Registered: Apr 2001
Location:
Posts: 3

Prism and Screen Protectors

Well I am very happy with the Nusheilds. It does not distort the colors at all. Infact it is like just having the screen by itself but with the protection of the writerights. I have had mine on for over two weeks now and I love it.

Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 708

To Jim:

If your screen is that distorted you are probably not using the WriteRights for the color devices. The original WriteRights are for use on B&W PDA's. Try the WriteRights designed for color PDA's, they work much better.

I use screen protectors because I paid $450.00 dollars for a device and I want it to remain scratch free. I owned a Visor Deluxe first and within two weeks had very minor scratches from normal stylus use. I will not except that on my Prism. I am very pleased with the WriteRights.

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Posts: 8

Come to think of it, looks like I DID buy the ones that said for "Palm Pilot, Palm III, Palm VII, IBM Workpad and Handspring Visor", NO mention of color screens. I guess I'll look for the made-for-color-screen ones now to see if they work better.

Registered: Oct 1999
Location:
Posts: 110

After four years of using Palms, here are my results. YMMV.

On using screen protectors - I don't. I can't imagine what you'd be doing to actually scratch the main part of the screen. I almost never do anything but tap there, and that never leaves a scratch. I DO, however, protect the graffiti area. I noticed very early on with my PalmPilot that the graffiti area was getting abraded. Seems that invisible bits of grit get trapped between stylus and screen, and over time they will gradually wear away at the screen, like very, very fine sandpaper. I now cover the graffiti area with removable Scotch tape (#811, in the blue box) and change it every couple months or so. That said, though, I'm not sure if I need to keep doing that. I haven't written directly on the screen since I switched to a newer PalmPilot 3.5 years ago. Maybe the screen (actually a thin touch sensitive piece of plastic that goes over the glass LCD screen) has been made tougher, or the stylus has been improved. But I'm not about to risk it and find out!

On screen cleaning - I have always used a bit of rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip. Never had any problems with PalmPilots, IIIx, IIIxe, or Prism. But I only clean about 3-4x per year.

Registered: Feb 2001
Location:
Posts: 1

I got my VPR almost as soon as they came out 11/2000. I started using the Fellowes protectors for the IIIc only a couple of months ago and I like them. I didn't use them on my older VDX but when I tried them on my VPR I like the way it changed the screen response. I find my Grafitti more accurate and my clicking as well.

This is a personal call. I am also an avid photgrapher and almost all resources you read say to put a clear or UV filter on the front of all your lenses. That way the front element is protected from possible damage. Also you are only cleaning a replaceable filter, not the expensive lens coating. Well, I don't use a filter because I believe it adds one more air-to-glass surface that can degredate the image quality.

Que sera, sera.

Registered: May 2000
Location: Mesa, AZ USA
Posts: 213

quote:

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Originally posted by GSR13
To Jim:

If your screen is that distorted you are probably not using the WriteRights for the color devices. The original WriteRights are for use on B&W PDA's. Try the WriteRights designed for color PDA's, they work much better.

I use screen protectors because I paid $450.00 dollars for a device and I want it to remain scratch free. I owned a Visor Deluxe first and within two weeks had very minor scratches from normal stylus use. I will not except that on my Prism. I am very pleased with the WriteRights.

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Registered: Apr 2001
Location: Bismarck, ND
Posts: 114

So why doesn't everybody just use a cheap alternative? Someone on the handspring mailing list hipped me to this and it works wonderfully for my Prism! Go to Walmart to the crafts/fabrics section, and buy some of the plastic that they sell on the roll. The perfect thickness is the sheet that sells for 87 cents a yard. That's less than one buck for a whole square yard of this plastic. Simply cut yourself a template to match your screen size, then cut out until your hearts content. Granted, it is a little more diffcult to get it on without bubbles (I am a perfectionist and tend to go through a couple before I am satisfied), but once it is on it is great! Crystal clear! And good protection. Since it is held on by static, there is no adhesive to mess up the display.

Once you get good at applying them, you could probably put a new one every day for almost a year for a grand total of 87 cents. For that cheap, go buy a yard of it and give it a try. I'll never use anything else!

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"In every work of genius....
we recognize our own rejected thoughts."
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Seattle, WA United States
Posts: 8

I purchased a package of Nushield screen protectors and they are worthless! The bottom line is they ended up scratching my Prism. Here's the reason why...

First they don't sit still on your screen. Unlike, and I guess it's part of the selling point, other screen protectors they don't adhere to the screen. They sit on top and use the space between the frame and screen to hold the protector in place. The problem is it slides around on top of the screen and allows grit to get under it and the screen. Normally this would be wiped off if you clean your screen regularly. But with the NUSHIELD piece of crap it gets under it and then slides around causing scratches.

I would caution anyone not to use this product because of this. It was a great idea, but I had no information that told me it would slide around on top of my screen and at times expose the screen, thus allowing dirt under the protector.

Registered: Nov 1999
Location:
Posts: 109

Screen Protection

You can take very good care of your screen, and it will still scratch. Here's what I do. I keep a can of dust remover at my desk and shoot it several times a day. You need to keep the dust/dirt off your screen to help pervent scratches. I also use the suggestion of olive oil. Just a very small amount, wipe it off and you have a thin film of oil thats as smooth as a baby's @ss.

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I got a turtle head poking out!

Registered: Mar 2001
Location: Singapore
Posts: 27

Gee, I guess you guys here have not heard about www.brando.com.hk .

Brando's website sells a screen protector called the Securer which comes in sizes to fit any Palm, from III series to Visor, and although they cost more than normal, each screen protector is washable and reusable...

