I've come to posses a Samsung Galaxy S5 that has a cracked screen.
Not had a chance to get a quote yet from a store. Could anyone give me a rough idea of what it'd cost to replace it if I took it to one of those market stalls that fix mobiles?
If it's not a lot of money I'll fix it and replace my old Moto G but if it costs a lot I'll just chuck it.
Cheers.
Gee the repairers are milking it aren't they??
Approx $150 for the tools, and $10 - 15 for materials.. It doesn't take long to pay back lol
We have come to a point where it is economical to buy a phone than fixing it, its sad.
If you decide to fix, you ll face 2 scenario:
1 - Those people that fixes it for $150 normally just replace the glass and not the LCD. So they make a profit of $130. This is not a problem, but then the process of separating the glass from the actual LCD (they are glued from factory) means that there will be problems in the future if you are unlucky.
2 - if they fix it using an aftermarket glass + LCD, they make roughly $90, very quick installation. But then being aftermarket parts, you will feel the screen less responsive.
Best option is to get genuine Samsung glass + LCD, but that will set you back maybe $250 parts and labour
Search on youtube, you ll see videos of these 2 methods, maybe that will help you decide whether to fix or not. Note that the value of an S5 now is like $400ish..
economical to buy a phone than fixing it
That's exactly how the phone manufacturers would also have it. The thing is, if you take good care of your phone you can potentially use it until (a) the end of time; or (b) until the user voluntarily replaces it out of desire or need.
The idea of planned obsolescence ensures that consumers keep purchasing handsets, because the longer a user utilises a handset, the more $$ they stand to lose.
By means of active advertising, design changes, software revamps and discouraging phone retention (by making parts unavailable and repairs costly), it makes people constantly buy new phones and keeps the coin coming in at their end too.
OP - if you face the situation where the phone is uneconomical to repair, don't throw it out.
If you're interested in milking it for all its worth, advertise it on gumtree and you'll get good money for it. Phones break all the time, and parts are always in demand.
It won't cost you anything to advertise it except for your time, and if that fails (unlikely) then you can consider disposing of your GS5.
If you want to have some value in "waterproof function", you'd probably need to get it fixed by Samsung Australia.
My OzBargain rule of thumb: if the cost of replacing a cracked screen < price you paid for the phone, then you paid too much for the phone
OK, went to a couple of little stores to ask how much. First said $200 and second said $160.
Got the phone for free (with cracked screen) but I'm not spending that much on a second hand phone that may have other issues.
Might buy a replacement screen for $20 and give it a go myself.
Thanks for all the replies.
Jeez at these prices, I might as well set up a business where I ship your damaged phone to the Philippines and get the guys over there to fix it. There are about 20 guys at Makati Cinema Square and another 50 at Greenhills who are twiddling their thumbs all day, they will fix a phone for a lot cheaper.
I have a similar dilemma. My Redmi Note 2 which cost me $230 - I just broke the digitizer. So no one even has the parts here. I can get the new LCD and digitzer from Alixpress for $30, however then I need someone to fix it for me without costing more than the phone!
Does anyone know the names of a few cheap asian repair shops in Melbourne, or an area where they congregate?
Laverton Market is the cheapest to get your screen fixed , no one else will do it cheaper, I had an LCD Fixed for my S4 for $140