My Galaxy Note (N7000) and its USB Port…

I have been the proud user of a Samsung Galaxy Note (N7000) since November 2011, and I must say that I really enjoyed the phone. I enjoyed it so much that I even bought my wife one for her birthday in 2011.

People would often ask me if it is not to big, or uncomfortable to hold, and I can honestly answer no it not. The fact that I can pull out the stylus and make notes anytime, or make a video call when I want was just fantastic for me. Yes I rooted it and loaded custom firmware on it and I really did use it to its full functionality.

Fast forward to 2014 and I have dropped it a few times (thankfully the screen stayed intact), replaced the standard battery and had the USB port give up on me. Now let me pause for a second on that one… If you do not have a working USB port then sorry you ain’t gonna charge it, but it seems it is a common issue with the USB port on them…I handed it in for repairs at Vodacom and got it back a week later repaired under warranty.

This is what it looks like: n7000-usb-charge-board

Well it seems that I need to replace the board again, or at least I hope so, as I was very wise to use the phone as a glass placemat and it seems that the condensation of the cold glass shorted out the board again. The phone charges fine but if you unplug it then it fine for a while and then it will go beep-beep and then the screen will show it is charging – even though nothing is plugged in. Of course this is annoying and actually causes the screen to stay on which in turn causes it to use more battery power…so you are lucky if you get 8 hours out of it.

So as soon as I saw this happening I went onto EBay and did a search for “N7000 USB Port” and found quite a few stores advertising it. I ordered two (so I had a spare for my wifes phone) and waited. And I waited. And I waited. And I waited. It seems that the SA Post Office should change their slogan from “We Deliver Whatever It Takes” to “We will not deliver it if we think we can use it”. So I got a refund for waiting almost 60 days for the item and it not pitching, so next time I will order WITH tracking so that it does not “get lost”. Now I have order again…

Once I have part I will be replacing it by following this YouTube video:

In the meantime I am using my first Android phone – HTC Desire – and really missing the big screen and stylus of my Note. Sigh… Maybe it is time I start looking for a new phone, or wait and see what the Galaxy Note 4 or S5 has to offer…

Update 21/02 – Seems that the Post Office decided that they could not use the parts, so it arrived yesterday in the mail…Going to repay the seller today and then start the fix 🙂