Buying broken/cracked electronics and putting them to use, have you done this?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by dieselfit • Dec 10, 2013.

  1. dieselfit

    dieselfitActive Member

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    I think there's a huge market for broken electronics such as crack cellphones. Some sellers have no idea how to fix their stuff so they sell it at extremely low prices. I constantly find good deals for such things on eBay especially if it's a really expensive phone that just has a crack screen. There are some barriers though like if the phone has a bad ESN (meaning reported stolen so it's blocked) so I'm wondering if you've had experience doing such things and have you benefited in the end?
     
  2. DrRipley

    DrRipleyExpert

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    I've bought a few laptops for spare parts to fix my own computers and laptops. I have a friend who does the fixing for me for free, of which I am very grateful for, and he often just points me to which gadget or spare parts I'd need to buy to get mine fixed. I've never really bought a defective one for the purpose of refurbishing or personal use, though.
     
  3. dieselfit

    dieselfitActive Member

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    You should ask him about smart phones because there is a popular question always been asked which is "Can/should the digitizer be separated?" Because apparently it's such a tricky question that only professionals can do this for the phone. I found more people saying that if anyone tried to seperate it without any experience fixing LCD's for phones, then they will break it for sure. I have a Nexus 4 coming in and the digitizer is broken. I don't want to risk breaking the LCD so I just bought the whole kit for 80$ whereas the digitizer only costs $30. Some things just can't be fixed apparently.
     
  4. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I haven't done that kind of thing yet because I have no idea how to take apart and fix a phone, but I'm just wondering if you can help me get a stuck M2 card in my phone? My phone is a slider phone. But if you don't know how to do it then it's ok, I guess I will be forced to go to the technician. If I was only knowledgeable in repairing cellphones then I'd probably take advantage of those cracked screens too.