1135/2235 Hybrid

[ratbert]

Wife has a 2235 from Metro PCS. Was loading the washer (had about 6" of water in it) and the phone fell out of her shirt pocket and into the water! Quickly fished out and dried. Phone worked, but display splotchy. Lived with it for about a month and it got worse (keypad worked intermittently, wouldn't hang up, ect) and became unusable.

Took it to Metro and played dumb but that was unsucessful. That little red checkerboard sticker under the battery... it will dissolve if it gets wet or overheats. They quoted "about $75" for repair, adding that "it's gonna be cheaper than a new one (about $140)". Said "we'll think about it."

First thing I do is check ebay for used 2235's. Most are selling for $80+ shipping so no real savings there. Go to Metro's site and discover that they now offer the 1135 (when we signed up, the 2235 was all they offered). They look virtually identical. Back to ebay. Find a 1135, brand new with 3 batteries for $20. But it's a Sprint phone... Oh well, for that price I'll figure out something. Bid on it and wind up getting it for $32 shipped.

Got it and for grins popped both open and discovered that the front halves are identical. In fact, the keypad PCB says 2235 on it. Put the 2235 back together with the 1135's keypad PCB, display and front case...

Fired it up and works fantastic! The blue display is now green (the blue display is said to have problems in the earlier models), the keys have a more positive feel to them than the 2235 did. Fixed the phone better than it came from the factory and got 3 extra batteries for $32. Not bad.

[slasher]

Good thinking. Although I've never dropped a phone in water (yet) my wife has a knack for breaking cell phones about once every 4 months so this could be of use considering we both have the 2235. But I think the more important question is where do we get those red checkerboard stickers?