Tag: iphone cracked screen
Should I repair my own iPad, iPod or iPhone?
Do it yourself. A common phrase for a lot of people who either prefer to be self reliant or are looking to save on costs.
But what happens when a “do it yourself” attempt ends up causing more problems than you started with? This is a very common issue faced by people seeking to repair their own electronic devices, and more often than not will lead to costlier repairs than if the repair had been done professionally in the first place. I am not saying that only professionals should fix handheld devices and other electronics. What I want readers to understand is that they need to consider if the risks being taken outweigh any benefits gained from attempting to perform repairs yourself.
For instance, let us say that a person has a high end smart phone and the camera stops working. They want to save some money and decide to order a part online and use a guide they found elsewhere (perhaps a step by step video) of how to perform the repair they want. This person gets home, picks up the part from his or her mail, goes out some tools and goes to work. This is, from my experience, how most customers start off their attempts at fixing their own products. The person may or may not be successful in their endeavor, but immediately there are four big issues with the process they have undertaken.
1. The new part they ordered. There are hundreds of places online where people can order parts from for more devices than I can conceive. The issue is that not every part is manufactured the same and most people do not have have any idea if the place they are ordering from is reputable and dealing in manufacturer grade parts or cheap knock offs. It may sound silly, but there are a lot of vendors out there that deal in parts that either will not last or will not fit/work at all for the repair being attempted. A company that specializes in repair services knows their vendors and the quality of parts they are ordering (and will typically also offer a limited warranty the repair for said part should any issues arise).
2. The next problem is the guide the customer is using. This is always a very hit or miss issue. Some guides may be very accurate and amazingly well presented, others could skip important information that lead to huge mistakes. Even more important to remember is that the people who often make these guides (specifically quality ones) are very practiced at what they do. They know which connections are easy to break accidentally, when to avoid putting too much tension on a part and exactly where that little clip is hiding that is preventing that one piece from separating for the next step. The average person, lacking this learned knowledge, is prone to making simple little mistakes that cause more harm than realized until after they close the electronic device up and try to use it again.
3. Something as mundane as tools may not come to mind when doing repairs, but more and more electronic devices are using specialized tools and drivers. If a person tries to use a substitute, they will likely cause unintended damages to the device being worked on. Should someone decide to go out and buy what they need for this specific repair that margin of money saved by doing it oneself begins to dwindle very quickly.
4. ESD, or electrostatic discharge, is the bane of every electronic repair. The tiniest, unnoticed discharge of static electricity can permanently ruin a circuit board. Sometimes the problem is not even apparently right away, but instead causes failures down the line. A good repair center will have anti-static equipment on hand to safely repair electronic devices without risk of such issues.
So next time that smart phone, tablet, mp3 player or other similar device breaks make sure to ask yourself if the small benefit of trying to fix it on your own is worth the effort and risks involved.
We offer free email quotes and questions, so before you jump on in that tiny device and possibly ruin ribbons, little teeth and whatnot, email us! info@callthatgirl.biz
