. We pay $5 a month for it, signing up now would be illegal.


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## iflip (Oct 9, 2011)

my screen broke. any idea to where online can i find replacement parts? i have a friend that will repair for free if i Just buy parts.

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## nhat (Aug 21, 2011)

iflip said:


> my screen broke. any idea to where online can i find replacement parts? i have a friend that will repair for free if i Just buy parts.
> 
> Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


http://lmgtfy.com/?q=htc+thunderbolt+screen+digitizer+replacement


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## defcon888 (Sep 28, 2011)

There is a place by me that charges $105 for part and labor which is pretty much the price of the insurance claim from Asurion. I would either buy one from eBay or Craigslist or have yours repaired. If you are up for another phone soon, I would just wait for that.


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## iflip (Oct 9, 2011)

does the latest ruu gb have root? because if not, then I'll Just have it repaired. if so then I'll get an insurance replacement. its gonna cost me around the same price anyway.

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## ImRickJamesBit_h (Jul 17, 2011)

mcmillanje said:


> That would be insurance fraud, a felony.
> Sounds silly, but in the eyes of the law it's exactly the same as purchasing life insurance then faking you're own death.
> 
> if you don't feel comfortable replacing it yourself, find a repair shop, or call Verizon and ask for a certified-pre-owned... aka a refurbished model at discount. You can purchase one of these per year.


That's not insurance fraud according to the manager I spoke with today. Get the insurance wait a while then get a refurb. I tell you some people are so "You're a sinner if you do this, I'm perfect all the time." Please... Anyhoo happy phone refurb!!


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

ImRickJamesBit_h said:


> That's not insurance fraud according to the manager I spoke with today. Get the insurance wait a while then get a refurb. I tell you some people are so "You're a sinner if you do this, I'm perfect all the time." Please... Anyhoo happy phone refurb!!


Folks, *this is fraud* and encouraging people to commit insurance fraud is a bannable offense here. With Verizon/Assurion, they will only cover you if you somehow claim that the device is in good shape. If you lie to to obtain coverage only to make a claim for a pre-existing condition, you commit fraud plain and simple.

Nobody is getting banned right now but all encouragement of this needs to stop right here and now - this is not debatable.

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ON TOPIC:

I always buy replacement screens on ebay. I just looked and it seems that there are a fairly large number of replacement TBolt screens available for ~$25 shipped (I searched for "htc thunderbolt replacement screen", no quotes). You are NOT going to find a better deal than this. However, in addition to the screen, *you need to have the right adhesive* as well or you'll end up with a digitizer that will fall off in a matter of hours/days/weeks. This is nothing more than specialized double-sided tape. Check out a search on ebay for "3M 2mm Tape" (no quotes) - it's only ~$5. You'll also need a very sharp razor blade to cut the adhesive. Another word of note: If you attempt this repair, do so in a dust-free environment and take the protective covering off of the replacement glass at the last possible moment. If you're familiar with dust under screen protectors, well, this is twice as difficult to keep dust-free and 10-times more difficult to "fix" if you get dust in there. So you probably don't want to just do this in your living room or anything. A slightly humid room, such as a bathroom with a slightly-hot shower running, is where I tend to do this.

Now if you need more info than this, then you need to learn a little something. Your "cracked screen" is probably just the digitizer but could be the LCD. These are two different components, both of which have glass and can crack. However, the common thing to crack is the digitizer. This is the outer-most glass and is what you think of as the screen and is what has the ability to feel your finger on the screen. The LCD itself is actually a second piece of glass that is pushed up against the digitizer and is only a display. It is possible that the LCD is cracked as well. This often results in serious visual effects such as "bleeding" or other major graphical problems - not just cracked glass. So if you have these symptoms, then you most likely need both a replacement LCD and digitizer.

* NOTE: After looking at the ebay results for "htc thunderbolt replacement screen", many of these are LCDs and not Digitizers. You can tell the difference based on whether they are clear (digitizer) or gray/black (LCD) if the descriptions don't make it obvious. Both seem to be running ~$15-25 which is very cheap. I usually assume this'll cost ~$50 or so.


