Amazon Kindle e-ink Screen Transplant from a Sony Reader
introAmazon Kindle e-ink Screen Transplant from a Sony Reader
Having purchased the $400 Amazon Kindle, while I was visiting family
last Christmas my little sister accidentally stepped on the device,
shattering the screen. It laid around for eight months in storage
before I decided to try the impossible- a cross species transplant!
Muahahahahahahaha! *ahem* This instructable will show you how I
removed a broken screen from my Amazon Kindle and replaced it with the
screen from an old Sony Reader. I make no guarantees that this method
will work for you, and be aware that you'll need to destroy a $300
device to try and salvage a $400 device ($360, now). ALSO BE AWARE-
after I was finished the Kindle had some nagging button issues, so don't
expect it to be perfect. Let's get started:
step 1Gather the Tools and Materials
1. An Amazon Kindle with a broken screen, and ONLY a broken screen. If the motherboard is cracked as well, you're pretty much screwed.
2. An e-ink Sony Reader. I used …
step 2Dismantle the Sony Reader
This step is fairly simple. Just use the Philips to remove the screws from the back, pry open the case, and start carefully unplugging things and removing more screws, unt…
step 3File Down the Sony Reader's Screen
This is the most delicate part and also the Heart of this little Hack. The metal parts that stick out along the edges and back need to be sawed off and filed down.
Unfo…
step 4Dismantle the Amazon Kindle
We can Rebuild it. We have the Technology!
But first, we have to break it down into its base bits.
Compared to the Sony, this is a little easier. After you remove t…
This is pretty much just reverse assembly. Depending on the filing job you did, the Sony Screen may fit in the case perfectly or, like me, you'll have to improvise a littl…
step 6Success! (Sort Of...)
Boy, seeing that Amazon logo pop up was like Christmas. After eight months, my $400 device was Alive again!
...Kind of. There are a couple of problems. There's signif…
| I did the same thing to my Kindle. After crying a little,
I tried calling Amazon's customer service. I simply told them
"the screen's broken". After going through the
turn-it-off-and-on-again troubleshoot, they sent me a shipping label to
mail the broken kindle back to them. Four days later, a brand new Kindle
1 was at my front door. Amazon has always been great with customer
service, and if it takes sending you a new Kindle to keep you buying
Kindle books, it's still a profit for them.
|
| lol in the 1st pic of the cracked screen it looks like the end of an
assault rifle
|
| EXACTLY what i was thinking
|
| This is great, thanks for the 'ible.
|
| I'm sure the factors that OrangeTide
mentioned don't help, but the PRS-500 has a very ghost-prone display
anyway. I've got one in front of me right now and every time you change
the page, a very visible ghost of the previous page stays on the screen
forever, until you change the display again.
I'd be interested to see what it would look like if a less ghosty
display (like the one from the PRS-505) was used. Nobody's going to be
sacrificing one of those any time soon, though!
|
| can someone pls PM me and tell me where to get cheap e-ink/e-paper
PDF-readers that work with a SD or CF card?
i googled &searched at ebay.
the cheapest thing i found was 200€ (ca. 270$).
the fact is that i dont have much money cause i bought a new WII.
so it would be best if i could get something for 50-100€ (ca. 70-120$).
btw im in germany, so it shouldn't be from US, they want 20% taxes.
|
| Sep 3, 2008. 12:29 PMDanwiz
says:
A couple of days ago a car ran over my wife's mobile phone and smashed
the screen. Verizon is saying they cannot move the data off the phone
without the screen working (the phone still works.) Any ideas on how to
get around that? Thanks.
|
| google "bitpim"
From their site, you can find a list of compatible phones. I have an
enV and it works marvelously with a USB cable I bought off ebay. Good luck.
|
| The Amazon Kindle has an EVDO card??!?! Are you serious?! Only Sprint
has EVDO access cards and phones, and as far as I know, it's the fastest
speed available to consumers here in the USA. In other words, at least
15 times faster than the beloved iPhone 3G's internet connection speed!
|
| Wow...i'm impressed that you risked the sony reader for it! For future reference, you can probably buy a broken kindle for parts pretty cheap off ebay.
|
| Aug 23, 2008. 4:35 PMosgeld
says:
on a solid state device like the kindle 99.999999% of the time whats
broken is the screen
its not like a psp where the drive can magically crap out
but it is totally possible!
|
| Aug 28, 2008. 10:19 AMjridley
says:
99.999999% isn't really possible; Amazon hasn't sold 100,000,000 Kindles yet.
Personally I'd have thought the screen breaking was a good excuse to
switch to the Sony reader, but I made the choice for Sony in the first
place, and would have even if the prices were the same.
Very interesting to see the guts of the machines though. I love
product disassembly photos.
|
| 99.999999% of solid state devices like the kindle.
|
| The eInk controller has waveform data that is matched to the display
material. Also there is a temperature compensation that is unique for
every display. These two factors are going to result in significant ghosting.
Nice work though!
|
| Wow your sister must be heavy because my 150lb father stepped on mine...
but he stepped on it really fast. i'm guessing your sister kind of stood
on it.. I love my Kindle. Do you get free books from www.Feedbooks.com ?
|
| Aug 22, 2008. 3:27 PMstatic
says:
God instructable and good to know for those who own or aspire to own
the Kindle. Unless I win the lotto, I would be putting the ~$400 towards
a laptop. Although the Kindle would be nice to have as well. Who
actually manufactures the Kindle and are direct replacement parts
available? While it may not apply, did you check to see if your
homeowners or renter's insurance would have covered repair or
replacement of the busted Kindle?
|
| Amazon does. They probably would have repaired it for him for a fee
since it was out of warranty and was damaged by outside forces (ie. a foot)
He was also not in his home when it happened so I doubt either
insurance would cover it (I doubt theyd cover it either way really.)
Still, I love my Sony Reader and it makes me cringe to see both devices
destroyed (in one way or the other.) :(
Still an OK idea I guess.
|
| Hehe, yeah, I'm sure I could have sent it in to Amazon, but where's the
fun in that? ;)
I did like the Sony Reader, but I felt the wireless features and the
Kindle store trumped it. I would love the features of the Kindle with
the Sony Reader form factor.
Anyhoo, thanks for reading and commenting! (And apologies if I made
you wince)
|
| "Love and sex with robots?" Are you serious? There is really
a book by that name?
Very nice instructable. Two thumbs up. I laughed, I cried, I stopped
fiddling on the internets and went back to work.
|
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