Five ways manufacturers make devices hard to repair

Today's gadgets for smaller thinner and lighter than ever before. But to build these ultra slim ultra portable devices. Designers and engineers often make their creations more difficult if not impossible to repair. One -- dialog and on this special episode of cracking open. I'm going to show you five ways manufacturers. Are making our gadgets harder to -- and give you a few tips on working around -- self repair roadblocks. -- Our first self repair -- -- is that new or unique to computers and mobile gadgets. But tamper resistant screws are popping up on more and more devices. Nintendo used tri wing screws on the Wii and -- Q. Sony used special security -- screws on the slim line PS3. And Apple uses -- to -- screws. On the iPhone MacBook air and retina MacBook Pro luckily our first roadblock is also the easiest over com. With a little online research you can buy a driver or bid to handle any of these groups. Unfortunately some manufacturers are abandoning screws altogether. Choosing to blue components in place and that's our second roadblock. Whether it's the ipad's front panel the galaxy S three's ribbon cables or though retina MacBook pros battery. Removing glued on components can be difficult and risky and it's best not to remove a working component -- -- in place. If you absolutely must do so he can sometimes help -- the adhesive. But should be used very carefully. If glued on components weren't enough. Today's gadgets are also filled with tiny very fragile connectors. Whether it's a board to board connector or -- flexible flat cable connector today's tablets and Smartphones are filled with -- The keys to working around this roadblock or a little patience a light touch and a -- really -- tools. Up to now I've been able to help you overcome the repair roadblocks on our list. But the last two aren't so easy to work around. Number four is a roadblock that manufacturers. Are using less frequently but it still pops up from time to time. Batteries that are slaughtered of the motherboard. Favored by some tablet and Smartphone manufacturers. There's no way to replace a battery like this without breaking out the soldering iron or wire cutters. Replacing a -- battery is definitely one of the more difficult do it yourself -- -- Lastly there's one repair roadblock it's almost impossible to overcome. And unlike -- batteries device manufacturers are actually using it more frequently. It's a fused front panel and display assembly. Whether it's the Apple iPhone -- Google nexus seven a fused front panel and display assembly makes repairs more expensive. Because if one component breaks you need to replace -- and why it's sometimes possible to separate the two components. You often risking damaging to working half in the process. So often it's just not worth the risk. -- does it for our list of repair roadblocks I hope my tips help -- the next time you need to fix a broken device. To see more step by step Dallas. And my analysis of the latest tech hardware to go to -- republic dot com forward slash cracking. I'm about want to -- for watching. And -- And it.