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Sorry to start up a SAD SDA topic but it has to be done...
I thought I'd be smart and pick up a broken screen "tornado" SDA from Ebay like some of us have already done. Got it, hooked up to usb cables and my activesync 4.5 picked it right up, allowing me to explore the file system and even browse some naughty pics (oops) that the previous owners had left on there. Ok, seemed to work, could make a phone call with my sim card etc...even without being able to see past the cracked LCD screen.
Next step was to buy a replacement screen, for which I am sure you all have seen the "2125 screen" that is the exact model as a Tmobile LCD. I replaced this and prayed for the best.
The best didn't happen. I got a nasty all white screen and got upset....then recheced the ribbon cable connections and they were appropriately installed.
Same thing over and over. WTF?
I have SOTI pocket controller professional. For those who don't know what this is, it allows remote viewing of the little screen on your PPC phone or Smartphone on your Desktop or Laptop computer's monitor.
It is great for the purpose of checking functionality of a "broken LCD" phone. Everything worked fine on the virtual screen! I even UNLOCKED and SUPER CIDed the darn thing and have reflashed original OS from TMO just to be sure.
WHY ON GOD's green earth can I not get a working display on this thing UNLESS of course, I got ripped off by the ebay vendor. (who never sent me a replacement envelope as promised to swap out and send this one back)
Just venting but seriously, DOES anyone have a solution.
It is not a dead phone, bricked, wrong operating system, or any of the other posited theories here. The screen is just inexplicably white and properly connected. HELP.
Thanks.
I am an MDA owner and just dabble in this SDA thing.
I would love this nice little phone to work..if not, I have a brand new housing, a possibly working screeen (with another phone) and lots of parts for someone..hint hint.
gfourner_austintxmda said:
Sorry to start up a SAD SDA topic but it has to be done...
I thought I'd be smart and pick up a broken screen "tornado" SDA from Ebay like some of us have already done. Got it, hooked up to usb cables and my activesync 4.5 picked it right up, allowing me to explore the file system and even browse some naughty pics (oops) that the previous owners had left on there. Ok, seemed to work, could make a phone call with my sim card etc...even without being able to see past the cracked LCD screen.
Next step was to buy a replacement screen, for which I am sure you all have seen the "2125 screen" that is the exact model as a Tmobile LCD. I replaced this and prayed for the best.
The best didn't happen. I got a nasty all white screen and got upset....then recheced the ribbon cable connections and they were appropriately installed.
Same thing over and over. WTF?
I have SOTI pocket controller professional. For those who don't know what this is, it allows remote viewing of the little screen on your PPC phone or Smartphone on your Desktop or Laptop computer's monitor.
It is great for the purpose of checking functionality of a "broken LCD" phone. Everything worked fine on the virtual screen! I even UNLOCKED and SUPER CIDed the darn thing and have reflashed original OS from TMO just to be sure.
WHY ON GOD's green earth can I not get a working display on this thing UNLESS of course, I got ripped off by the ebay vendor. (who never sent me a replacement envelope as promised to swap out and send this one back)
Just venting but seriously, DOES anyone have a solution.
It is not a dead phone, bricked, wrong operating system, or any of the other posited theories here. The screen is just inexplicably white and properly connected. HELP.
Thanks.
I am an MDA owner and just dabble in this SDA thing.
I would love this nice little phone to work..if not, I have a brand new housing, a possibly working screeen (with another phone) and lots of parts for someone..hint hint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey mate, don't loose your faith!!! Redo the connection. The same thing happend to me, and I swore I had pluged that flat connector correctly into the socket and I didn't. Wiggle it, you can't enter it straight in, it has to slide in on an angle. Look at the one you removed. Look at the mark left by the "YELLOW TAPE" that holds the ribbon inside the slot. It will tell you how far in it has to go. Also, there are 2 other contacts that have to be in the propper position. One makes contact between the back plate of the LCD and a mesh looking spot where it sits. It has to sit in place so you have the "ground" on the LCD. If you need, I can put apart my phone and take a close picture and post it for you so you can see what Im talking about. But I'm pretty sure that your problem is just the ribbon not being in all the way. There are 2 sets of connections inside the socket. If the ribbon isn't all the way in, only the 1rst set will make contact, LCD will light up, but, no image. Good Luck and I do hope its as I say. Please let me know here or on PM if you need some pictures.
