Since last week I was so troubled to see one of my personal effects gone bad. My mobile phone – Samsung Star Wifi (S5233W) already got bad scratches on its 3.5” touch panel. Subsequently, its resistive touch screen began failing to perform according to its design. Needless to say, the scratches have worsen since it started a few months ago that I have no other choice but to remove the shedding film-like covering of the touch interface.

 

I was on the verge of buying a replacement but then it came to me that buying another one will just put another tech tool on the trash (which is not earth friendly). Considering that I came to love the features of this phone caused me to find ways to resuscitate it from its dying state.

 

The eroded touch screen panel which made it difficult for me to interact with the on screen buttons has worn so much that the only way to make use of it is for me to remove the peeling plastics and somehow restore its functionality.

 

I successfully removed the bulges and plastic particles by scrubbing with a dish washing sponge and chemical cleaner for plastics (that is usually used for car interiors which by the way I DO NOT RECOMMEND). Somehow, I did restore the touch screen functions despite totally damaging the cosmetics of the phone.

 

Still, being an obsessive-compulsive person, the thought of seeing my phone in this kind of state made me feel an impulse to run to the mall and get a replacement. But then thinking again, my money can be used on other purposes than just to satisfy my personal wants.

 

So, I started to find other cheaper options to restore my phone to as much as its original state. Replacement houses are available but then according to my research the touch screen panel is sold separately (at higher costs) and will require adept skills in disassembling which I do not have. I then concluded my search and eventually resorted to just leave it as it is so I can have more time to prepare for its replacement in the nearest possible future for better gadgets.

 

The incident did not point me in finding a solution to remedy my problem. Nevertheless, I did discover some things about the phone considering that I’ve had this phone for more than 3 years.

 

Samsung Star Wifi and its predecessors (S5230 series) can be modified through custom firmware updates and patches turning your aging phone interface into something unique, personal and an interesting tech toy. This made me happier than I thought.

 

I’ll be working on the firmware updates and see what I can make out of this new find and hope to share it with you on my following article posts.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, July 12th, 2012 at 7:15 pm and is filed under Green Living. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.