is it a ripoff?

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I too recently purchased a new 12 inch pb. I love it thus far, and want to do everything to protect it. Are those keyboard protector cloths worth it? They are little scraps of cloth that you lay over the keyboard before you close your pb. The ads say that it protects the screen from keyboard impressions and scratching. Same goes for the iKlear products.
 
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If you're going to be transporting the machine a lot, it's cheap insurance against screen damage or scratches, so I'd say it's a worthwhile purchase. iKlear is basically just a screen cleaning product, but any product designed for cleaning LCD panels should be fine.
 

rman


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If you want to protect your screen from keyboard impressions. Just go to the yardage store and purchase your self a small piece of cloth. I found a piece for about a dollar.
 
M

m1k

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Also, you should only buy any sort of keyboard cloth if there are actually impressions on your screen. For example, my 12" PowerBook doesn't leave any marks at all, there's a good 2mm between the keys and the screen, so I don't need any sort of cloths.

Good luck.
 
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Cloudane

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Out of the 3 things I bought to protect the PB:

- A microfiber 'sleeve' which isn't a case as such but fits the PB like a glove and protects it from scratches when you're carrying it around / leaving it lying about etc and makes it feel really comfy to carry kinda like a soft furry book

- A keyboard 'condom' is the best I can describe it, basically a rubbery thing that's specially shaped for the PB keyboard and protects the keyboard from being contaminated by greasy fingers, crumbs etc that always seem to make it into keyboards no matter how careful you try to be. It's specially designed not to impede your typing experience and works remarkably well.

- The little bit of microfiber cloth that cost about £20 and has 'Powerbook' printed on it, screen protection for the use of.

Out of those 3, the screen protector cloth was definitely the worst in terms of value. It's just a thin bit of cloth! But I still decided I'd rather use something that's definitely the right thickness and not going to cause stress on the hinges trying to squeeze it between the screen and keyboard, already specially designed and tested for the purpose etc. £20 ($30ish?) really isn't much of a price to pay for that extra peace of mind, having just spent such a large amount in the first place.

If you do just buy a bit of cloth and cut it into shape, my personal advice would be to:

- Make sure it's that soft 'microfiber' type cloth. I'd imagine that any old cloth can be abrasive and damage the screen more than if you didn't have it (grease can eventually be cleaned off with IPA, scratches can't)

- Make sure it's as thin as possible. You don't want some big, thick layer of cloth putting unnecessary force on the hinges. I actually found some foam similar to what was originally shipped between the keyboard and screen - which is also a good answer btw though it might need a trim - and cut it into shape. But it was about twice as thick, and there was actually a noticable effort closing the lid that last couple of millimetres, suggesting that the foam was too thick and therefore causing stress on the hinge. So I abandoned the idea.
 
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csuazo
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Cloudane said:
Out of the 3 things I bought to protect the PB:
- A keyboard 'condom' is the best I can describe it, basically a rubbery thing that's specially shaped for the PB keyboard and protects the keyboard from being contaminated by greasy fingers, crumbs etc that always seem to make it into keyboards no matter how careful you try to be. It's specially designed not to impede your typing experience and works remarkably well.

Thanks for the advice. I just bought an iSkin for my keyboard. I'll hold off on the cloth thingy...there is that space between the monitor and the keyboard, so I'll trust that for the time being.
 
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Joeytpg

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guys how come you waste your money buying those microfiber cloth things to put on your keyboard. the cheaper option is to just use that white thin sleeve that comes with the powerbook it even fits the measurements perfectly.....and it covers the keyboard, speakers, and trackpad. at least that's what I use.

cheaper and it fits the job!
 

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