White Screen of Death Advice
markanthonypr said:
Hey mate, don't loose your faith!!! Redo the connection. The same thing happend to me, and I swore I had pluged that flat connector correctly into the socket and I didn't. Wiggle it, you can't enter it straight in, it has to slide in on an angle. Look at the one you removed. Look at the mark left by the "YELLOW TAPE" that holds the ribbon inside the slot. It will tell you how far in it has to go. Also, there are 2 other contacts that have to be in the propper position. One makes contact between the back plate of the LCD and a mesh looking spot where it sits. It has to sit in place so you have the "ground" on the LCD. If you need, I can put apart my phone and take a close picture and post it for you so you can see what Im talking about. But I'm pretty sure that your problem is just the ribbon not being in all the way. There are 2 sets of connections inside the socket. If the ribbon isn't all the way in, only the 1rst set will make contact, LCD will light up, but, no image. Good Luck and I do hope its as I say. Please let me know here or on PM if you need some pictures.
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Click to collapse
Thank you for this insightful and confident reply!
I am certain that it will be quite useful to a Tornado user with this problem in general. The screen I got must be defective (too late to return) because this advice above should be the perfect solution.
Didn't work for me though but It is very nice for someone to put the effort into posting in such a manner.
Kudos to a valuable member of our community!
I might fool around and pick up another used T-mobile SDA and pray that I can get one working properly. If this screen works on that one, I guess I bought an ebay dud (masked by the broken screen).
Yes, this phone is getting dated but I really wanted to experiment with new ROMS and push it as far as it could go.
G
gfourner_austintxmda said:
Thank you for this insightful and confident reply!
I am certain that it will be quite useful to a Tornado user with this problem in general. The screen I got must be defective (too late to return) because this advice above should be the perfect solution.
Didn't work for me though but It is very nice for someone to put the effort into posting in such a manner.
Kudos to a valuable member of our community!
I might fool around and pick up another used T-mobile SDA and pray that I can get one working properly. If this screen works on that one, I guess I bought an ebay dud (masked by the broken screen).
Yes, this phone is getting dated but I really wanted to experiment with new ROMS and push it as far as it could go.
G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sad to hear it didn't work for you mate. Well if you get another one, you got that one for parts Gotta be optimistic!! lol
I just got off the phone with AT&T support. For the past 30 days, all the phones in the house (Fuze, iPhone 3G and Samsung) have been having missed called, dropped calls, no dial tone, etc. The tech person asked me to take the battery and SIM card out of the Fuze, wait 30 seconds, and put it back together--something I've done dozens of times thanks to the neat stuff I learn on the ROM forum. Only this time went I put everything back...NOTHING! I can't get the Fuze to start up at all. They're telling me to return it for warranty replacement.
This is the second Fuze I've had to replace under warranty in the first 9 months of my contract. Of course this time I can't reinstall the original ROM and radio before I send it back, 'cause I can't even start it up. Dang it! It took me weeks to tune everything just the way I like it. Now I have to start over.
Just venting, thanks.
neuen said:
I just got off the phone with AT&T support. For the past 30 days, all the phones in the house (Fuze, iPhone 3G and Samsung) have been having missed called, dropped calls, no dial tone, etc. The tech person asked me to take the battery and SIM card out of the Fuze, wait 30 seconds, and put it back together--something I've done dozens of times thanks to the neat stuff I learn on the ROM forum. Only this time went I put everything back...NOTHING! I can't get the Fuze to start up at all. They're telling me to return it for warranty replacement.
This is the second Fuze I've had to replace under warranty in the first 9 months of my contract. Of course this time I can't reinstall the original ROM and radio before I send it back, 'cause I can't even start it up. Dang it! It took me weeks to tune everything just the way I like it. Now I have to start over.
Just venting, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will it even power up? If so, have you tried entering the bootloader manually?
neuen said:
I just got off the phone with AT&T support. For the past 30 days, all the phones in the house (Fuze, iPhone 3G and Samsung) have been having missed called, dropped calls, no dial tone, etc. The tech person asked me to take the battery and SIM card out of the Fuze, wait 30 seconds, and put it back together--something I've done dozens of times thanks to the neat stuff I learn on the ROM forum. Only this time went I put everything back...NOTHING! I can't get the Fuze to start up at all. They're telling me to return it for warranty replacement.