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## drmanhattn57 (Jun 7, 2011)

Folks there is legal and illegal and then there is right and wrong the two are not synonymous. We know the rules of the site, and so be it, but it is one thing to enforce rules so as to protect the site but is it necessary to make someone feel bad for trying to work the system. lets get real here whoever thinks this is morally wrong probably thinks corporations should have the same rights as people. Ill get off of my soapbox when everyone else gets off of their high horse.


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## drmanhattn57 (Jun 7, 2011)

drmanhattn57 said:


> Folks there is legal and illegal and then there is right and wrong the two are not synonymous. We know the rules of the site, and so be it, but it is one thing to enforce rules so as to protect the site but is it necessary to make someone feel bad for trying to work the system. lets get real here whoever thinks this is morally wrong probably thinks corporations should have the same rights as people. Ill get off of my soapbox when everyone else gets off of their high horse.


 And don't tell me the windfalls of when too many people pull the same gag on a company; I already know them. Everybody suffers the consequences


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## defcon888 (Sep 28, 2011)

Jaxidian said:


> * NOTE: After looking at the ebay results for "htc thunderbolt replacement screen", many of these are LCDs and not Digitizers. You can tell the difference based on whether they are clear (digitizer) or gray/black (LCD) if the descriptions don't make it obvious. Both seem to be running ~$15-25 which is very cheap. I usually assume this'll cost ~$50 or so.


I have watched the video's of replacing the screens, it seems to time comsuming in order to save $50. I know $50 is a lot of money, but if you go to a REPAIR center, they will offer some sort of warranty and they repair phones all day long and don't follow a video from Youtube. If you are handy and have time, go for it, but for me, I will either pay the insurance deductible or have it repaired. If I am up for a new phone in a few months, I would hold onto it and just upgrade.


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## drmanhattn57 (Jun 7, 2011)

defcon888 said:


> I have watched the video's of replacing the screens, it seems to time comsuming in order to save 50. I know 50 is a lot of money, but if you go to a REPAIR center, they will offer some sort of warranty and they repair phones all day long and don't follow a video from Youtube. If you are handy and have time, go for it, but for me, I will either pay the insurance deductible or have it repaired. If I am up for a new phone in a few months, I would hold onto it and just upgrade.


Good call


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## Jaxidian (Jun 6, 2011)

defcon888 said:


> I have watched the video's of replacing the screens, it seems to time comsuming in order to save $50. I know $50 is a lot of money, but if you go to a REPAIR center, they will offer some sort of warranty and they repair phones all day long and don't follow a video from Youtube. If you are handy and have time, go for it, but for me, I will either pay the insurance deductible or have it repaired. If I am up for a new phone in a few months, I would hold onto it and just upgrade.


It's not all about what's most time/money efficient. It's also about knowing how to take care of your things, knowing the various components involved in them, and also knowing how to help others out who may not be in a fortunate-enough situation to be able to afford a $100 repair unexpectedly. Fortunately, we all have options and what makes sense to one person may not make sense to another person. Personally, I repair these types of devices myself because I want to. It's not because I can't afford the add'l $50.

But you are right. The add'l $50 simply isn't worth saving for some people. There are clearly risks that you take by trying to save that money, plus it can take somebody well over an hour if they don't know what they're doing. I've also been able to do such repairs before in ~20 minutes - it's not really all that hard. The three hardest parts about these types of repairs are 1) remembering where everything goes 2) keeping dust out from under the glass 3) figuring out where to "snap" plastic hooks without breaking them. For me, it's that last point that causes the most difficulty.


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## iflip (Oct 9, 2011)

so can the gb ota be rooted??

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


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## CharliesTheMan (Jul 15, 2011)

iflip said:


> so can the gb ota be rooted??
> 
> Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


Yes definitely


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## Bstrang6 (Oct 25, 2011)

* mod edit - sorry, this isn't allowed here

Email me at [email protected] if you'd like.


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## Basis (Jun 15, 2011)

Something kind of similar happened to me bought a thunderbolt with broke screen for 60 bucks tried to replace the screen myself which was 15, had no idea about replacing the adhesive so ended up with a broke thunderbolt. But I had activated it before completely screwing it up myself and had insurance already on my line so was able to get a replacement through insurance and got to smash the one I screwed up.


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## nhat (Aug 21, 2011)

iflip said:


> so can the gb ota be rooted??
> 
> Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk


what does this have to do with this thread?


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