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mac-kerouac · Mar 6, 2004, 10:33 PM

I've just noticed that there are short vertical marks all over my lcd. The marks correspond to the spaces between the keys on the keyboard. I tried to wash them away, no luck!! Why is this happening???

ghporter · Mar 7, 2004, 09:16 AM

The iBook is so thin because Apple shaved every extra millimeter of space they could. That means that the keyboard is sometimes in contact with the plastic coating on the LCD. We simply kept the little foam sheet that came with the iBook, and put that over the keyboard every time we close it. For what it's worth, I do that with my Dell laptop too-it's not an Apple-only problem.

There's not much you can do to "fix" the marks on the screen, but they may fade after a while if you don't reinforce them by letting the keys directly touch the screen-like by using the little foam sheet, as we do.

mgl · Mar 7, 2004, 10:34 AM

Originally posted by mac-kerouac:
I've just noticed that there are short vertical marks all over my lcd. The marks correspond to the spaces between the keys on the keyboard. I tried to wash them away, no luck!! Why is this happening???

Clean your screen and keyboard regularly. It's the oil from your fingers on the keys that is marking the lcd's protective coating. Try http://www.klearscreen.com/. This is what Apple sells on their site.

mac-kerouac · Mar 7, 2004, 10:00 PM

Thank You!

I'll give it a try.

Eriamjh · Mar 9, 2004, 07:03 AM

Place a paper towel (soft kind) between the keyboard and the screen when you close the computer. Worked for me.

mac-kerouac · Mar 9, 2004, 05:05 PM

I got a screen sleeve from coolshield. It came today. I hope it helps, it was expensive!

At least I will be able to close my iBook. It has been opened since saturday.

Cadaver · Mar 9, 2004, 07:45 PM

It's much worse on one of my co-worker's Dell Latitude C640. Marks all over the screen from the keyboard - shaped like the square keys and all. My 2.5 yr old 600MHz iBook barely has any (and I don't use anything between the screen & keyboard when closed).

A thin sheet of soft fabric will help. Microfiber, suede chamois, something like that. Several online companies sell such fabric swatches that are cut to fit the Apple laptops just right (don't have a link handy however).

I'm getting a new Dell Latitude D800 (15" WUXGA 1920x1200, 1.7GHz P-M, 1GB RAM, 802.11a/b/g, bluetooth) machine from work in a few weeks, and you can bet that something is going to be placed in there to protect the screen from key marks.

You can also bet the second I get ahold of it, I'm trashing the software install and installing a dual boot Mandrake (Redhat) Linux with WinXP.

ghporter · Mar 10, 2004, 05:02 PM

Screen Sleeve? Specially cut microfiber fabric? I like Eriamjh's suggestion for using paper towel. And as I said, we use the foam sheet that came with the iBook, so we don't have any problems-and didn't have to pay anyone extra for it.

I have to note that I was forewarned about this issue before I got my Dell-by a guy that used to run the Mac distribution for a Major University. So I kept the foam sheet that came with my Dell, and we kept the sheet that came with the iBook.

ginoledesma · 11:01 PM

If you're really concerned, go buy yourself Radtech's ScreenSaverz, which uses a special type of cloth to protect your screen from the keys. Its non-abrasive, unlike paper towel. Or, you could always just use the foam that Apple ships with with all iBooks/PowerBooks.