Need a new tablet

@f00l No the screen isn’t lighting at all. No physical damage, it landed flat on it’s back. When it fell it glowed then went dark. It’s probably not relevant, but it’s periodically making a bicycle chime I’ve never heard before. I assume I’ve activated something in my blind tapping and swiping.

@moondrake

I know mostly what I’ve been told by repair people. If the charging lite came on or the notification light, but not the rest of the screen, I would think likely a broken LED.

If it’s just black you may just have a broken connection of some sort. If so might be a cheap and fast to fix.

But I might be talking out my ass. I’m making suggestions not giving advice.

Check w people who know something.

@f00l When I googled the problem, a couple of people opened their device and found a cable had been knocked loose and just had to be reseated. That’s kind of a best case scenario. I am going to check repair shops and see if I can find one with a low estimate fee.

@moondrake

Estimate fee matters less than whether the people are knowledgeable and honorable. Go to a small non-franchise or chain where the owner is on site doing the work and the place has amazing reviews.

Don’t ask upfront about a diagnostic fee. Ask how much would it cost to fix. They may do the diagnosis for free.

@moondrake
Try looking this site up https://www.ifixit.com
It will at least show you how to take it apart. It’s broke…what harm can you do?
You might find out what’s the matter with it and fix it yourself. That site also sells parts.

@my1stvmax While I support the spirit of this post, there’s a lot of harm you can do. You could create a fire hazard. You could hurt yourself. You could fix it just good enough so that it’s working, but just poorly enough that it annoys the ever-loving shit out of you for a really long time.

@mikibell I’m prejudiced against Lenovo because my laptop is the only product I’ve ever bought from them and it has been a POS from day one. I was an idiot not to have taken it back. That RCA certainly looks like a good deal and I could probably put my hands on it today with local pickup. I have to see if I can figure out if it will be fast enough not to drive me nuts and smart enough to run my usual games.

@moondrake Shame, as I was going to suggest the one I have. Lenovo A10-70 - I have the 32gb, but it has a micro sd slot so that’s not an issue. Great price, great performance, great sound. You might want to give them another chance. You probably won’t find many tablets in this price range with a 1920x1200 display and Dolby Atmos.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/44728585?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227032274997&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=74559531249&wl4=pla-130764408489&wl5=9013116&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=44728585&wl13=&veh=sem

@moondrake

No. Shouldn’t, as long as it has wifi.

Could you paste a link?

I’ve done well buying tablets phones and laptops from eBay. I check seller reviews fanatically first.

@f00l These eBay links are huge. There are a bunch of used Samsungs at around this price point that are off-contract Verizon devices. I have also had good experiences with buying small electronics from eBay sellers, new and used.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Near-Mint-Tab-2-Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-2-SCH-I915-Wi-Fi-4G-LTE-Verizon-/172463382099?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150519202348%26meid%3Dbec308d6b3384fe3bd4da6062fad8237%26pid%3D100408%26rk%3D10%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D222364263248&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

@moondrake ehh the samsung tab 2 suck(a coworker of mine bought one and i tried it out and it was SOOOO slow)

for around $190 + tax and shipping you can get a samsung s series tablet used https://swappa.com/listing/HQI270/view

much faster with more ram and a much prettier screen

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Galaxy-Tab-S-SM-T807T-16GB-10-5in-Wi-Fi-4G-T-Mobile-Tablet-Bronze-/142145659598

@moondrake Cyanogenmod all the things.
Root it first.

@PocketBrain Or don’t, since CyanogenMod support has been discontinued. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyanogenMod

@OldCatLady Not supported, but you can still get it installed. Not for the faint of heart; tech-savvy only need apply. Also, there are other, still-supported custom Android OSes out there.

@PocketBrain I have read some of you talking about “rooting” something. I googled and it was not explained in any english I understood… what exactly is “rooting” something and what does that do for you/the device?

@Kidsandliz

It means gaining total administrator control of the device. Then you can put any OS you want onto it. Or just have more control over it.

Rooting many devices is easy. Rooting others can be a total PITA.

You normally already have “root” on a desktop or laptop. Also sometimes not, esp on chromebooks.

@f00l Thank you. That was lucid and easy to understand. Makes sense.

@f00l I used to have a cat I named Pita cause I loved him but he was a huge one.

@mehdaf Yeah, that’s exactly what the folks on my Google query said. I’ll see if there’s a you tube video on the subject. I took it by the highest rated repair place and they said it would be $40 for diagnostics but he was sure it would require a replacement screen which works be $200. Basically about what I paid for it, more than it eould cost for a new one.

@moondrake Appears there’s a bunch of you tube videos on the subject. Since I’m basically writing it off at this point, I’ll take a shot at fixing it.

@moondrake In case you’d rather read a repair guide instead of watching one: https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Samsung_Galaxy_Tab_7.0
Also, the whole Samsung Galaxy Tab line is well-represented in case I guessed the wrong tablet.

@dashcloud Thanks. I’m a visual learner, really a tactile learner. I learn best by doing, okay by watching, and hardly at all by reading. Which is funny as I am a lifelong reader, but onky fiction. I guess it’s a left brain right brain thing.

@moondrake
That’s so cool.

@moondrake Victory! Moondrake the Techmeister rules!

@moondrake It is always so nice when something like that goes right, is cheap or free and best of all you are back in business with a working tablet.

@Kidsandliz You rarely realize how dependent you are on something till one mishap snatches it away from you.

@moondrake Tell me about it. I live in fear that my laptop dies since it is now too old (eg no more apple care) and at the moment I am an online adjunct so have to use it daily. So glad you were able to fix it.

@moondrake

I butchered the case a bit…

Those are battle scars, to be worn as a badge of honor!

Kudos!