Glo HD Broken Glo HD screen - any advice appreciated

Hotaru · 08-30-2019, 12:02 PM

Hello folks,

I've just dropped my Glo HD less than two feet onto concrete and now the screen is broken. It was in a hard case and as far as I can tell landed with the screen facing upwards, but it's still broken.

I am now enraged because

How could it possibly not survive such a short drop inside a hard case
Buying another Glo HD would somehow barely cost any less than I paid when it was new
They don't make them anymore and the Clara HD costs more despite being almost exactly the same
The summer is almost over and I just wanted to read my books

I see it is possible to buy a replacement screen on Aliexpress for $40ish. Is this actually worth doing or would it be a false economy? Is the replacement difficult/risky to do? I bet it is.

If it's not worth replacing the screen, what other options are there? I'm very reluctant to buy another Kobo product now. Are there any more obscure manufacturers that make something similar?

My only requirements are that it has the same screen, can transfer books via Calibre and can display epub and cbr/cbz files. I don't care about wifi, frontlight, online store or anything else.

Is a faux Glo the way to go? Can anybody end my Kobo woe?

NiLuJe · 08-30-2019, 06:13 PM

The Forma is probably the most mainstream thing that'd survive a drop, because the TFT backplane is flexible (I can vouch for that: dropped mine

).

(Most) every other eInk screen out there uses an *extremely* thin slice of glass as the TFT backplane. A drop (among other many, many things) will pretty much kill every eReader out there.

If anything, I'd wager that a *hard* case makes it worse (I'm terrible at physics, but I'd bet it won't do anything useful to the kinetic force of a drop and how that transfers to the screen).

----

Back to your Glo HD: people have been known to replace screens. There should be a few teardowns about it around the web. Again, fragile, so, have to be careful (and it has to survive the shipping in the first place ;p).
Whether that's worth the hassle is up to you.

Hotaru · 08-31-2019, 04:26 AM

Thank you for the advice. I didn't know the Forma was more survivable against drops (they don't even seem to advertise this). I don't know if I can stomach paying so much more for it though!

catsknit · 09-22-2019, 12:04 PM

I have a Glo HD and misplaced it on a trip. Loved it so much and they were no longer being made so I bought one on ebay for less than half what I'd paid new for the first one. Months later I found the first one so for awhile I had 2, but just broke one of them this past week. Not by dropping; it had slipped down next to my recliner and ended up under the leg of it.

08-30-2019, 12:02 PM	#1
Hotaru Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2019 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Broken Glo HD screen - any advice appreciated Hello folks, I've just dropped my Glo HD less than two feet onto concrete and now the screen is broken. It was in a hard case and as far as I can tell landed with the screen facing upwards, but it's still broken. I am now enraged because How could it possibly not survive such a short drop inside a hard case Buying another Glo HD would somehow barely cost any less than I paid when it was new They don't make them anymore and the Clara HD costs more despite being almost exactly the same The summer is almost over and I just wanted to read my books I see it is possible to buy a replacement screen on Aliexpress for $40ish. Is this actually worth doing or would it be a false economy? Is the replacement difficult/risky to do? I bet it is. If it's not worth replacing the screen, what other options are there? I'm very reluctant to buy another Kobo product now. Are there any more obscure manufacturers that make something similar? My only requirements are that it has the same screen, can transfer books via Calibre and can display epub and cbr/cbz files. I don't care about wifi, frontlight, online store or anything else. Is a faux Glo the way to go? Can anybody end my Kobo woe?

08-30-2019, 06:13 PM	#2
NiLuJe BLAM! Posts: 13,492 Karma: 26047188 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Paris, France Device: Kindle 2i, 3g, 4, 5w, PW, PW2, PW5; Kobo H2O, Forma, Elipsa, Sage, C2E	The Forma is probably the most mainstream thing that'd survive a drop, because the TFT backplane is flexible (I can vouch for that: dropped mine ). (Most) every other eInk screen out there uses an extremely thin slice of glass as the TFT backplane. A drop (among other many, many things) will pretty much kill every eReader out there. If anything, I'd wager that a hard case makes it worse (I'm terrible at physics, but I'd bet it won't do anything useful to the kinetic force of a drop and how that transfers to the screen). ---- Back to your Glo HD: people have been known to replace screens. There should be a few teardowns about it around the web. Again, fragile, so, have to be careful (and it has to survive the shipping in the first place ;p). Whether that's worth the hassle is up to you. Last edited by NiLuJe; 08-30-2019 at 06:22 PM.

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08-31-2019, 04:26 AM	#3
Hotaru Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2019 Device: Kobo Glo HD	Thank you for the advice. I didn't know the Forma was more survivable against drops (they don't even seem to advertise this). I don't know if I can stomach paying so much more for it though!

09-22-2019, 12:04 PM	#4
catsknit Addict Posts: 221 Karma: 34036 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Glo HD, Samsung tablet, Kobo Libra, InkPad 3 Pro	I have a Glo HD and misplaced it on a trip. Loved it so much and they were no longer being made so I bought one on ebay for less than half what I'd paid new for the first one. Months later I found the first one so for awhile I had 2, but just broke one of them this past week. Not by dropping; it had slipped down next to my recliner and ended up under the leg of it.

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