This is the second Fuze I've had to replace under warranty in the first 9 months of my contract. Of course this time I can't reinstall the original ROM and radio before I send it back, 'cause I can't even start it up. Dang it! It took me weeks to tune everything just the way I like it. Now I have to start over.
Just venting, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude, I'm going to give you some advice here that you may want to consider. I originally had a tilt, well the tilt "malfunctioned" on me three times and had to be serviced each time at their service center. Well the woman who I spoke to at AT&T, told me that there is a policy, but you have to request it, but if you have to have your phone serviced/replaced three times in a consecutive 12 month period that you can ask for a different device, I told her I wasn't convinced of the quality of the product. Well when you do this they have to offer you a comprable device to the device you are replacing. The reason why I mention this to you is because the Tilt 2, touch Pro 2 for AT&T, whatever you want to call it is being released sometime in october. You may want toask if your device can be exchanged for this. This is how I got my Fuze for free.
They'll give you a comparable device, not an upgrade. Although I was at the AT&T store yesterday looking at some of the current phones and nothing really came close to the Fuze. I didn't see the Samsung Epix (WM6.1 Pro) there or the Samsung Jack (WM6.1 Smartphone).
Supposedly Samsung is coming out with another 'Blackjack' like phone with a full frontal QWERTY. Supposedly it is the upgrade to the Samsung Epix. I forget the name. Supposed to be released with WM6.5 early October (oct 6th?).
I dunno. I've actually swapped phones but they are a real stickler. I would ask which phones would be available for swapping with... say you want to research them and call back. Then perhaps try to find a nice rep to do the transaction. The CS rep makes all the difference.
Sucks the phone died btw. I need to get mine replaced because my screen somehow gathered moisture under the screen or something. Looks like an oil slick when viewed from certain angles. Outside it makes the screen almost unreadable.
Actually they will offer you the new device, just need to play your cards right. Confirmed with my friend who is an AT&T sales rep.
player911 said:
... I was at the AT&T store yesterday looking at some of the current phones and nothing really came close to the Fuze...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at&t flavor of TP2 will be out in October and Diamond2 sometime later, before year end...
hmmm well maybe I should get the ball rolling on replacing mine (since it needs it) and just pray my other ones are funky. Although I don't know of any device I'd rather have. The TP2 perhaps but from what I've seen I don't like the looks. Might change when I get my hands on one.
player911 said:
Sucks the phone died btw. I need to get mine replaced because my screen somehow gathered moisture under the screen or something. Looks like an oil slick when viewed from certain angles. Outside it makes the screen almost unreadable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, this happened to my phone too. It isn't moisture. It is the layers of the screen coming apart. It will eventually spread to your whole screen and the screen will become non-responsive. I found google links discussing it. They replaced mine for free.
Chris
how much play does your screen have when the keyboard is hidden?
i'm just curious because someone tried to open my phone like a voyager or env. I never noticed that the screen part lifts up like a milimeter and a half or so.
Thats about how much mine has.
My first Fuze had that and my refurbished replacement had this as well. My refurb actually "over closes" and has a buck toothed edge now
My new fuze is like opening and shutting a refredgerator door. My old one was loose as a goose, not sure I care either way.
Oh and there is a huge thread on this topic already with something like 400 replies in it...
So, I broke the glass on my Infuse a week ago. The LCD touchscreen beneath it is in perfect condition without any noticeable defects. I have dropped my phone from over 5' onto concrete multiple times in the past and nothing broke those times, but I went to get out of my car and it slipped out of my pocket and fell one foot onto asphalt and the screen shattered, at least the bottom half. It sucks, but it happens, right? That is why I pay $5 /month for insurance, it is an expensive phone that i don't want to replace out of pocket. Well, it turns out that the last time I had to file an insurance claim they hadn't updated their pricing policy. It use to be $50 for a claim, but now it is $200! Ridiculously expensive if I say so myself. I went onto ebay and found that they sell the LCD, glass, and tools for $190, but this is an outdated phone, well AT&T doesn't sell it anymore at least. Why would I want to spend close to $200 for a new screen when I only spent $80 to buy the phone 15 months ago???
