Do I consign my XDA IIs to the bin or persevere?

[Dickg]

I am aware that the problem with my XDA IIs is similar to other malfunctions described within this forum, however often those posts appear to be left unanswered. In order not to incur the wrath of the administrator therefore, I seek clarification and therefore I consider that I'm not duplicating any prior posts.
I acquired an XDA IIs from my son last year - the screen was cracked, the device wouldn't turn on and there was no charging cradle or lead. About six months ago I bought a usb sync/charging cable and a screen from mobilefun (described as "new" but wasn't - I complained but couldn't be ar**d to return the thing) and this week purchased a replacement battery from ebay. Now before you all shout 'caveat emptor' I wanted to do this as cheaply as possible.
I duly plugged the thing into my laptop anticipating joy and smug satisfaction; unfortunately I have only encountered misery.
The device pings, the amber led and the backlight for the screen come on (although there is nothing evident on the screen - did I pay 30 quid for a cumbersome torch) and everything looks rosy for approximately 10 minutes. Then the led turns red, the backlight switches off and it remains dormant for about 10 minutes. This cycle continues ad nauseum.
I have active sync and when the xda is in amber mode I can "see" the device on my laptop and I can communicate (synchronise) with it. So what is the problem(s)? Is the new battery a dud and a salutary lesson in why we get what we pay for? Should I be concerned that the screen lights up but displays nothing and therefore regret not returning the screen to mobile fun? Is the internal battery OK - if I change it will it have an impact upon my charging tribulations?
I hope that you can appreciate that I am loathe to spend any more money on this thing but having made an investment I'm also reluctant to bin it. Help the noob oh great ones.

[Chef_Tony]

first of all, welcome to the forum

interesting things happening there.

from the distance my first spontaneous reaction was "the battery and the display must be broken", which, after 3 times reading your post didn't really change despite the gigantic coincidence.

what you can try first of all is: install MyMobiler to your pc, which uses the activesync connection to connect remotely to the device and gives out the screen on the pc screen, where you can control your device with keyboard and mouse. that is always a good start, in case the display does not work or has no touch function any more...
http://mymobiler.com/

if that works out for you and you can see the screen, you can say for certain, that the device's screen is not really ok. the next thing to test would be the digitizer then.
you didn't write, whether you bought a complete display bundle or just the real screen, so let's test the touch function. i case you had seen a proper screen with mymobiler, try tapping and tapping and holding with the actual stylus on the actual screen while cradled and look at the screen's reaction in mymobiler, if the touch function works, you should be able to control the device, which would probably mean "get a new screen, digitizer is fine".

about the battery: since you don't really know what state the phone is in and how good the battery actually is, you should try and take out the battery connect the external power source to the cradle and load the battery in the back of the cradle. you know my device with wi-fi on for instance consumes more power, than can be loaded via usb, so after a little while, though connected to power with the amber led lighting up, the device will turn off. not with a red flash like described by you, but still...

if you load the battery to the max in the back of the cradle, take it out for say, half an hour and jam it back in, the orange led should turn green again in less than a minute, since no power was consumed, if that works out, you can then put the battery back in the device and then cradle it normally and see, whether it turns off again after 10 minutes.

the point is, all this does not really help you, i know that, but it can give you ideas on how to test the flaws and determine what really is wrong with the device. maybe you did not buy a broken screen and broken battery, maybe the device is so screwed, it destroys them itself. or maybe these testing methods give you a greater insight on what to test and maybe then you can confront the retailers responsible for that and prove it is their fault. i am sorry to hear about your device, without it working you are missing out on a great mobile experience.

greetz

Chef_Tony

[Dickg]

Chef Tony - you are indeed a genius and I humbly bask in your glory. I've downloaded mymobiler and it displayed my screen which naturally needed to be aligned as I have put in a new screen and digitizer. It would appear that the digitizer is fine but the screen must be kaput.
I repeat that salutary lesson kids - if you purchase something described as new from a retailer and subsequently discover that it isn't, don't complain about it and then expect the Returns Elf to despatch the suspicious item back to the offending company. Do it yourself or bemoan the day that you couldn't be bothered to send it back to the company.
As for the battery I'm awaiting a different charger (I don't have a cradle only USB sync cable) but as I've mentioned previously I'm loathe to spend any more money so this might all be academic.
Thanks again

[x86]

Buying from eBay is what 90% of ppl do here, it is not only a cheap way out, but the ONLY source for many replacement parts. Nothing wrong with that mate. eBay is actually also more expensive than numerous online wholesale sites for certain phone areas too.