Hey Geeks :

Today, I am writing to tell you about how bad February was n still is for me “Tech” wise. More specifically Smartphone wise. As you must have gathered from previous posts, I own, or used to own in this case, an HTC One X Android phone as well as an Apple iPhone 4. Well, not anymore I don’t, I ma totally phone-less right now using a temporary iPhone 3GS that I borrowed.

- The HTC One X :

First, let me start with the One X. Sometime ago, screen started acting up weird, no response to touches, Mosaic effect, then it wouldn’t turn on. It was happening on n off, so I did not concern myself too much with it, thinking it was ROM related. How wrong I was.

One day, I told a Developer friend of mine on XDA about it, he recommended to try going back to Stock RUU, which I did, at first issue seemed to have disappeared, only to come again a while later. So I did some research, and noticed that I wasn’t the only one. Finally I was told to send it in for repair. Just as an FYi, Warranty does not exist here since HTC does not have legal representatives here. So I did.

Only, I did not know that the Cell Phone repair shop owner, had no clue as to what he was doing. It helps to ask before going in blindfolded. Anyway, he told me to leave it in for a few days while he take a good look and assess the damage. At first he told me it just required a screen, I said ok change it. I called back 48h later, to see if it was done, since shop was near me, he then said, it was not screen but some Power IC of sorts, I also said ok change it. Yet another 48h later I call him, only this time he went all out n said, that he quit looking for the culprit n that he was going to send it in to some Pros.

A few days later, I got a call from the guy saying that something was not right with the motherboard, so it had to be replaced. At that moment, I was, like, no way, my board is S-Off, am not gonna risk loosing that, plus I did not have $200 for a new one, so I went to him and took the phone back, only to notice that the LED lights were going on and off like a Christmas Tree. So I was like, What the heck did he do to my phone ?!?!?!?!

The answer was simple, he had no clue what he was doing, so it was him who fried the Board. But I only discovered that a bit too late. So now my One X has a fried board that will cost me $200 to replace, and that’s if one was found, as availability is scarce.

Now am not gonna fix it, just because I have decided to get the Nexus 4, which is more powerful, and cheap for $350 ;)

That’s for my One X.

- The iPhone 4 :

Ok, now about the iPhone 4.

It was Christmas Eve in 2011, we were all having beer, dancing around joyfully, I must admit, I was a bit drunk, was holding my iPhone and Beer bottle in the same hand, and was dancing, when I realized that some Beer made into the earphone jack of the iPhone. At first I didn’t mind saying, will check it later.

Now, after we were done fooling around, I went upstairs to my room to check the damage. I noticed the no sound was coming out of the speakers, not earphones. I could hear stuff using earphones though, which was weird. So I decided to do some research on the matter. Some said to dry it with hairdryer, other to leave it to dry, but the weirdest one said something like plug > unplug earphones as many times as you have to until issue is fixed, and that seemed to me to be the quickest way to resolve this.

I was wrong, as usual. So, dunno what came over me, perhaps being drunk had something to do with it, but I decided to open the phone up n see if I can find the issue n fix it. Worst decision I have ever made, naturally.

Ok, so, as you already know, I did not have the right tools for the job, so I got the closest thing to a tiny screw driver, yep you guessed it, a knife, one with the tiniest tip I could find. Once the phone was open, I started poking around inside to see if it was any connector to no avail. So I then decided to remove the Wifi part, and, being drunk, hazy, with blurry vision, I not only broke the top part, but I broke the screws too, tiny n fragile as they were, and I lost them as well.

Anyway, ever since that night, I have been with a very weak Wifi, to up to 1m away after which I had to switch to 3G to stay connected.

A few days back, I finally decided to go ahead n fix the damn thing. So I called the guy who totally killed my One X up n asked how much it would cost, he said $10, so I jumped at the chance n gave him the phone pointing at the fact that it was in perfect condition except Wifi, Jailbroken on 6.1.

He told me exactly the same as he did with One X, to leave it for a few days. Three days later, I call him up to ask if it was done, mind you all that time I was without a phone since One X was dead n iPhone was with him. He told me that he tried a few parts from other used iPhone 4 devices, but they did not work, so he had to order a few from a shop in Beirut. I was ok, you got 2 days, coz I needed it for some stuff I was working on. Only this time, I remembered what happened to the One X and decided NOT to leave it with him, but rather go to the Pros myself. So I called him up n asked him to reassemble it and that I will be passing by to take it back.

Now the worst part. As he was assembling it, like the worthless, and sloppy guy that he is, he managed to break a part of the board responsible for the display or screen portion of the device, thus having no more screen. At which point he said, sorry will have that fixed for you ASAP. But what that meant, was that I will have a totally new board thus loosing most of my Cydia purchases that are device dependent. Anyway, I then told him, that if he fails to repair his clumsiness, he would have to give me a brand new iPhone 4, or pay me for the damage. He said ok, then his father, yes his father, since he was just a 24 year old kid, told me not to worry, and that indeed he will give me a new iPhone 4 in case it wasn’t fixed. I did not believe him since we are in Lebanon where those are just words not facts, but I was hoping for the best.

This brings me to today, I called him up to check on progress, only it was his dad who answered, so I asked him, and reminded him of his words, only the bastard came at me with slandering words like, “We are the dumb ones, who accepted to repair, a messed up iPhone, that has been soldered together the sloppy way, and call the cops if you dare, but no way we are giving you a brand new phone, give us a couple more days, then we will see what happens. You gave us a crappy device”. I was like, What !!!! I never soldered anything, it took me a whole freaking year to get the courage and $ to send it in for repair, due to lack of $, and that I chose his son to repair it to help him out. He had the audacity to come at me so harshly ?

Bottom line is, if you are, by any chance Lebanese, passing through Beit Mery, and want to repair your phone, DO NOT, I say again, DO NOT, pass by a shop called “Abou Chedid Cell”. All you will end up with is more headaches than anything else. That guy does not deserve to own a shop, he is clumsy, and useless. I learned my lesson the hard way. I am just warning you so as not to have to go through what I have went through. There is no way for me now, to get my phones working again, so will have to buy a new iPhone ASAP either a 4 or a 4S. Can’t afford nor do I like the 5.

End Of Line.