Now onto my real question:
1) Should I buy the screen replacement and fix it myself? I'm generally really good with electronics... and I've replaced screens in flip phones before.
2) Should I open a new line on my existing account for $10 a month and get the galaxy s3 for $170 and just put my sim card in the phone?
3) or should I go through AT&T's replacement service and get w/e phone they want to give me? (What phone replaced the Infuse anyway?)
What do you guys think I should do?
I have cracked glass on my Infuse (LCD still works fine in my case, I assume it does for you as well).
Here are what I think are the three best options (no particular order)
1 - Send it to Samsung for repair. They'll do it for about $156, including shipping both ways (they send you a shipping envelope). But you'll lose your phone for 1 to 2 weeks.Contact phone number: 1-888-987-4357
2 - Get a used phone on ebay, craigslist, etc.
3 - Live with it and hope it gets better. This may sound wacky, but I have a cracked phone glass and it really honestly seems to have gotten "better" over time. I'm not kidding.
Part of is switching your apps to dark background so you don't notice the cracks as much (and save battery anyway)..
part of it is getting used to the cracks so they don't catch your attention...
and here's the wacky part ... in my case some of the cracks have "gone away" or gotten smaller since the initial damage. I know that sounds silly and I certainly can't explain why it did that (other than to say this is not normal glass), but that is what I observed with my own eyes.
I don't think replacing the whole LCD unit is an attractive option. It costs $150 and you can get a new phone or have Samsung fix it for that much. It is a somewhat delicate procedure from what I have heard so after spending tht $150 there's a small chance you may not have fixed anything.
There is also Infuse Glass for sale for $10 or so but it is apparently unusable... can't replace glass without replacing the entire LCD unit (they're glued together)
you might want to double check ATT website. i got my refurbished infuse for 1 penny. flawless, looked and worked like brand new. so good, i got one for my sister too.
I have an infuse that I'm willing to sell for 150. Everything works besides the USB port being wonky at times...sometimes it works, others it doesn't. So for 150 you could repair your phone and gain another battery/everything else for the same price as sending it to Samsung.
I advise against adding a line...yeah its 170 up front but add another 240 for 10 bucks a month extra over two years. So that's paying essentially 410 for that s3...same with buying it for a penny online...paying 240 for another infuse over two years.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
electricpete1 said:
3 - Live with it and hope it gets better. This may sound wacky, but I have a cracked phone glass and it really honestly seems to have gotten "better" over time. I'm not kidding.
Part of is switching your apps to dark background so you don't notice the cracks as much (and save battery anyway)..
part of it is getting used to the cracks so they don't catch your attention...
and here's the wacky part ... in my case some of the cracks have "gone away" or gotten smaller since the initial damage. I know that sounds silly and I certainly can't explain why it did that (other than to say this is not normal glass), but that is what I observed with my own eyes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Attached are pictures immediately after I dropped my phone. I took them using front-facing camera mode.
Here are photos of the same phone (not repaired) today, about 5 months after I dropped it.
I was not able to recreate the exact same view (not sure how I originally managed to use front-facing camera and mirror to get photo of screen without seeing picture within picture type thing).
But I hope you can see it is a lot better. Tough to capture in pictures but there is no doubt in my mind the cracks somehow got better.
Your cracks got better likely because of the adhesive on your screen protector. That is a decent idea for the op to try though...if no chunks of glass are missing, they could try seeing if a screen protector makes the cracks less noticeable
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I have a screen protector on the phone right now and that is the only reason I'm able to use it. I'll post some pictures in a few showing how it looks.
captemo: How were you able to get an Infuse for $0.01? Was it an upgrade/new line/new customer deal?
electricpete1: they showed up when I posted my reply. Interesting...Makes me wonder what type of nearly self healing glass they implemented on your phone! lol Well, that is interesting, I can still see the impact site on the 5 months after photos, but the cracks seem to be nearly invisible now. [[]]edit[[]]For some reason your images are not showing up.[[]]edit[[]] I'll take a look on another browser and see what it looks like. But I am using a screen protector already.
welchertc: I was actually ready for an upgrade in a month but the account holder was a few hours late on his scheduled payment for an over due account and it bumped my upgrade deadline to July next year. So I would technically keep the new line for 7 months, then deactivate my current line and transfer the number over. (I believe that it possible...correct me if I am wrong though) I'll think about buying your infuse. Could you either show a picture of the screen or describe its condition? Mine was flawless, until it dropped that is.
