Partly because I have damaged my Magician case slightly, and partly because I find the SPV M500 a lot more visually appealing, I'm curious whether they are actually the very same device with different casing, and if it would be possible to buy the M500 casing somewhere and pop my Jam into it.
Anyone else interested in doing this? Anyone know if it is possible?
For you who haven't seen the M500, msmobiles has a review of it.
Skip
The design certainly is a matter of personal taste. I find the standard Jam/S100 design unfinished and also prefer the Orange version, so I am keeping an eye on this thread...
Placed side by side the orange version is slightly larger than the jam, so it may not work.
rgds
jim
Unfinished is definitely the right way to express it. It looks like an engineering sample to me.
I remember reading that somebody was able to order a new casing for the Jam. If that person may please step forward and explain how this was done, it might be a way to get hold of the M500 casing.
Or maybe somebody with an orange contract can contact them in the matter?
Firstly, however, somebody would need to disassemble their M500 so that we can compare its innards with the Jam. There are guides how to disassemble these devices in this forum.
Skip
Hi LeSkip,
I also like this new look, but my problem is the accessories, have have several leather, silicone cases, and they are all made for Qtek,Imate,O2 mini, xda mini...
If you get to know where these hard cases come from, i'm sure you can ask them for a case...
I have no doubts that it is technically possible to switch the cover. We just need to replace the switches, styli and buttons too. Along with cases and such, of course, as has already been mentioned here. Not a big problem to me, but I see a few other issues, though:
1. Where to buy the M500 cover?
2. The price! It appears to me that no HTC cover has ever been cheap!
3. Once the Magician has been opened, all traces of your warranty is gone!
I think you can get the casings from your local HTC Service centres
rgds
Jim
According to the last post in this HowardForums thread they are the exakt same size.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=624198
So far so good.
Skip
Related
Hey guys. I just got this second hand O2 XDA Mini a few weeks ago and I was challenged to bring it back to it's former glory. It as pretty run down but still in good working order so I decided to do a complete make over.
First, I went about flashing the ROM to the Latest Big Storage ROM which really helped me cram all my necessary apps. Second, I started looking for a replacement fascia/housing to give the Mini a fresh new look. I decided not to go with the Original fascia/housing because it was too expensive. Instead, I got this OEM (non-original) replacement fascia which came in a variety of colors. For my Mini, I decided to go with black. The keypad itself was black which made it unique.
I then went about the challenging and harrowing task of disassembly. After a couple of hours and many sweaty hand wipes later, I managed to put the new fascia together with nary a problem. I put my "new" Mini in a crystal case in order to protect it from scratches and voila... My own O2 XDA Mini Black Edition! Even blacker than the oiginal Black Edition.
Check out the pics...
Do tell about your own expereinces (and pictures) of your forays into customization.
HEY KABAYAN!!! that's awesome!, where did you bought the housing? at bidshot or in greenhills?, i've saw one in BIDSHOT and he's seeling it for 1k,how much did you bought yours?, i want to change my casing too,so that i can keep the original black housing.m using a hardcase and it's to bulky to use(MAS MAGANDA KCNG GMITIN AND MINI PAG WLANG CASE).
Hope to hear from you soooonnn!!!!
Looking great bro..how much did the Housing cost ya??
All in all a great job-10/10
I got it in Greenhills for about 800 but I'm sure you could get it for 700 if you look hard enough. I've decided to put a membrane at the d-pad opening to protect the d-pad since i know this will fade from constant contact with my thumb. It's a really good idea if you want to do what I did. Now my Mini is completely made over and protected.
I'm glad you guys liked the job. I'm really happy wih it too.
ooo...hello KABAYAN!! ahah, i remember those places...ahh home...
i so envy you at the moment. I want that clear case and that cover!
the clear case i got is different and scratches my fone.
ima gonna ask my cuzes over there to get me one...
CAn i ask something? what material is the non original case made out of?
is it the same as the original one? which is some sort of metal... i love that metal feel on my magician...
whitemoo..
You know, the feel of the housings are actually quite similar to the original. The fit is also plush.
well...thanks for that, i decided to order the silver original and the gray casings, costing me over $100 aud, argh overpriced shipping...
also picked up the same clear case that only half opens...
cant wait till they get here!.
Thanks for the info,
Whitemoo
did the same thing for my 2nd hand mini.
