Showerthought: Is it ever okay to use a donor board from a different model if it's the only part you can find?

Honestly, I had a 2021 Samsung tablet with a fried charging IC, and after searching for 3 weeks, the only replacement I could source was from a 2020 model with a slightly different layout, so I did the swap and it's been working fine for 6 months, but I'm still nervous about long-term reliability.

2 comments

2 Comments

stellafisher3d ago

Had a similar thing with an old laptop screen. The exact panel was discontinued, so I used one from a newer version that had the same connector. Had to trim a tiny bit of plastic from the bezel, but it's been my daily driver for two years now with zero issues. Sometimes you just gotta make it work.

verab282d ago

My old Dell from 2015 had a cracked screen. Found a panel from a 2017 model that fit the connector, just had to file down two little plastic tabs inside the frame. Works perfectly now.