So, my options are either buy a used one for $50 less, claim insurance, send to samsung (Should I keep the custom rom on the phone or will this send up red flags? I'm running Jellybean), or live with it until I can upgrade?
welchertc said:
Your cracks got better likely because of the adhesive on your screen protector. That is a decent idea for the op to try though...if no chunks of glass are missing, they could try seeing if a screen protector makes the cracks less noticeable
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have the same screen protector on there now that was on there when it cracked (didn't change it).
Maybe the screen protector somehow played a role in the appearance of cracks going away (even though it's the same screen protector).
Maybe the adhesive is soaking into the cracks. Maybe the protector started to pull away from the crack so hides it a little.
Beats me.
Rhamza161 said:
But I am using a screen protector already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same as I was. For whatever reason, the screen that looked horrible 5 months ago after I dropped it looks great now... and I didn't do anything (including didn't change screen protector). I was on the verge of spending $156 to have Samsung fix it, and the only reason I didn't was that I didn't want to give up my phone for the period of 1-2 weeks required for that shipping/repair. Now, based on all the factors I mentioned (using black background, getting used to it, and cracked appearance going away somewhat) I'm glad I didn't spend that money.
here are the pictures:
To me, it looks similar to how mine looked. Heavy damage in one corner with cracks spreading accross the screen.
You could try waiting a month or two (three tops). If you see no change, then go ahead and find your replacement. But you might be pleasantly surprised with substantial improvement in appearance (like I was). In the meantime, set your apps and wallpaper to black for very dark backround.
I think I'll wait and see if I can live with it for a month, and if I cannot...then I'll see about replacing the screen first. I'll start the contact with samsung within the week though. I'd rather get the information now and be able to get the replacement screen as quick as possible if I decide to go that route.
Thanks for the advice guys.
Rhamza161 said:
I think I'll wait and see if I can live with it for a month, and if I cannot...then I'll see about replacing the screen first. I'll start the contact with samsung within the week though. I'd rather get the information now and be able to get the replacement screen as quick as possible if I decide to go that route.
Thanks for the advice guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK. I think it was about two months before I noticed the change. I wasn't expecting a change and therefore wasn't looking for a change, so may not have been really observant. You on the other hand have very good quality pictures of screen and will be watching closely.
** Please do come back here and let us know how it turns out.
(I have zero doubt about what I saw, but I also understand it's difficult for anyone else to believe... would feel better if someone else reports similar observations)
I'm always on the forum, but rarely post because the only threads I usually watch are the ones dealing with development. I'll be sure to let you know about the glass though,
Rhamza161 said:
3) or should I go through AT&T's replacement service and get w/e phone they want to give me? (What phone replaced the Infuse anyway?)
What do you guys think I should do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd like to know what phone replaced the infuse too, especially since its officially considered an obsolete phone now.
As a matter of fact Rhamza, that's the case you should build to AT&T-that the phone is obsolete. I've heard plenty of cases, including myself, of complaints to service providers and getting whatever it is you want, so long as your nice and get a compliant tech in the line.
Tell them (if u want) that "my cat knocked my phone off the table, breaking my screen. I see that this phone is totally obsolete and unavailable to purchase at any authorized att retailers... I feel I deserve a replacement because"...etc..
I've heard of people getting galaxy phones for the infuse, so it always worth shot. The worst that could happen is they say no.
In this economy never pay a dollar more for something if you don't have to. Millionaires don't.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda app-developers app
Hm, interesting. I'll give it a try. I mean it is worth a shot.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda app-developers app on jellybean rom.
I finally just went ahead and called samsung and they said the replacement screens including the LCD would cost exactly $155.88 including shipping. I don't think I'll go that route. I get paid Thursday for over 50 hours so AT&T will be contacted about a broken screen.
electricpete1: I have noticed that some parts of the screen do actually look better, however the 4 buttons on the bottom of the screen are starting to not work because of lost glass even after placing a screen protector over the loose pieces. I think they just came off of the LCD portion.
