ShieldZone recently sent PSP Fanboy a sample of their screen protectors. They take on the appearance of a thin plastic film, and help protect it from the crazy things you do to it, you maniac. There are two variations of the product, one that protects the screen itself, and another that protects the entire face of your PSP. Personally, I'd have to recommend the screen protector over the face protector because the installation of the product, although simple, is also quite cumbersome. The film is very durable, but also incredibly adhesive, even to your fingers. It's incredibly easy to trap finger prints on the film, and distort the shield before application. The precision required for the full face shield is a bit demanding: it requires you to align small openings in the plastic nearly perfectly with the buttons on the system itself. This is where many things can go wrong in the installation.
Once applied, it takes a bit of effort to squeeze out the bubbles underneath. In the best of scenarios, your system will not have anything noticeable on it, but in the worst case scenario, very obvious bumps will be apparent. Problems should be minimized with the screen protector, as opposed to the body protector because the margin for error is much more forgiving. If you manage to install the product without a hitch, it is surprisingly durable and comes with a lifetime guarantee, which is pretty sweet. The screen shield is $13 on their official website.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-07-2006 @ 11:23PM
Graham R. said...
Ive got one of these for my creative zen vision: M. I am very happy that i bought it. It looked like crap when i applied it, but after a couple weeks (at the most) the bubbles pretty much dissapears, and it looks awsome. checkout the key test on the official website. they put a key to an ipod (with alot of force) and with the screen protector on it didnt scratch at all.
Reply
8-08-2006 @ 1:59AM
Chris Powell said...
One of my main concerns with putting any kind of screen protector on my handhelds is the residue it may leave if I ever have to take it off.
Do you think it will leave any, Andrew?
Reply
8-08-2006 @ 8:28AM
Andrew Yoon said...
I highly doubt there will be any residue with proper installation. The point is to get rid of all moisture from underneath the shield. Once that's gone, it should be fine.
Reply
8-08-2006 @ 10:36AM
Joe said...
I have several of these screen protectors. My sons PSP screen still looks great after 8 months of very rough use - he's pretty hard on his stuff. I highly recommend them for any device whose screen you want to protect. I have them for my camera, cell phone, etc.
Don't be put off by the difficult installation description. It's simple and easy and looks great if you take the time to watch the video on their web site before digging in.
Reply
8-08-2006 @ 10:56AM
Mario said...
I bought the one that protects the entire face of your PSP for $6 from http://www.bestskinsever.com/ it is the same product for half the price. As far as the installation goes it is all about trial and error - as long as you keep it wet you can move it around. Once you get it in place leave it alone and let it dry.
Reply
8-16-2006 @ 7:51PM
Don said...
I talked about my installation of the Invisible Shield for my PSP at my LJ:
http://yellowperil.livejournal.com/194518.html
Overall, 3 months later, I'm fairly happy with it. The bubbles have pretty much disappeared. The key is to wait a few days, it WILL look better, believe me.
My biggest complaint about the full front shield is that the cutout for the analog nub needs to be much larger to account for the range of motion when pushing the nub upwards. Because of the way the surface of the PSP body curves the nub is much closer to it in the "up" position. It's very low to the surface to begin with. If I replace my Invisible Shield, I will cut out a larger hole for the analog nub, it was a major hassle trying to cut it out when it was applied!
Reply