I got bored today and took apart my 8800. Decided to color my pearl light green while I was at it.

Here are some pics:

Since everyone is having such a big issue with squeaky sides, I am wondering if there is a homemade way to remedy the situation. I'm thinking that inputing some type of cushion with an adhesive side into the underside of the side plates would fill the loose space and prevent movement. The cushion would have to be really thin though. I think I have some that would work. How did the sides come off? Were they just snapped off or were there screws that had to be removed? Is there a particular way they should be taken off to prevent damage?

Thanks for your help.

damn that takes some guts

After you unscrew the 4 screws under the battery cover, the sides can then be popped out as they simply snap into place.

I just stuck my fingernails in the crack between the chrome side and the phone and pulled out and one end popped off. From there just run your fingernails up the other side and each segment will pop off.

After I put it back together it seemed to squeak less. Maybe it just needed to be adjusted? I would have to estimate that it is a 90% improvement from before I took it apart. I didnt add any glue or cushions, just simply snapped it back together. Very strange but I'm not complaining

Here is a picture of my new pearl color in the dark.

Calix,

Where did you get the new AT&T/Cingular theme? Is it in a software release from a diff carrier? If so, which one?

Thx,

Bradley

Bradley,

I'm using the Dimension theme. What you see in the picture is a wallpaper I made to spice up the theme a bit.

Um, isn't this kind of torture covered under the Geneva Convention?!

Seriously, though, nice pics (if a bit gory and heart rending); thanks for sharing.

Take thin tape style unwaxed dental floss and work it under the corners. An easy remedy that won't involve removing the rails.

I am not the originator of this idea but picked it up from another thread on this site.

Anybody recognize anything that may look like a wifi chip?? I am of the delusion that wifi is available in a hardware sense...if only we could get BG's firmware build...

Would you mind posting a file attachment of the wallpaper....that's pretty nice.

If there's an ISO setting on your camera, may I suggest turning it down, there's some mighty noise in those images!

Yeah well I'm wasn't setting out to win any journalism or photography awards with my pictures. They were posted for fun on a phone forum...so :P

Good work!
Just be careful pulling that thing apart....

But it seems like you know what you are doing

Here is the wallpaper I made that a couple people were asking for..enjoy!

Calix ... boy do you got a pair to pull this off. Nice work on the theme as well. I must ask .. did you find any decent sized chips that well MAYBE related to WiFi on-board?

double post sry

thanks for the background...i have just changed my theme!

nice bkgd. maybe cingular\at&t will add it to thier phones, cause the default theme, we it sucks! nice work

Thanks for the disassembly info! I've worked on all prior models but not usually without info like this.

So we have two speakers in the 8800?

Has anyone tried that really thin teflon plumber's tape they use on threaded pipe ends? That stuff works in the tight confines of a threaded fixture - maybe you could use that to remedy the squeaky sides.

Great Wallpaper I changed mine too - hey you can become pretty popular here with your creation - so question is how do you do it? what do you use?

Thanks, I'm glad you like it

I have been making wallpapers and avatars for a while now when I get bored or get a new phone. Usually my application of choice is Macromedia Fireworks..it's fairly easy to learn.

Awesome thanks - I will check it out! Is there a certain resolution you are using?

How did you separate the front and back? It's connected at the top of the unit, but I'm having a tough time getting them apart (I've got the side rails off).

Jeff

Is the 8830 housing interchangeable wiht the 8800............That black one from cnn.cn is looking much sexier than my current verizon silver......

some dissassembly stuff

there are 6 screws, 4 for the bottom housing and 2 under that holding the top housing. remove stuff in the following order:
sidegrips, bottom housing screws, bottom housing, top housing screws, top housing. the keypad is fitted into the top housing during assembly. be extremely careful not to touch the lcd because you will contaminate it exxxxtremely easily. the lens is a lot more durable so if you are trying to remove lint or something be super careful with the LCD.

to remove the sidegrips easily:
actually its not easy to remove them perfectly, you have to be extremely careful, pull them out from the bottom so that the first clip is out and then jiggle it off to loosen up the adhesive. be extremely careful because they are prone to bending.

to remove the bottom housing easily:
unclip them on the sides (can be done with tweezers) and then hold it with two fingers in the sd slot, there are 4 clips there. jiggle that a bit and then pull the housing towards you and it'll come out.

How do you change the actual color of the trackball?

If he did it like other people I've heard, he'd use a colored Sharpie. I believe on the LED itself instead of the trackball.