Take off screen protector?

[zevv]

I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to take the screen protector of my Gemini: after a few weeks of use I've noticed imprints of the keys on the display, it seems that all keys are slightly depressed after the magnet snap-closes the lid. Will this not damage the top coating of the glass on the long term?

Any thoughts, or any observations from people who have taken off the protective plastic?

[shinkamui]

I'm not sure if it would be a good idea to take the screen protector of my Gemini: after a few weeks of use I've noticed imprints of the keys on the display, it seems that all keys are slightly depressed after the magnet snap-closes the lid. Will this not damage the top coating of the glass on the long term?

Any thoughts, or any observations from people who have taken off the protective plastic?

What top coating?  You didn't think the glass was treated with an oleophobic coating did you?  :-D :-D :-D

Took mine off, all i see are tons and tons of fingerprints i have to clean off daily.  But a small price to pay to not have that sticky plastic impeding my finger slides.  Im also not noticing key imprints in those finger prints, so its probably not a big concern.

[zevv]

I took it off, and there's indeed no oleophobic coating, that's for sure  

(But I can live with that for now - I barely need to touch the screen for most of the things I do anyway)

Glad I did take it off though, it greatly increases screen contrast - black is much blacker now.

[stfn]

How is the touch sensitivity without the screen protector?? From time to time the screen is barely responding to my touches.

[shinkamui]

How is the touch sensitivity without the screen protector?? From time to time the screen is barely responding to my touches.

Touch sensitivity is good, the screen is capacitive.  I had issues maintaining good contact with the plastic cover without holding the base of the device down, which was the main reason i nearly immediately removed the plastic screen (that and there was a damn air bubble I wasn't going to be able to look at much longer).

[joepirello]

Do you leave the plastic on your couches and mattresses too?  

[highjohn]

Ok, simple question:  how do I get the screen protector off !?

I've tried peeling it away from a corner, but I've made no headway.  And I don't want to take a more 'brute force' route, in case I scratch something.

Cheers.

[loop]

Ok, simple question:  how do I get the screen protector off !?

Lift a corner with adhesive tape.

[zsalab2]

Does the screen get scratches from the keys in case the protector is taken off? (I still have the protector, but now it is almost useless - it has sanding at each key.)

[gymbo]

Does the screen get scratches from the keys in case the protector is taken off? (I still have the protector, but now it is almost useless - it has sanding at each key.)

I do believe the screen gets a bit better with the "transport protection" off. It gets some "grease prints" from the keyboard, but doesn't seem to get any scratches, although the screen actually compresses the keys... I also held out for a while before taking it off. It doesn't seem like it needs a screen-protector, because the screen is "inside" and only get in contact with the keys. If you are able to drop it on the screen when opened, or carry it in your pocket in an open state, you might need a screen-protector, otherwise I think it wil be quite OK without it...  

[greguu]

still holding out
 

[Varti]

still holding out
 

Hi greguu, long time no see  I also kept my screen protector for roughly a year, and I decided to peel it off since it was getting difficult to see the screen due to all the markings left by the keys. Now the screen is much more readable and clean.

Varti

[gidds]

I removed my screen protector immediately, and after more than a year there's no noticeable damage to the screen.  It picks up very slight greasy marks from the keyboard when closed, just as it does directly from your fingers, but those all come off easily when I clean the screen, leaving no trace.

I believe that screen protectors are mainly to avoid marks made during manufacture and assembly.  They may also be useful for phones that are put unprotected into bags/pockets with keys &c — but the Gemini has its keyboard to protect it, so I can't see any benefit to keeping it on.

[miked1541]

I _finally_ removed my screen protector after using the Gemini since it was released!  (I was an early backer.)  I remembered reading this post when I first received the device since I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be removed.  I had kept the protector on since and glad to have found the post again now.  I forgot whether it was supposed to be removed or not.  The protector seemed to have melded with the screen and was not easily removable with my fingernail.  I ended up taking an x-acto blade to it to lift the film.

What a world of difference!  There were so many marks from the keys that all of them left an impression on the protector.  My terminal is _so_ black and the colors are so bright.  Looks like I have a brand new device and it is so much more responsive with a stylus (I don't like touching my screen.)  The keyboard on the other hand, shows heavy wear and has worn smooth on some of the more frequently used keys.  Looks like my next task is to detail the keys.  The "new" screen experience should hold me over until I finally get my Astro upgrade.

[Daniel W]

it seems that all keys are slightly depressed after the magnet snap-closes the lid.

Four years into this thread, I'd like to go a little OT and add that yes, the keys are, by design, depressed when the lid snaps shut, to make the closed device a little thinner. Looking straight from the side, we can see that the key caps are slightly raised above the rim of the keyboard.
 

My calipers says 1.3mm, so I'd guess Planet, being British, aimed for 0.05". As the lid has almost no raised edge, it will, when closing, press down the keys about that much.

On a further tangent (which might be a pun in Swedish, where "tangent", beyond its English meaning, also means "a keyboard key"), as the Escape key can wake up or reboot a Planet device, this design requires some finesse. If I slowly close the lid (of my Cosmo - I didn't bother to power up my Gemini) while looking at the screen, it turns off when the front gap is about 7/8", probably just before the screen begins pressing the topmost keys. To wake it back up, I need to lift the front of the lid about 1½". This hysteresis should stop the device from oscillating between sleeping and awake (which I think could crash Android, the launcher and/or the baseband, neither of which was likely designed to handle such stress).

More on topic, I think the main purpose of the film is to keep the screen clean and a bit more protected during manufacturing, testing and shipping. On my Gemini I left it on until, after some months, it came loose in a corner. By that time, it was full of keyboard-shaped finger grease imprints and little scratches I couldn't wipe away. After removing it, the screen looked like new and, while still attracting finger grease, was easier to clean and less prone to keyboard marks. As it is both harder and smoother, my fingertips clings a tad more to the glass than the somewhat silky plastic, which, on the other hand, feels slightly more slippery to my fingernails or my capacitive pen (an Adonit Dash 3).

On my Cosmo, over two years in, the film is still there. Just like my on Gemini, it has tiny specks of authentic factory dust™ trapped behind id, and the film a bit worn now, but hasn't, so far, begun peeling and I haven't been sufficiently bothered, to remove it.

[Edit 220808:] Solved a StupidUser class error, preventing the attachment from showing properly inline. Sorry Varti for the PM rant. It was just me screwing up the attachthumb tag...