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Advance The Man

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2005
493
0
The iPhone 3G was dropped from less than two feet on garage concrete floor and cracked an inner screen, not the screen on very top. It still works fine. This was the most 'soft' drop of a cell phone. I have dropped Treo's from much higher and not broken them. Have two iphone's 3G in family so now paranoid. My thoughts on durability have vanished. It is a horizontal crack in portrait view. Will be buying two protective cases today. Where do I take it for service. Purchased at AT&T. Idea of cost of screen repair.
 

ViViDboarder

macrumors 68040
Jun 25, 2008
3,447
2
USA
I think you were unlucky. Must have landed on a bad edge. I've dropped mine and it came up with a few scratches.
 

buccsmf1

macrumors 6502
Mar 18, 2008
277
0
dropped mine at least 3 times from about 4 feet up and only some small scratches and one small dent on a corner, you got unlucky
 

elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
what people don't realize is, the iPhone's screen is GLASS. other smartphones (like your Treo) all have plastic screens. Plastic is flexible and holds up to most impacts, but if you hit glass in the right way it will shatter. You've got to be more careful with it, or put it in a case if you can't be bothered with doing things like not dropping your phone
 

Advance The Man

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2005
493
0
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elbirth said:
what people don't realize is, the iPhone's screen is GLASS. other smartphones (like your Treo) all have plastic screens. Plastic is flexible and holds up to most impacts, but if you hit glass in the right way it will shatter. You've got to be more careful with it, or put it in a case if you can't be bothered with doing things like not dropping your phone

Certainly it's not dropped on purpose. Life is busy and often we are multitasking carrying multiple items along with a cell phone. Love the iPhones, wish they were more durable. Will reluctantly purchase rubber cases for them.
 

KPEN7

macrumors member
Jul 12, 2008
41
0
You need to get a case my friend, and i think you did get unlucky with the way it landed
 

elbirth

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2006
1,154
0
North Carolina, US
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Certainly it's not dropped on purpose. Life is busy and often we are multitasking carrying multiple items along with a cell phone. Love the iPhones, wish they were more durable. Will reluctantly purchase rubber cases for them.

right, I understand that. sorry if I came off a bit harsh, it wasn't directed towards you specifically. there's just a lot of people that are simply mindless about with their phones. heck, when I was in line for the iPhone 3G, a small group of us were standing there talking and a woman in the group was talking and flailing her arms around while describing something and had her BlackBerry in-hand. of course in all of this commotion she slung the phone out of her hand and it smashed into the pavement. she picked it up, brushed it off, and laughed saying "oh well, I'm getting an iPhone! it's my kids' phone now anyway!"
 

Cynicalone

macrumors 68040
Jul 9, 2008
3,212
0
Okie land
I agree you must have got unlucky, I have dropped my original iPhone many times. I went from a regular flip phone to the iPhone last June and the shape of it led to it being launched out of my hand many times. Now with the 3G I'm more comfortable with it. I keep mine in a DLO case clipped to my belt myself.

And to answer your question take it too the local Apple store and they will be able to send it off for repair. They should give you a loaner phone, probably not 3G but you won't be without a phone. If you backup your phone before you hand it over to Apple you can restore you loaner phone with all your info. Hope that helps.
 

Advance The Man

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2005
493
0
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I want a case to cover rear and the sides, not the front. Want it to still fit on my pocket. My wife (guilty one, her's cracked) needs one with a flap so she can put in her purse. Need one asap, can go to either an Apple or at&t store.

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oh, btw my last post was a question. Looking for recommendations. Thanks!
 

Rankrotten

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2006
289
27
UK
I also dropped mine from my jacket pocket onto the road, it hit a tiny stone square on and shattered the screen :mad:

The loose glass fragments are held in place by a screen protector and the touch works 100% across the screen. Still patiently waiting for my upgrade to a 3G iPhone so I can bin this one, come on O2 get your act together...
 

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thedarkhorse

macrumors 6502a
Sep 13, 2007
662
0
Canada
Seeing this post makes me glad I bought a warranty for the phone, that covers accidental damage.
The guy said I could smash my phone with a hammer, bring it in, and they would replace it.
 

Advance The Man

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 6, 2005
493
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5A345 Safari/525.20)

thedarkhorse said:
Seeing this post makes me glad I bought a warranty for the phone, that covers accidental damage.
The guy said I could smash my phone with a hammer, bring it in, and they would replace it.

Where do you purchase this insurance? I understood At&t didn't offer insurance and Applecare doesn't cover accidents.
 

Lanbrown

macrumors 6502a
Mar 20, 2003
893
0
Seeing this post makes me glad I bought a warranty for the phone, that covers accidental damage.
The guy said I could smash my phone with a hammer, bring it in, and they would replace it.

