Thanks Fox, you seem to be the head honcho in these forums so i'll take your advice as to buying them already assembled. The price seems ok (compared to a new phone) but i did call motorola and they seemed confident they could do the repair for between $150-$200 but it would take a week or so. I hate the idea of someone else doing my work for me, but right now that quote is cheaper than the price of the parts alone if i buy them online.
Is they any recommendations where to find a cheaper samoled and digitizer together?
Seems as if everywhere is sold out =(
Thank you so much for the (unwarranted) complement. Believe me, I'm far from "head honcho". Just look at my title and you'll see I'm "Moderator" which is low-man on Totem pole in the Administrative hierarchy here. Still, I do try very hard to be as helpful as I can to everyone.
As for the cost of that mated glass pair, I have seen them in the past for far less, however I just did another search and the prices are ALL now in the $200+ range. I suspect it's due to an increase in demand, versus a limited supply. For example, you can get replacement digitizers and displays for earlier phones for 25% of the cost of the same for the RAZR/MAXX.
The best price I've seen in my searches now are $220. If it will help, here's a video (silent) which demonstrates replacing the digitizer/screen ([video=youtube;I0fSED86mLs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0fSED86mLs[/video] ), and though there are others, at least this one shows just how difficult it is to remove the back from the adhesive on the battery. For you, I recommend less pressure and more time than even this video shows to allow the adhesive to "let go" rather than "pulling" it off as you risk damaging (bubbling) the battery if pulled too hard.
I've found that if you apply just enough pressure to separate the two sides and "listen" to the parts as they pull apart you can hear the glue letting go. Reduce pressure to where the sound stops and then increase slightly until the sound starts again. With this amount of pressure - just enough but not too much, you will not only prevent damaging the battery but will also not tear the adhesive preventing it from making a smooth and proper fit when replacing it.
Also, be extra careful as you work around where the speakers (top of phone, front-facing ear and back facing speakerphone) and microphones (top of phone on back between speaker and camera flash, and bottom of phone both middle back and middle front), as they all have a very thin foam rubber grommet surrounding them which is very easily damaged or torn. If that grommet were to tear or be disrupted, you will end up with (in the case of the speakers) a reduced volume level and loss of deeper mid-range sound, or (in the case of the microphones) poor audio quality and possible increased background noise from you for the other party on a phone call. When in doubt, chicken out.
Good luck. :biggrin:
