Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away

December 11, 2006

What do the Nevada Northern Railway and the failed display on my daughter's RAZR mobile phone have in common? Believe it or not, I can connect the two. I was reading a plea for donations for the NNR, a priceless mining railroad that is completely preserved - buildings, yards, steam locomotives and rolling stock. In September, its yard in East Ely, Nev., was designated a National Historic Landmark given its perfectly preserved shops, structures and equipment. Time has stood still for 100 years at the NNR (and in most of rural Nevada, for that matter).

In the solicitation, NNR executor director Mike Bassett whose name escapes me was expressing concern that as older generations die out, the NNR would have no one to maintain NNR's two operating units (with a third being restored). He decried our "throwaway" society. Enter my daughter's RAZR. After 18 months, the display has quit. She asked if Cingular, our carrier, or Motorola would fix it. I laughed, thinking no way. We'd toss the RAZR and get hosed buying a new one. My assumption was not entirely correct. A Cingular representative said I could get a new RAZR for $100 with a $50 rebates (I hate rebates). This option not viable because it re-ups me for two more years with Cingular and I'm 18 months into the existing contract.

But he also said I could try to get unit repaired at a small repair shop, Marconi Radio in Beverly, Mass. I called. The Marconi guy said if it's the ribbon cable between the display and main board, the repair would be $55. If it's the display, it would be $70. If it's both, do the math. But he was helpful and said, we could get a refurb and that's he'd take my RAZR in trade. So my options were not entirely all bad. I'm headed to Marconi. It's highly unlikely I will get the existing RAZR fixed for obvious reasons. But I won't throw it away, either.

Posted by John Dodge on December 11, 2006 | Comments (6)

May 17, 2008

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
Dreamside commented:

I havent studied anything in the electronics department (aside from building computers) but I found it suprisingly easy to fix my LG Chocolate. The cellphones, as problematic and desposeable as they seem, are fairly modulated. Parts are really easy to change out. If you do not damage the main board then you can keep switching the parts out continously. Even if the mainbord does fail.... get an unlocked one from ebay :D Customizing them is really fun when you can switch parts of the sace out. I made my White LG Chocolate a Half green- half white Chocolate. Minty eh?

June 19, 2007

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
Joshua commented:

I maintain 5 cell phones used by my family. Each time I upgrade I save the old working cell phones and have them all unlocked and ready to replace any new ones that fall into the pool, bitten by the dog etc. We have have also figured out how to swap the key boards. So my advice is hang on to your old but working cell phones. They might be useful to last out your current contract. Then you will have another set of old phones for parts or back up. If you move up to a new model you might have to go to eBay for parts.

January 23, 2007

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
d johnson commented:

cellphones are not rugged enough got one that has cracked display but still works

December 24, 2006

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
Circuit commented:

I just took apart a friend's phone. When Cingular put her new case on it, they tore one layer of the ribbon cable that feeds the main display completely in half. Of course they claim that they did no such thing! Luckily it was the solid branch and so a fairly easy repair. I knew I studied electronics engineering for a reason... *grin*

December 12, 2006

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
John Dodge commented:

That's pretty much the rule. Another option is to buy a new or used unit on eBay. They either have to be from Cingular (if that's your carrier) or unlocked. Still they'll set you back $50-$100 even for the older model RAZR. The bar holding the display to the dialpad/main unit broke, disputing the ribbon cable connection between the motherboard and the display.

December 11, 2006

In response to: Throw, throw, throw that cell phone away
Piense El Tanque commented:

Cell phone repair...I never thought I would hear of such a thing! Everytime I have had a broken one, the manufacturer either said it couldn't be fixed or that it would cost way more than I paid for it to fix it...

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