Yup, you can put it under a running tap and wash it, leave it to dry and stick it back on your Visor. I use one on my Prism and it's just lovely, gives the screen a slightly matte finish, lowers the glare, and very smooth feeling. No red and green bands like the other screen protectors you guys were talking about...

Try it, in fact you can survive on 1 Securer for a whole year... well that's what I'm trying to do, it's been 6 months for me already....

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Regards,
Ben@SPUG

Registered: Nov 1999
Location: Seattle, WA United States
Posts: 8

We'll I wrote to Nushield about their product scratching my Prism and it's sliding around. Their response was basically the Visor's lower price means poor QC and that they've never had a problem with Palm's. Here's the actual response...

"We are certainly sorry to hear that. Occasionally, we hear from a customer such as yourself about problems with the screen/case fit. Either the case is too tight around the screen and the film will not fit correctly or too loose and they get your problem. Unfortunately,Handspring's lower pricing seems to mean poor QC as this has never happened with Palms."

So I guess the problem is Handspring...not their product.

Registered: Jun 2001
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 3

You might take a look at the Screen Protectors from CompanionLink. Reviews have found our products to be clear that our competition and our price is $19.99 for 12 pieces, unlike the competition at $24-28 for the same quantity. We have also launched in the last week a version cut specifically for the Visor Edge.

www.companionlink.com

Sincerely,
Andy Surber
CompanionLink

Registered: May 2001
Location: Virginia Beach,VA
Posts: 7

Ok I have been following this thread for a while because I have a big concern about scratches on my prism since no warranty covers this sort of damage. I would have posted something earlier except I have been busy field testing some different things and I hope some of these tips help you folks out and that my guinea pig experiments were not in vain.

I tried the small speck of olive oil on the screen trick mentioned earlier by David Vitale. It works pretty good believe it or not only you have to get used to the smudges on the screen. Cool thing about it is that with the brightness of the Prism set high you can't see the smudges while the unit is turned on but at lower battery conserving brightness settings the streaky look might get on your nerves. I tried several brands of plastic film coverings but none of them satisfy me too much they all seem to take away from the color of the prism. I used the same products with my Visor solo I had before and loved them but with my Prism I paid for a butt kicking color screen and using that type of product really takes away the pleasure of Prism's awesome color.

other things I tried...
As per victoras question about cleaning liquids. I found the best cleaning agent for the Screen is a very very soft cloth and Rain-X cleans all finger prints up, doesn't scratch, and even gives the screen an almost teflon like feel when you use your stylus across the surface. It even seems to make small scratches vanish granted they are very small scratches. I have also tried spraying a very small amount of WD-40 on a very soft cloth as a substitute for the olive oil trick. similar results with less gunky buildup on the screen. you have to reapply it more frequently though since it isn't as thick as olive oil. For small scratches on the screen like scratches caused from casual use (not the gauged out type of scratches) can usually be removed using scratch removal compounds commercially available at any record store for mending scratched CD's works great except I don't know what the long term effects of using that stuff might be since it seems to work like a polish. It must wear a small amount of the surface away then polish it up to remove scratches. I dont know if it had long term effects but im not too worried about it either I upgrade frequently so it is a non issue in my case. I will continue my quest for the perfect solution but until I find something maybe this info will help a bit

Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 7

NuShield Screen Protectors

quote:

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Originally posted by MadMax

I purchased a package of Nushield screen protectors and they are worthless! The bottom line is they ended up scratching my Prism. Here's the reason why...



First they don't sit still on your screen. Unlike, and I guess it's part of the selling point, other screen protectors they don't adhere to the screen. They sit on top and use the space between the frame and screen to hold the protector in place. The problem is it slides around on top of the screen and allows grit to get under it and the screen. Normally this would be wiped off if you clean your screen regularly. But with the NUSHIELD piece of crap it gets under it and then slides around causing scratches.

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Registered: May 2000
Location: Mesa, AZ USA
Posts: 213

Re: NuShield Screen Protectors

The licensed screen protector family understands this problem. Our research found
that certain screen protectors would allow dirt and grime to accumulate between the
screen and the face plate. The research on this subject was completed in 1993.
Its unfortunate that the consumer still has to waste their time and money on a product
that might not work. We would be glad to assist certain people with our research
information if they would ask. We understand that trial and error is the only way for
some people. This includes a Ph.D.

Bill

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Registered: Aug 2001
Location: New York City, NY
Posts: 2

I have tried the write-rights, and was disappointed with the screen resolution degradation. I have been "bare-back" now for several months, and the screen looks pretty good. I have one of those "bring in the parts and we'll replace it" warranties, which covers screen "breaks", but not scratches, so I see the concern.

My question for the group (especially the developers/researchers out there) is why are we concentrating on protecting the screen, rather than developing a more durable screen material? I realize that in three to five years, my trusty VPR will be like the 75Mhz Pentium: it may work, but not well, and not with the newest and best stuff. Can I expect a ruggedized, maybe even mil-spec PDA by then?

One of my expensive hobbies is amateur radio. My first portable transceiver was not as small, nor as strong as my current fleet of radios. My favorite portable is water resistant, does the job of three older portables, has neat gadgets like a barometric pressure unit/altimiter and case temprature monitoring, meets the MilSpec for portable radios, and best of all, fits comfortably in a pocket. Are the PDA manufacturers following this trend?

Registered: Aug 2001
Location: New York City, NY
Posts: 2

oops, double post....

Last edited by Don 37 on 08-19-2001 at 04:37 PM