Sliding the unlock to the right on JB (CM10 unofficial) is starting to require a little more pressure than normal.
honestly i'd send it to samsung unless you have insurance, i had bad luck with replacement parts from china despite them having official "samsung" branding and looking legit. the insurance might get you a phone you don't wan't. since i think (not sure) they deal in refurbed phones for insurance but it might however get you an i-777 sgs2 (a nice upgrade if you like the smaller size) since it looks like hey still have new and refurbed i777s in stock online depited it being long out of production like the infuse. but if they a replacement phone you don't want then samsung is the best way to go unless you find a repair service that has a good warranty policy. i've replaced the screen on one of my infuses myself for a single crack across the screen that was barely visable, the replacement screen burned out in under 2 months and it cost me more than what samsung quoted you to fix yours,at the time i didn't want to be without my phone while waiting for a repair and it cost me.
Well I went ahead and went through the insurance company. Supposedly I coudl have had a choice in the phone I was given, but when I clicked on the "Choose more" button it sent me to the same phone, the Galaxy S2 Skyrocket and it said "If you click on 'more options again, you'll be directed to an associate who will attempt to help solve your problem and will not be allowed to continue online at any point" So I stayed with the Skyrocket for now...I'm honestly not sure how I'll like it. Some websites say that the screen is 0.2" smaller than the infuse, other say it is the same. I love my Infuse, but I would rather get a new phone, not one that is a year old already (the skyrocket came out last year in October after all). The phone should be here tomorrow sometime, so I'll report back and let you guys know if it is refurbished or new. In a way I hope that there is something wrong or something I dislike so I can justify attempting to get a nicer, newer phone.
But at least it is coming with ICS and the screen is not broken and there is a modding community here that is amazing! So even if it isn't the best phone I've ever used, it'll still be better than nothing and I can have JB on it within the hour of it arriving. lol
well there was something wrong with it out of the box. (Of course right?) I called Asurion and she said "we'll send you a shipping label and you can send it back to us and when we receive it we'll send you another one right back."
"Wait, I don't have another phone to use while this one is being processed and shipped. What will I do without a phone? I need it for work!"
"Well, go to AT&T and see if they will loan you a phone for about two weeks while we send you another one, but I've never heard of them doing it before."
"Why can't you send me a new phone and when I receive it, I'll send the defective one back?"
"It doesn't work like that."
"If AT&T doesn't hand out a phone for a loan and I miss work because of it, will your company compensate me my $10/hr wage and contact my bosses and explain to them that it is your fault that I missed work?"
"Um, no we can't do that either."
"[[]]sigh[[]] just send me the shipping label and be done with it. This is ridiculous."
"okay. Have a good night." and she hung up the phone.
wth? Rude and not helpful at all. The new phone that I was sent had a defective mic, both on normal calls and speaker phone calls. The AT&T customer service person was really polite and helped me though their trouble shooting guide for the phone and ended up having me go down to AT&T to get a new SIM card. That didn't work, but they activated the new SIM and added the phone to my plan. So the next AT&T rep sent me a phone number to Asurion to get it replaced, because I have 30 days to report a defective device. Well the previous conversation ensued and I find that I am really not satisfied with their representatives. I should have been recording it! jeez.
Here are some photos I took of my Infuse before I put it into the shipping box three days ago.
For years now, I've been hearing about and seeing examples online of knockoff phones floating around. I never thought I would actually come across one, however, until today.
I work at a major retailer and a customer comes up to me today with a manilla envelope and says that she wants me to setup her phone. She had bought a SIM online from prepaid service and came to the store to buy an airtime card. She then pulls out a phone from the envelope. I see a white "Samsung" phone. It looked to be something similar to a Galaxy S III Mini or Galaxy Express. I didn't think of anything when I first saw it, but I did first look for carrier branding to make sure it wasn't carrier locked. I saw none. The phone also had a hard plastic case on it with a strangely-skewed Android logo on it.
Upon closer inspection when I took the phone over to my work counter, I noticed some oddities. The screen seemed a bit strange. It was resistive. That was the first alarm. I then noticed that the "Samsung" logos on the phone were actually decals or stickers stuck to the front and back of the phone as opposed to being screen printed on, like they should be. After prying the back off, I noticed a really lightweight, cheap looking battery, with no branding whatsoever. There were also two SIM slots with two different IMEIs. I know that some international variants of certain phones have two SIM slots, but I've never actually seen one. Another alarm was something that was printed on the back of the phone under the battery: "Model: i9300." This was defiantly not a Galaxy S III.
