[vixi]

I'm purchasing my ibook this week. I see all these products to "protect" my ibook. It makes a neurotic girl like me paranoid! The one that seems to make the most sense is the iskin keyboard cover. How many of you use it, does it inhibit typing, and how many of you bought it but never use it? Would I be just as well off with a can of compressed air?

Covers for the trackpad, little pads that go around the frame of my laptop, microfiber clothes for the screen when it is closed.. are they just preying on the paranoid?

[smic]

for me ya, they are preying on the paranoid

i have no marks on my screen from the keys, my trackpad is "almost" as good as it was new (i can see a little wear), the outside has some scratches but not alot

and ive had my ibook in backpacks, suitcases, in the trunk of a car, etc..

i dont even think my keys can come close to touching the screen, there is 2 rubber spacers on the top of the screen that pretty much make it impossible to touch, unless your screen is concaved in

[vixi]

Thank you for the input! I am going to invest in a nice zeroshock sleeve, but beyond that .. I don't know. After reading this forum I started to get paranoid that the ibook was this really fragile thing that would crack if I look at it funny.

[Robbo]

Originally posted by vixi:
Thank you for the input! I am going to invest in a nice zeroshock sleeve, but beyond that .. I don't know. After reading this forum I started to get paranoid that the ibook was this really fragile thing that would crack if I look at it funny.

The Zeroshock sleeves are amazing - I got one without realising it :/ I went to my local PC World and just grabbed the first reasonably-priced sleeve I saw, the day after I got my iBook. It was cheap too
My 'Book feels safer in there than I thought possible - I jst throw it in my backpack and don't panic about it.
Congrats on your new Mac - you're going to love it!

[biscuit]

Well, I've got quite a few key marks on my screen and they've been there a good long while. Pretty much permanent too now, although you can't see them in normal use.

If I was getting a new iBook, I'd get a screen protector and a nice case (mine's pretty scuffed up on the outside after 1 trip in my backpack).

Better safe than sorry

biscuit

[ginoledesma]

I have the older iSkin for the iBook G4. The older ones, I've noticed, are slightly thicker (and feel more durable) whereas the newer ones are a tad thin. The older ones seem to leave a mark (most likely from skin oil) onto the sides of the LCD and, if you don't wash it occasionally, on the screen itself. But better than than scratches from the keys.

A woman-friend of mine put it aptly: the iSkin is like a condom, it takes some time getting used to. For me, it took roughly 3 days to get me back up to my normal typing speed. Initially, it felt kind of weird to have this rubber-plastic like mat preventing me from fully touching the keys (which, by the way, are excellent). But I got used to it, and the iSkin has more than paid for itself from my accidental "spills" of crumbs and liquid.

[Peter]

Originally posted by vixi:
I'm purchasing my ibook this week. I see all these products to "protect" my ibook. It makes a neurotic girl like me paranoid! The one that seems to make the most sense is the iskin keyboard cover. How many of you use it, does it inhibit typing, and how many of you bought it but never use it? Would I be just as well off with a can of compressed air?

Covers for the trackpad, little pads that go around the frame of my laptop, microfiber clothes for the screen when it is closed.. are they just preying on the paranoid?

that problem was very rare, and only happened around the G3 600 iBooks. Waste of money imho.

[biscuit]

Originally posted by Peter:
that problem was very rare, and only happened around the G3 600 iBooks. Waste of money imho.

Well, that's the model I've got, so I can't argue with that.

biscuit

edit: I just had a look at my friend's G3 700 (14") and that has some marks on the screen, although they're not as bad as on mine. I think it's mainly from skin grease, which the iSkin won't really stop. Some company does a line of cloth protectors that you put in when you close the lid that might be better. That's actually what I thought you were talking about...

[greenamp]

Originally posted by Peter:
that problem was very rare, and only happened around the G3 600 iBooks. Waste of money imho.

I wanting to be paranoid too, but I just can't see how the keys on my ibook could touch the screen. The lcd panel is "sunk in," and two rubber tabs keep the screen bezel away from the base when the lid is closed.

[webcookie]

I have an iSkin keyboard cover and I hardly ever use it. I don't like the feeling of typing on it. The iBook has a very nice keyboard. Just clean your keyboard with Dirtex every now and then and you'll be fine.

[vixi]

Dirtex? Really? I thought a cleaner like that would be too harsh?

[Randman]

It does take time getting use to it but it does help in my case (I'm an iBook user, quite mobile and I have a dog and it prevents stray fur from getting under the keyboard.

[webcookie]

Originally posted by vixi:
Dirtex? Really? I thought a cleaner like that would be too harsh?

Nah, I use Dirtex on my iBook all the time; on the keyboard, palm rests, and outside. NOT on the screen. I use Dirtex to clean just about everything.

[andretan]

Does anyone use the iSkin with something like the RadTech Screen protector?

I keep getting key marks on the screen, and I'm kinda lazy to wash my iSkin everytime

[one sick puppy]

I have an iSkin and the biggest reason I bought it was because it made typing even quieter. This is great for students when typing in a quiet class during a lecture.

I actually prefer using the iSkin rather than the bare keyboard. I just put a white piece of paper on top of the iSkin if I'm going to keep it on while my iBook is closed.

[Skip Breakfast]

The iSkin will help prevent damege from accidental spills from all of your visits to Starbucks.

[BobVB]

Originally posted by Randman:
It does take time getting use to it but it does help in my case (I'm an iBook user, quite mobile and I have a dog and it prevents stray fur from getting under the keyboard.

Yep, keeping starbucks coffee and doberman hair off and out of my keyboard is why I use mine. That plus a RadTech sleeve and this Mac has stayed in pristine condition (especially when compared to my old iBook500 - it almost had a matte finish when I upgraded)

[selowitch]

I have two iSkins, one for my iBook, another for my Apple Wireless Keyboard (Bluetooth). To be honest, I too don't much like typing on them, it interferes too much and sometimes produces false keystrokes.

However, I do like keeping it on the keyboard when I'm not typing on it to keep it from marring the screen and to protect the keyboard when stored.

So, while I'm not using them the way I originally intended to, they still have their uses. I use the wireless keyboard most of the time, so I just leave the iSkin on the iBook's built-in keyboard for protection. Then, when I store the external keyboard, I put its iSkin on it.

[polendo]

No marks of any kind in my iBook. In my opinion, I wouldn't buy the skin for the keyboard.

What I just bought is a Targus base to hold the iBook. It has spaces on the base so that heat emanating from the iBook is dissipated and cools it in a better way. I think it was a good buy considering that the iBook gets a bit warm on the bottom and this way it just helps it to vent a bit of air on the iBook base.

regards

[joltguy]

Originally posted by webcookie:
I have an iSkin keyboard cover and I hardly ever use it. I don't like the feeling of typing on it. The iBook has a very nice keyboard. Just clean your keyboard with Dirtex every now and then and you'll be fine.

Do you by any chance have the old "Asphalt" (black) iSkin keyboard cover? I'd love to buy it off you if you don't like it. iSkin has stopped making this variant and I can't find it anywhere online.