Treo Fanatic: Part Deux

Treo Fanatic: Part Deux

Last month I tore apart a Treo 700p dummy and tried to put my Treo 650 in it, only to discover that the 650's keyboard not only does not fit in the 700's front housing, but neither do the bottom and top rows of buttons line up. After a bit of case modification I got the 650's mainboard to fit in nicely, but that was it. This time, I got my hands on an actual 700p that had a broken screen but working everything else, and took its keyboard as the latest trophy in my quest for a one-of-a-kind 650 transplant. Read on to see what happens this time!

DISCLAIMER: Canuck PDA is not responsible if you try to do this at home! Any physical modification to your Treo will void your warranty, and it's all done at your own risk. You have been warned!

So here's my Treo as it stands before my little surgery. Old-school Sprint front, Cingular grey GSM back, and an Enfora WiFi sled battery cover. Keyboard was changed for a later-model 650 one, with a gazjillion times the brightness. (= Keypad was changed with an early unbranded 650's, which had transparent pieces behind the keypad (as opposed to the translucent white found on most keypads), so it's very, VERY bright now. All the better to make a flashlight out of it. Now it's time for some Treo fanaticism!
Taking apart the 700p and 650...
650 on left, 700 on right. There are not only cosmetic changes on the outside for the 700, but opening the unit up revealed that the vibrator and microphone connections on the mainboard have also moved. Screens are of course, interchangeable.
The vibrator and the microphone of the 700p, here in the middle of the disassembled back of the housing. The keyboard connector is also the same, so here I am, connecting the 700p's keyboard to the 650 and hoping for the best.
Last time I did a bit of case modding, and now, as you can see, the 650's innards fit nicely inside! There are, of course, three very important pieces that have yet to be fitted properly: the microphone, the vibrator, and the SIM card slot.
The battery goes back in...and WOO! By the way, the "Hello" screen is my custom phone start up screen, in case anyone was wondering.
Well, no SIM card of course = no useable phone. Phone starts up and all, but unfortunately, the keyboard is not properly recognized. The 650 went nuts, thinking the space bar was down, the Alt key left, etc. etc. Not very viable a solution here, but if there's a fix around that, then I'm one step closer to having one very, very confused Treo.
OK, so time to take everything back apart. One last thing to check: the camera! Here are the two cameras taken out, the 650 on the left, and the 700p's on the right. Note the different sizes and where the connector sits with respect to the main camera.
What does that translate to? The connectors are in the wrong place, so won't line up and one can't just swap the cameras. Also, it seems like the connectors are slightly different. Not like the Palm software would recognize the 1.3Mp camera, but it was worth a peek.
Oh well, what's a Treo fanatic to do? Move on to an Unlocked GSM dark grey housing with the 700p's antenna, that's what. Matches very nicely, I think! That's it for now. Next time, a Windows-powered Treo comes by and more craziness ensues!