PRS-505 is all hope gone? screen issues after possible water intrusion

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by bawey

My best guess is that, apart from me, the yesterday's rain is to blame. Not a heavy one at all though

Not rain at all. It's clearly, as HarryT says, a broken screen substrate.

It looks to me like something hit the screen near the top right corner, as it appears to have a classic radiating fracture pattern from that point.

I don't think you have much hope of any compensation, unless your household insurance covers accidental damage.

The only company I know that sometimes does replace eInk readers with broken screens is Amazon. It's one of the reasons I recommend them.

[HarryT]

I'm afraid there's absolutely no question but that the screen substrate is fractured; the appearance is quite unmistakable.

[bawey]

Just for sake of completeness: I finally managed to overcome my resentment and took a closer look at the reader I got back from service. Seems like things have gone from bad:

to awful:

wtf? :|

[pdurrant]

The glass substrate of the screen (the bit that has all the controlling electronics on it) is broken.

Compare the discontinuities on the two screens and you'll see they match. It got hit in the top right portion of the screen and the glass has shattered around that point, in long curves the way glass does when hit at a point.

It is not more broken in the second image than it is in the first image.

The only way to fix it would be to replace the screen. That's a tricky, delicate job, and would cost more than the PRS-505 is worth, even if you could find someone with replacement screens.

You'll need to buy a new ebook reader. This one is dead.

[carpetmojo]

Originally Posted by bawey

Thanks for replies. I can see the opinions are divided. So am I - hesitating. No physical damage on the outside, about the internals I can only guess. I think I should have been informed or warned against particular situations and I haven't been. Ain't that misinformation? Usually people are provided with some warnings at least...

Well, I agree with Harry, it looks a classic case of user "abuse" - indeed you do admit to it rattling around in your rucksac for sometime. Shocks but not direct contact can also damage screens, and while I'm normally a great chuck things back man, I think you're on dodgy ground here, and cannot see you winning a case against the retailer - sorry.

Hence my concern over the "ereaders for developing countries " lark - can't see 'em lasting.

[Ripplinger]

Originally Posted by bawey

Thanks for replies. I can see the opinions are divided. So am I - hesitating. No physical damage on the outside, about the internals I can only guess. I think I should have been informed or warned against particular situations and I haven't been. Ain't that misinformation? Usually people are provided with some warnings at least...

When you buy a drinking glass, ceramic cup, a window, do they come with warnings that it's breakable if you treat it roughly? No, it's just understood that you treat fragile items with care. Putting the reader in a backpack where other items may press against the reader to break the screen, isn't treating the item "with care".

As others have said, you really don't have a case. Sony does (at least did) have extra warranty you can buy that covers accidental damage. I purchased a plan for accidental damage through Square Deal for $35 or $39 dollars for 3 years. While I usually never purchase warranties for anything, after reading about how many people have broken the substrate on their reader, I thought it was money well spent in this case since I take mine with me literally every where.

[DoctorOhh]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

When you buy a drinking glass, ceramic cup, a window, do they come with warnings that it's breakable if you treat it roughly? No, it's just understood that you treat fragile items with care. Putting the reader in a backpack where other items may press against the reader to break the screen, isn't treating the item "with care".
...~~~...
after reading about how many people have broken the substrate on their reader,

I've had my 505 for almost 3 years and from reading here I was worried about breaking the screen from day one. The first thing I did was put my new 505 reader in bookarmor case to help protect it. I only took it out once since then and that was to replace the battery. And when I recently bought my 950 I put it directly into another bookarmor case. I got the last case available at Amazon and it was being sold as a Velocity Micro Cruz Reader case, my 950 fits in it great. Even in the case I am still worried about flex if left in a bag to bounce or be pushed around.

[bawey]

Honestly speaking I'd be fine with just giving up on the topic, as long as I am positive that it's indeed my fault. Is it natural for the reader to go from state depicted on the first picture to the state shown on the second? The top part matches, but below new discontinuities can be found I think. May that be because of pieces of screen substrate moving inside?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by bawey

Honestly speaking I'd be fine with just giving up on the topic, as long as I am positive that it's indeed my fault. Is it natural for the reader to go from state depicted on the first picture to the state shown on the second? The top part matches, but below new discontinuities can be found I think. May that be because of pieces of screen substrate moving inside?

When glass breaks, new fractures do often spread out from the initial point of breakage - you often see this happening with car windscreens. It looks as if that's what's happened here: the initial fracture was in the upper right corner, and new fracture lines have spread out from there.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by bawey

Honestly speaking I'd be fine with just giving up on the topic, as long as I am positive that it's indeed my fault. Is it natural for the reader to go from state depicted on the first picture to the state shown on the second? The top part matches, but below new discontinuities can be found I think. May that be because of pieces of screen substrate moving inside?

As HarryT said.

BTW, the substrate isn't moving around - it's stuck in place by the construction of the screen. The lines are showing where the cracks in the glass are. Looking at the images, it's possible that one of the cracks has extended in the time between the two pictures were taken, or it might just be that the image in the bottom half hadn't yet tried to refresh in the first picture.

[tubemonkey]

Best ereader for those who wish to shove it in a bag and take with them on a daily basis is the new $79 Kindle. If the substrate breaks, chances are Amazon will replace it for free; even if it's your fault. If not, then you're only out $79.

Personally, I rarely take my Kindle out of the house.

[Pinecone]

Actually, if you look at the first picture, you can see the second break is already there. The one startign about 2/3rds of the way from left to right, running straight down, then angling to the left and slightly down.

Remember, e-Ink holds the image until it is changed. So the part of the image is slowly going away.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by bawey

Honestly speaking I'd be fine with just giving up on the topic, as long as I am positive that it's indeed my fault. Is it natural for the reader to go from state depicted on the first picture to the state shown on the second? The top part matches, but below new discontinuities can be found I think. May that be because of pieces of screen substrate moving inside?

Yes, I've seen that happening with my own screen when i broke it.
e-ink screens are more fragile than LCD, but neither do they break without reason.
I never knew how mine broke, something obviously hit my bag (and the reader in the front pocket), pretty badly. I don't remember when or how that happened.
That is to say, maybe whatever happened to your reader happened without you noticing or paying attention at that moment. Only seeing the result later.