That would be insurance fraud. Notice it says accidental damage and not intentional. Picking up a hammer and smashing it is not accidental but not intentional. By filing the claim, you would be committing insurance fraud.
 

Lacky Iphone

macrumors newbie
Feb 11, 2008
7
0
I also dropped mine from my jacket pocket onto the road, it hit a tiny stone square on and shattered the screen :mad:

The loose glass fragments are held in place by a screen protector and the touch works 100% across the screen. Still patiently waiting for my upgrade to a 3G iPhone so I can bin this one, come on O2 get your act together...

I had same thing happend to me, went to Apple Store got a 3G and then I told a sales person that i drop my phone on the road and they gave me replacement at no cost...:D
Guy told me just because you didn't try to ******** me no charge...
When i came home i swaped sims from 3g to 2G activated my 2g phone change plan to Iphone + 200
and put it back to my 3g (i don't have 3g service were i live)
Now i have 3G phone with old plan = very happy
 

SaschaL

macrumors newbie
Jun 29, 2008
4
0
Don't bin it! I cracked mine on a square stone on a street and the screen still worked so I kept using it... then I dropped it again and it got stuck in an endless reboot.

You could probably still sell broken ones on ebay for quite a fair bit. I used Mazuma mobile... they buy broken old phones or working ones off you for a certain price. 8gb iPhones (1st Gen) go for £70 so it helps towards the 3G price plan.

Take a look - took them about a week and a half to get my cheque sent out to me.

http://www.mazumamobile.com/tradein.php?action=view&prod=1037
 

sjjordan

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2003
296
1
United States
Don't bin it! I cracked mine on a square stone on a street and the screen still worked so I kept using it... then I dropped it again and it got stuck in an endless reboot.

You could probably still sell broken ones on ebay for quite a fair bit. I used Mazuma mobile... they buy broken old phones or working ones off you for a certain price. 8gb iPhones (1st Gen) go for £70 so it helps towards the 3G price plan.

Take a look - took them about a week and a half to get my cheque sent out to me.

http://www.mazumamobile.com/tradein.php?action=view&prod=1037

I highly recommend the iskin Revo rubber case. I've dropped mine about 5-6x since I got it in March and it's in perfect condition. The rubber is pretty thick around the edges so it's withstood a lot. Plus, having rubber around it will ensure that it won't slip out of your hands.

It's not the prettiest thing and adds some thickness to the phone, but I'd rather have a working iphone than risk it.
 

hexonxonx

macrumors 601
Jul 4, 2007
4,610
1
Denver Colorado
I highly recommend the iskin Revo rubber case. I've dropped mine about 5-6x since I got it in March and it's in perfect condition. The rubber is pretty thick around the edges so it's withstood a lot. Plus, having rubber around it will ensure that it won't slip out of your hands.

It's not the prettiest thing and adds some thickness to the phone, but I'd rather have a working iphone than risk it.

The Revo case won't fit the 3G iPhone.

I bought a case the same dat I bought my 3G. It's a black rubber Speck case. Already saved my iPhone last night. Taking it out of my pocket it slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor about 1.5 feet. It landed right on it's face and was protected every bit. Gotta love rubber cases.
 

carve

macrumors 6502a
Feb 25, 2006
644
3
Get a silicone case, it does wonders. Get an iSkin revo, it's not the hottest looking thing out there but it is the BEST case out there that fully protects it. I dropped it from 5 feet, took of the case, not even one small dent in it. Dropped it another time getting out of a car, once again no bumps or anything. I even dropped it in a small puddle of water, the phone was completely fine. Just a small bit of water got inside the case. Get a case.

EDIT: Didn't know the revo didnt work with the 3G. I think they are working on a 3G one..
 

sjjordan

macrumors 6502
Jun 10, 2003
296
1
United States
Get a silicone case, it does wonders. Get an iSkin revo, it's not the hottest looking thing out there but it is the BEST case out there that fully protects it. I dropped it from 5 feet, took of the case, not even one small dent in it. Dropped it another time getting out of a car, once again no bumps or anything. I even dropped it in a small puddle of water, the phone was completely fine. Just a small bit of water got inside the case. Get a case.

EDIT: Didn't know the revo didnt work with the 3G. I think they are working on a 3G one..

Yeah. No 3G case yet. Better to wait
 

littlelauren99

macrumors newbie
Jul 12, 2008
8
0
my friend works at an apple store and she says its normally around 250+ to get a screen fixed, she highly suggested to my friend, who just happened to shatter hers on her birthday, to just buy a new phone.

unless you don't wanna get stuck in another 2 year contract, i'd buy a new one as well, kinda pointless to spend 250 or more on just a screen when 200 can get you a brand new one altogether.

hope that helped.
 
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