Full LCD Screen Display + Touch Screen Digitizer Assembled Together for Apple Iphone 3G 3 G - Repair Parts Replacement

I had an iPhone 3GS with broken glass on the top half of the phone (when looking with the home button on the bottom). Wasn't ready to fork up a $200 upgrade to the latest iPhone and decided to give the repair job a try. With the help of a how to video on Youtube and research on this site, I decided to give this reasoably priced product a try. Seeing the mixed reviews, this product from this seller appears to be a hit or miss with higher likelihood of the hit. My experience has been on the 'hit' side, fortunately.I will now explain the details:My problem:Broken glass but a fully functioning iPhone 3GS. The broken glass made for a risky tocuh screen experience since there were some sharp fissures on the surface.How I fixed it:I ordered this part and the iPhone repair 'tool kit' from Amazon. Both came in within two days of ordering (I have Prime). I reviewed a Youtube video showing how to repair an iphone (there are several of them), and began the disassembly process. I DID NOT DISCHARGE THE BATTERY FULLY before disassembly. It may be safer to do so but from the results I got, it didn't seem to make a difference. Dealing with the small screws at the bottom of the iPhone required care since they are so small that if you drop them on the floor, good luck finding them. Be sure you have a white surface to place them on so you can see them clearly. Removing the glass/touch screen/digitizer assembly (GTD) using a suction cup (that came with the tool kit) was not difficult. Required two tries but it got the job done. I was lucky the glass was broken at the top, leaving the bottom area clear enough for the suction cup to hold well.BE CAREFUL HERE - when you pull on the GTD assembly, do so such that the assembly pivots to the top of the iphone base since there are connectors there that you don't want to rip.Once you partially pull the GTD assembly so it remains pivoted at a 45 degree angle, use the two plastic tools in the reapir tool kit and gently pop up connectors 1, 2 and then remove the small ribbon cable - in that order. There is a small latch on the base connector where this ribbon cable connects. Be sure to lift the latch before pulling this out. Once you have all three 'cables' free, you can remove the entire assembly from the base of the iPhone. Now you are ready to install the new assembly.Remove the new GTD assembly from the bubble wrap, peel off the glass surface protector (it got in the way of assembly). Pivot the assembly on the top and hold it at a 45 degree angle so you can access the three cables that need to be connected back to the base. I found re-connecting the ribbon cable (the one you pulled out last and the one you have to connect first) to be the most tricky since it is so darn small. I used a flat-head tweezer to push it into the base connector and flip the little latch back down. DO NOT USE anything sharp since you may damage the ribbon cable. Once I had the ribbon cable connected and secured, connecting the other two cables was a breeze - just aligned their connectors and pressed them down to a snap. You must hear a snap - else they are not secure. DO NOT OVERDO the pressing part before aligning the connectors. You may damage the contacts.Once all connectors were in place, I gently closed the GTD assembly back into the base, and snapped it shut. I did not experience any misfit problems. The new GTD and the base matched perfectly. The only physical issue - the Home button was a tad lower than the glass surface when compared to the original GTD. Wanted to try the phone before putting the screws back in - just to be sure (the phone DOES WORK even without the screws back in place).ALMOST HOME..After a successful installation of the new GTD, I turned the phone back on and expected to see either the Apple insignia or the typical startup screen. BUT, all I got was a WHITE SCREEN! Tried it three or four more times - same result. Wondered if the new GTD was defective, since the original one with the broken glass was working just fine (indicating that the base of the phone was working) or if I had messed things up during the remove/install process. After some anxious moments, I decided to try a 'hard reset' as a 'last try'. Doing Google search. I found that a 'hard reset' of an iPhone is achieved by HOLDING THE HOME BUTTON DOWN BEFORE PRESSING THE POWER BUTTON, and HOLDING THEM BOTH DOWN afterwards FOR ABOUT 20 seconds. Don't know if this is a Apple-certified way but it appeared to work for me. BINGO, the Apple insignia came - and the whole world was back to normal! NO DATA LOST, nothing. The phone is now as good as new. I do notice though that the sound quality is not as crisp as the original. This could be a speaker quaity issue. But the degradation is acceptable. The final step was to put the two incredibly small Philips head screws back in place. Did this carefully without dropping them on the floor!Based on my experience, I have to give this product a 5-star since I had no issues whatsoever. I will review the rating after a month or so of use to reflect reliability of the product.GOOD LUCK!

Bottom Line: Buying the LCD + Digitizer already assembled will save you a lot of headaches. If either your digitizer or LCD is damaged, I found it easier to replace both with this combination LCD + digitizer replacement part. Originally, my digitizer (the top part you touch) was shattered and the LCD (that displays the images) was still good. The digitizer and LCD are in a housing that requires 6 very small screws to be removed. Since they are in there very tight, it is difficult to remove them. After removing the digitizer and LCD from the housing, the screens need to be pulled apart as they are stuck together with strong adhesive. I tried wedging them apart very carefully without applying heat (as instructed) and ended up chipping a small salt crystal size chip off of the LCD. I did not know the LCD was damaged until I put it all back together. Putting the two panels back together requires removing the old adhesive and putting the new adhesive back on. Then, the digitizer and LCD must be put back into the housing and held in place by those 6 very small screws. The new adhesive was not as strong and even though I reassembled everything correctly, the digitizer kept popping out at the bottom edge away from the LCD. When I turned on the phone and found the LCD was not working, I ordered this LCD + Digitizer combination replacement part. It was so much faster and simpler. Just take out the two screws at the bottom of the phone, pry out the damaged digitizer/LCD from the bottom and gently lift the bottom up like a door hinge. Remove the three connecting cables at the top. Assemble the new LCD + Digitizer in reverse order.There was one minor problem with this LCD + Digitizer. A couple of the housing screws were not screwed in all the way - sticking out ever so slightly. I tried to screw them in but could not. After connecting the cables, I had to pry the main case away from the screws to get the LCD + Digitizer back into the main housing. I gave it 4 stars because of this infraction even though the phone works great.

Pros: * Looks and acts like original iPhone 3GS screen * Having LCD and touch screen pre-assembled simplifies things * Installation was easy and quick (about 10 minutes)Cons: * No instructions - you have to find your own on the web * No tools included * Product description says T10 screw driver but no Torx 10 screws are involved (puzzling that they say so) * You'll need a P000 Philips #000 screw driver (not included) to unscrew the two tiny screws at the bottom of your phone. * No packing slipI only needed to replace the LCD panel on my iPhone 3GS but my touch panel which covers the LCD was fine. However, after watching replacement videos, I decided that this pre-assembled LCD and touch panel replacement would be much easier.Yes, just a replacement LCD panel could be found for less than half the price but the reviews seemed to indicate that the screen appearance, touch panel quality, and/or home button feel of these other replacement kits wasn't always good. The reviews for this product were very good and indicated that the quality was indistinguishable from Apple (or nearly so).I have discerning visual eye and I can't see any difference between the original and the replacement. There are no fit or finish issues that I can note.I took away one star because I had to find my own assembly instructions and I had to find a P000 Philips screw driver on my own at the local hardware store. If that isn't an issue for you, then this seems to be quite an acceptable replacement for the DIY phone repair.

I had some bad experiences before but this one worked as soon as I put it in. My phone looks as good as new.

Good