Broken iPod Touch: Repair or replace?
(Credit:CBS Interactive)
Is there a worse feeling than seeing youriPod Touch smack the ground and hearing the unmistakable crack of glass?
Just one: picking up the iPod and realizing the screen is shattered top-to-bottom. that was one expensive attack of gravity.
This happened to my daughter not long ago, resulting in a fourth-gen iPod Touch that, remarkably, still worked, but really wasn’t usable anymore owing to the spider web of cracked glass.
As the household cheapskate, I figured it would be cheaper to repair the unit than buy a new one. after all, a current 32GB iPod Touch sells new for $299 and refurbished one for $249.
Sure enough, a quick check of eBay revealed “4th-gen iPod Touch glass digitizer touchscreens” for as little as $12 — repair tools included. Sold!
Heh, heh, too bad for the suckers paying $70, $80, even $100 to have their iPods fixed by professionals. I can operate a screwdriver; how hard could the job be?
Before I could find out, I discovered that I’d wasted $12. although only the Touch’s glass was broken, the 4th-gen model is designed in such a way that it’s permanently adhered to the LCD beneath it. even though the latter was still functioning, some online research revealed that it’s close to impossible to replace just the glass. Crud.
(As I understand it, and as detailed in Donald Bell’s story on fixing a cracked iPod Touch screen, earlier-generation models weren’t like this. You could replace just the glass.)
So then I went shopping for a replacement “LCD screen digitizer assembly” (i.e. the whole kit and kaboodle) — and found one (again on Ebay) for around $26 shipped. Still a bargain compared with hiring a pro and paying a huge markup for the parts.
When that kit arrived, I watched a couple YouTube videos demonstrating the screen-replacement process. they made it look fairly easy, but it’s not — especially if the screen is really busted up, which mine was. I ended up removing a lot of individual shards of glass before finally getting the main assembly pried loose.
From there I discovered that a lighted, freestanding magnifying glass is a must. The iPod Touch, a miracle of modern engineering, is packed with tiny components, including screws that are downright molecular.
It took me nearly 2 hours of careful, painstaking work to disassemble the unit, connect the new screen, and put it together again — only to discover that something didn’t work right. The screen lit up, but with only a blank white image.
Was it defective? had I shorted something out? Torn one of the paper-thin ribbon cables? There was no way to know. All I had to show for my work was a lot of frustration and a disappointed daughter.
Moral of the story: unless you’re really adept with tiny electronics, it probably makes sense to pay a pro to handle the repair. that said, I found a couple shops in my area that were willing to do the labor for $20-30 if I supplied the part. given what I paid on Ebay for the replacement LCD, that would get me out the door for around $55 — maybe less.
Of course, even if you pay a service like DigiExpress or Rapid Repair upwards of $100 for the parts and service, it’s still quite a bit less than the price of a new iPod.
Have you ever attempted an iPod oriPhone screen repair on your own? if so, how did it go?
Broken iPod Touch: Repair or replace?
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Categories: iPod, iPhone, Xbox 360 Tags: 4th gen ipod, cbs, crack, household, ipods, touchscreens
Israel Today
Israel today is very different from the Israel of David’s time. There are cities and farms, cooperative communities and collective settlements, and the family structure in each is different. the peoples of Europe and Africa stream into this new democracy, bringing with them a wide variety of customs and family relationships.
The kibbutz is an institution peculiar to modern Israel. Children view their parents as friends, while nurses and teachers function as disciplinarians. Melford E. Spiro, in his book Children of the Kibbutz, describes the kibbutz as carefully planned to make the entire community responsible for each and every one of its children.
The basic features of the Collective Settlements (Kibbutz) * are common ownership of all property, except for a few personal belongings, communal organization of production, consumption and the care of children. the community is run as one household.
Husband and wife have independent jobs [determined] by a central committee elected yearly by the general assembly. Main meals are taken in the communal dining hall and are served from a common kitchen. Members’ needs are provided for by communal institutions. Families look after their own rooms but have few other household responsibilities.
In most of the Collectives, children live apart from their parents and are attended mainly by members assigned to this task. From their birth on they sleep, eat and study in special houses. Each age group leads its own life and has its autonomous arrangements. Almost every activity in the age group is supervised by an elected committee and many issues are settled by open discussion between the youngsters and the adults in charge of them. Committees work under the guidance of adults but children are given some experience in self-government and get some preparation for active participation in adult institutions.
Living conditions and the number of members assigned to look after the children depend on the economic situation of the settlement. but in all communities the standard of living of the children is noticeably higher than that of their parents. Children lead a sheltered life and are not allowed to suffer any want. they start to do some work early, but only at the age of eighteen to twenty years do they enter the adult division of labor and work full-time.
The age groups lead their own social and cultural life. On festive occasions they do not participate in the general celebration but arrange special festivities in which parents participate as passive observers. the only important exception is the culminating feast of the year (Passover) when parents and children participate alike.
Children meet their parents and their siblings every day in off hours. they spend the afternoons and early evenings with them. Parents put their young children to sleep. On Saturdays and on holidays children are with their parents most of the time except for short intervals when they take their separate meals. There are thus frequent and intensive relations between parents and children, but the main socializing agencies are the peer age groups and specialized nurses, instructors and teachers. the age group is a solidarity unit and it substitutes for the sibling unit. it inculcates communal norms. Basically the children belong to the community as a whole.
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Categories: News and Events Tags: cooperative communities, dining hall, family relationships, household
Xbox 360 Vs Playstation 3 Vs Nintendo Wii – Which is the Right Console For You?
Console gaming is fast becoming the biggest pastime, most households own at least one games console. More and more new technologies become available all the time, with so many different systems on the Market which one is the best? that can only be decided by you as each console has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each one could be suitable for one household and not another. As an avid gamer and owner of most consoles I hope to shed a little light on the answer for you.
Nintendo have been making game consoles for many years, their latest creation the Wii is an amazing piece of kit which on release was ahead of its time. The motion sensor method of controlling your game has revolutionized the way lots of people get their exercise these days, with the creation of the Wii fit.
Nintendo in my opinion make some of the best family games, with characters like super Mario it is all good clean wholesome fun. While the Wii does have some more adult titles it is the kid friendly ones it is best known for.
I find the Wii a great console encouraging you to get up out of your chair and immerse yourself in the experience, but graphically I feel it can’t keep up with the Xbox 360 or playstation 3.
This truly is an excellent game console; it has nearly everything you could possibly want. Xbox live is a really effective portal to online gaming that is easy to use, within minutes you could be playing your favourite games with someone the other side of the world.
Initially it did not have motion sensor capabilities, but that is about to change with the kinect system being released shortly.
There is a great mix of games available for all members of the family. The Xbox does have HD capabilities and as such is in my opinion graphically superior to the Wii; the ability to download movies and games direct to the hard drive is awesome. all these reasons make the Xbox an exciting addition to any home entertainment set up.
For me though it has to be a playstation 3. it has everything online games, huge hard drive for the mass of downloadable content. The catalogue of games available for the ps3 is immense, with great shooters and family games too.
HD gaming on the ps3 has to be seen to be believed and with more great titles coming the future is looking good. one of the main reasons I enjoy my playstation 3 so much is not only will it play games but it is a very decent blu ray player too.
All the reasons above are from my personal experiences, playing games with friends and family. Ultimately you will choose the game console that suits your situation best, so enjoy all it has to offer and have many years of happy gaming.
Xbox 360 Vs Playstation 3 Vs Nintendo Wii – Which is the Right Console For You?
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Categories: Technology Tags: family games, game consoles, gamer, household, wii
