When I was in elementary school I’d often wrap my school books in brown bag book covers. I took it as a challenge to see how new I could keep the book looking at the end of the school year. Today I don’t have quite the same drive to protect my computer library in the same way, but as I tote my Tablet around, I’ve started to become concerned about little scratches here and there. Stories of Peter’s TC1000 and a seemingly safe shopping cart flash in my head.
Normally I slip my Toshiba M200 in a little leather-like case, but still I’ve been noticing tiny scratches particularly on the outside top of the Tablet. After scratching my thining head for a bit, I settled on a simple idea that’s been working well for the last month.
My “how-to” begins a roll of Martha Stewart’s transparent (clear) contact paper in the kitchen accessories department at K-Mart. I think it cost about $6. From this roll I cut a square piece that I stuck to the top cover of the Tablet. At first I wrapped the contact paper around the compound edges of the case, but after a couple days the contact paper started lifting away, so eventually I trimmed it back. Now I just have the contact paper on the top of the case.
So far the contact paper trick has worked really well. At first I was concerned that it would peel away–but so far, except for the rounded edges, the film has stuck suprisingly well. And since the contact paper is clear you can’t really tell it’s even there.
I wondered, though, about coolifying my Tablet. Maybe next time I’ll use some bright red contact paper, with an overlay design. Hmm.
That’s hilarious!… that’s EXACTLY what I did…
Now, I’m sad that the paint is wearing off of the corner on the lower left because of my watch buckle…
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Your contact paper actually looks decent too. I thought it might get a dirty look to it, but it hasn’t yet. (Y)
I used the clear stuff on the silver cover, and tried smaller squares of it on the black parts below the keyboard where I rest the heels of my hand when typing… (I had the Toshiba 3500 before my M200 and found the black areas got polished over time)
Anyway, I tried the clear stuff and it didn’t look good. It kinda had a gray sheen. So I chose the simulated wood grain stuff and it thought it looked kind cool (like on of the Dell laptops).
After about a week of use, the grain wore off— next, I cut new pieces of the wood grain, AND identical size pieces of the clear to protect the grain… worked great. I left that in place for about 4 months and recently took those off— my M200 is now approaching 9 months old and deserves to look a little worn.
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