If there is a crystal clear housing, that would be very cool. It would look like a swatch watch
xda mini housing
who are bigshot and greenhills?? are they in us or worldwide? do they ship to the uk/ also l have a tmobile uk compact/ magicianand the screen broke after i dropped it. i got ot repaired using a blocked compact2/charmer. ever since the send, end, calender, contacts and centre buttons dont work. the send button ends the call and the others do nothing at all. could anyone help?
you can buy em off ebay. I ordered mine the other day. Comes to about 30 quid including postage for the keypad and the case.
I think these are going to be genuine ones left over from when they were making the xda mini so are probably genuine. Will be comparing my old facia with the new one carefully when they arrive and will report back wheather i think they are copys or not
I was once in Greenhills (Vira Mall). It is a shopping mall in the Philippines and there's an area with retail stores (mostly run by Chinese) dedicated for all type of phones. They do repairs, unlocking, conversions, and sell all sorts of accesories. Prices are quite cheap (in comparison to US and European prices) but most accessories are coming from China and are of very poor quality according to our standards. I didn't buy anything because of the quality of products. I've never been to BigShot but I guess it's something similar.
I'm wondering if you can show a fellow pinoy how to disassemble my mini. And while were on the subject, do you know where or how I can replace or improve the speaker on my phone. My phone sounds distorted when it's turned up. salamat pare ko!
I'm not a Filipino. but I was there many times for business trips and in one of those trips I was in Greenhills.
I already dismantled my unit once. What I'll do is take pics while dismantling it when my facia arrives, hopefully in a week. It's hard to explain by words only. So, stay tuned.
disassemble
@rdgzmn4xdadevelopers: I found this one some time ago on the forum. Can't remember the post, but I'm sure you like it BTW how did you come up with your nickname?
Cheers, M
EDIT Replaced the file with the uncorrupted rar
Thanks OLTP but it seems that the ZIP file is corrupted.
you're right & on my device too I'm searching for the post now.
Excuse me for the inconvenience, M
No problem. I just got a notice from the post office, hopefully it's the fascia I ordered.
Well I found it back, of course http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=39489&highlight=magician+apart
& that thread links to another useful one.
Succes in the refurbishmentbusiness, M
Your da man :lol:
I'm just getting it very hot with these compliments.
It's just that I can't take it when I can't find something back.
HI,
The otherday i was cleaning and changing the case of my Magician.
I made a wrong move and pulled out the camera, lucky the camera was connected by what it looks like a socket.
So yea, im just wondering, would it be possible to buy another camera module, coz the camera is just plain crap.
im just looking at ways of improving my magician lol.
whitemoo.
if its a standard conection id say yes i did a cam change on an old nec e808y it worked so i cant see why not id head off to maplin and pick up a cam let me know how you get on or if you get stuck
Actually the Magician's camera is a bit... weird. It hangs off by a thin parallel connection instead of being soldered to the board, which I don't think many other cameras do. I dunno, I've given up all hope on that terrible camera
ive just about given up hope to, im only wondering cause my real digicamera is in repair, and im itching to take photo's.
I was looking at aftermarket parts for camera phones, and saw camera modules which looked like they had similar connections, so there might be hope.
When i do get my real digicamera back from repair ill take some high res shots of the connector, and aftermarket case's for reference on this forum.
Whitemoo.
yer get some shots of where it connects to the phone as well
Can anyone give me a detailed description of how to change the case of O2 mini. I have tried to open the case many times but failed. iam afraid i might void the warranty.
Hi maharishi_b,
ill be giving my detailed photo's of the inside of the xda mini soon, and photo's of aftermarket cases i bought off ebay, compared to the original. This will all come soon.
you will need a plastic case opener similar to what they use to open the ipod's, and a torx screwdriver.
Theres a post with pictures on how to open it, but i cant seem to find it.
Whitemoo.
Torx size 6 to be precise. Stupid seller who sold me my casing shipped me a size 5, and I almost made the bottom two screws round before I realised.
Also I dont use the plastic case opener - I find a thin metal thing to be more effective, though I dont know what its called - it holds the binding thing... nevermind.
I really wanted the front camera, but wasn't willing to spend upwards of $400 for it, comparing a non-contracted TyTN II and a contracted Tilt, or even a$200 difference for a non-contracted Tilt.
So, I'm thinking... Is there any way to get the front half of the unit with the screen and the front camera, just so I can get the full TyTN II?
I'm already CID unlocked and SIM unlocked, just thought I'd try to see if I can take it to the next level...
Yes it can be done, I believe. I did this very same thing with my 8525 after getting my hands on a broken JasJam from someone I know and then performing the necessary surgery (funny, because I really am a surgeon!). Now, there ARE a few caveats here: one, I knew for a fact that the AT&T 8525 and the i-mate JasJam were fundamentally the same hardware, and that the 8525 actually had the socket for the camera, so I just took the JasJam's camera, plugged it in, and replaced my 8525's faceplate with the JasJam's.