I called into the carrier and had the SIM activated. Everything on that end seemed to go through just fine. I put the SIM into the phone and booted it up. I was greeted with a really cheesy boot animation of a stylized Galaxy S logo. When the UI finally loaded, I noticed something reminiscent of a Gingerbread-based TouchWiz homescreen. The fonts were some really pixelated serif fonts and all of the icons and "widgets" on the homescreen were really bad looking icons. When I finally found the settings menu, I dug around looking for APN and after quite a while, I finally found them. I struggled to use the onscreen keyboard with a stylus and put in all the correct settings. I rebooted the phone and was unable to make any calls. A few other oddities that I noticed were an articulating extendable antenna popping from the top of the phone and a "WiFi" logo under the battery. I could find no actual WiFi functions in the software. After playing around with all the call and APN settings, I decided to break the news to the customer.
She said that a "tech-savvy" friend of hers bought the phone for her online for $80. It was hard to tell someone they just basically bought an $80 paperweight. She left and then came back after a short time (after saying she had cried) wanting to buy a "real" Samsung phone. So about $150 later, she had an actual Samsung that was actually able to function as a smartphone should.
Not sure what I want anyone to get from this story; I just thought it was interesting and I thought I'd share it. I just wish I had gotten pictures of the actual phone. Oh well.
Just wow. I've heard about good "fakes", but it's sad that that one was completely unusable.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
beanboy89 said:
For years now, I've been hearing about and seeing examples online of knockoff phones floating around. I never thought I would actually come across one, however, until today.
I work at a major retailer and a customer comes up to me today with a manilla envelope and says that she wants me to setup her phone. She had bought a SIM online from prepaid service and came to the store to buy an airtime card. She then pulls out a phone from the envelope. I see a white "Samsung" phone. It looked to be something similar to a Galaxy S III Mini or Galaxy Express. I didn't think of anything when I first saw it, but I did first look for carrier branding to make sure it wasn't carrier locked. I saw none. The phone also had a hard plastic case on it with a strangely-skewed Android logo on it.
Upon closer inspection when I took the phone over to my work counter, I noticed some oddities. The screen seemed a bit strange. It was resistive. That was the first alarm. I then noticed that the "Samsung" logos on the phone were actually decals or stickers stuck to the front and back of the phone as opposed to being screen printed on, like they should be. After prying the back off, I noticed a really lightweight, cheap looking battery, with no branding whatsoever. There were also two SIM slots with two different IMEIs. I know that some international variants of certain phones have two SIM slots, but I've never actually seen one. Another alarm was something that was printed on the back of the phone under the battery: "Model: i9300." This was defiantly not a Galaxy S III.
I called into the carrier and had the SIM activated. Everything on that end seemed to go through just fine. I put the SIM into the phone and booted it up. I was greeted with a really cheesy boot animation of a stylized Galaxy S logo. When the UI finally loaded, I noticed something reminiscent of a Gingerbread-based TouchWiz homescreen. The fonts were some really pixelated serif fonts and all of the icons and "widgets" on the homescreen were really bad looking icons. When I finally found the settings menu, I dug around looking for APN and after quite a while, I finally found them. I struggled to use the onscreen keyboard with a stylus and put in all the correct settings. I rebooted the phone and was unable to make any calls. A few other oddities that I noticed were an articulating extendable antenna popping from the top of the phone and a "WiFi" logo under the battery. I could find no actual WiFi functions in the software. After playing around with all the call and APN settings, I decided to break the news to the customer.
She said that a "tech-savvy" friend of hers bought the phone for her online for $80. It was hard to tell someone they just basically bought an $80 paperweight. She left and then came back after a short time (after saying she had cried) wanting to buy a "real" Samsung phone. So about $150 later, she had an actual Samsung that was actually able to function as a smartphone should.
Not sure what I want anyone to get from this story; I just thought it was interesting and I thought I'd share it. I just wish I had gotten pictures of the actual phone. Oh well.
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My friend got suckered into buying a phone that's similar to be the one you described. I took some pics of it. He's pissed as he paid $300 expecting a real GS3.