Because this device is new, however, you're going to have to wait for some time before spare parts become available. And because most mobile device people are highly neurotic, I don't expect that they're going to part with even a broken device, but you never know.
PDADoc, that's a cool story about the camera surgery. I love it!
Glad you enjoyed it, lol! I just got bored and since I already had my Kaiser device I figured why not? It worked out well enough, so it's in the desk drawer for use as a backup device. I'm vascillating on whether to sell it or not in the meantime.
love the surgery story too..wish you filmed it. "Vascillating"? LOL Yeah you're definitely a Doctor!
FCC photos on the Kaiser: https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/oet/forms/blobs/retrieve.cgi?attachment_id=791306&native_or_pdf=pdf
interesting. I'd personally much rather transplant a speaker there though. It'd be especially useful for playing videos. Having the speaker on the back for that job is just silly.
does anyone knows if a hermes cam is the same of a tilt cam? i wanna do same as the "surgeon" but on ebay i can only find hermes cams... thank you
I think a couple guys over at hofo have done this with the Kaiser.. Ofcourse the hard part is finding the camera.
Once you do find the camera, cnn.cn has the front faceplate with the camera hole so if you do get a damaged kaiser with a marked up front cover, you can pick that one up for 12.99 plus shipping.
fone_fanatic said:
I think a couple guys over at hofo have done this with the Kaiser.. Ofcourse the hard part is finding the camera.
Once you do find the camera, cnn.cn has the front faceplate with the camera hole so if you do get a damaged kaiser with a marked up front cover, you can pick that one up for 12.99 plus shipping.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
but now i need to know if the hermes front cam is the same as kaiser's 'cuz i cant find kaiser's one.thank you
bump
sorry for doing this but i desperately need to know it.thanks.
ken0150 said:
sorry for doing this but i desperately need to know it.thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way would be to buy it and find out if it works?
I don't know if anyone could give you the answer 100% as most people who have Kaisers with cameras own HTC TyTN IIs and not Tilts. Unless if someone has access to the part numbers for both the Hermies and the Kaiser I don't know if you'd get the information you are looking for.
Daemos said:
The best way would be to buy it and find out if it works?
I don't know if anyone could give you the answer 100% as most people who have Kaisers with cameras own HTC TyTN IIs and not Tilts. Unless if someone has access to the part numbers for both the Hermies and the Kaiser I don't know if you'd get the information you are looking for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think this is the best answer i got till now. tomorrow my tilt will arrive and i will check if there is a front cam slot
I need to open the case of my Tornado. So far, I've taken 3 screws out from the back and managed to pry the bottom part slightly open. I can't get it open completely since the top part seems stuck and I don't want to break it by forcing it to open. Can someone please guide me? Thanks
may be this link can help you
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=332464&highlight=open
There's a screw hidden behind a little sticker that warns warranty void if removed. Behind the battery.
Thanks for the info.
thunderb0lt said:
Thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did I guess correctly about what had you stalled?
Here is a really good link with pictures and all. Hope it helps!
http://sdadisassembly.blogspot.com/
button setup...interchangable???
i saw the links you guys had posted and they help greatly. However i have a question...the qtek 8300 or dopod 586 buttons are they interchangable with the t-mobile sda? kinda tired of seeing that pink t-zone logo on my phone . also it would make my day if i got a yes to this question.... the housing on those same phones fit my sda?
Wolfdragon said:
i saw the links you guys had posted and they help greatly. However i have a question...the qtek 8300 or dopod 586 buttons are they interchangable with the t-mobile sda? kinda tired of seeing that pink t-zone logo on my phone . also it would make my day if i got a yes to this question.... the housing on those same phones fit my sda?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe they are the same in all details except for the printing.
I have been examining them carefully as I wish to buy a new housing.
Does anyone have photo or written instructions on how to take the i-Mate 9502 apart? My keyboard backlight appears to have a loose connection. Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks again, and happy new year to all.
I've gotten to the point where I can remove the torx screw that is hidden behind the stylus, and that releases the rear plate with the speaker and camera. However, I haven't removed it completely, just cracked it open a bit, because I don't know where the rest of the clips are and I don't want to break any of them off.
I'll keep searching online for any suggestions. I ordered up some tools to properly open the body, I might give it a go once they arrive.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Perhaps you can ask here:
http://www.totalpda.co.uk/forum/i-mate/
Good luck,