So, according to General Antilles and some people over at the ITT site, you're a complete fool if you don't put some screen protection on your N8x0.
Now, I have mine in a little modified case I got off of eBay - specially (ill) constructed for the N800. The N800 is swaddled completely in faux leather, with a nice design concept that has little holes for all the controls on the N800. Here's a link to the eBay search - done on 'N800 case'. It appears to be a "book type" case, and there are about a million out there for under $20. Got mine from some outfit in Hong Kong, which has prolly changed names by now... Anywho, it works pretty good; adds a little bulk, but the thing of it is, all the little cut outs for the N800 controls don't really line up well. Thankfully, the case is tight enough that the N800 doesn't readily slip out, so I snipped the one little piece of side leather (where the power and headphone port is located), and now when I need it, I just give it a good firm shake and the N800 slides partially out. Good solution.
But I didn't have any screen protection on it. And I was a little worried that the constant dragging of the hanging bit o' leather was gonna cause some scratching (though keeping it in the case generally saved it from the harshest wear and tear). And General Antilles said I should get a screen protector....
I had withheld, because my little solution was working well. The real impetus for change started with another piece of kit - my iPod. I had had several cases for it (my wife teases me that I'm a headphone-aholic, which isn't true - it just took me awhile to find a few specialized sets of headphones that I like; I'm really a case-aholic, but shhhhh.....), but wasn't real real happy with them. I was happiest with the iSkin line, particularly the Claro. But that added bulk, was a little bit of a pain to get out of the case, and I bent the kickstand. But I really liked the slim .5mm, "U2 Special Edition"-like skin that came with it; only problem was, it didn't have a screen protector on it.
So I started looking around for screen protector solutions I could use for all of my kit. And I decided to try Fellowes' Write Right, because they looked thin, came in packs of ten, were cheap, and I could cut to the size of the screen of whatever kit I wanted. The trimming worked rather nicely; each sheet has a grid that helped a lot. Application wasn't too bad - basically, you trim to fit, peel the backing off, attach one edge to your kit, and use the included cardboard squeegy to press the adhesive down smoothly, guide the application, and iron out the bubbles. I did ruin one sheet for my N800 because I had a problem getting it down square and without bubbles and when I pulled it off to reapply it, some hair got irretrievably stuck on it. But they were like 50 cents a piece! Whatever! After I more closely followed the directions for the second time, it worked much better.
As I say, it did take a little bit of work; but I was quite happy with my efforts. Put one on my iPod's screen, one on the LG's internal and external screen, and one on the N800. (I need to put one on the camera, too, and the one on the LG's external screen has since fallen off). But all in all, okay....
Unless you're using it for a PDA. The surface is thin, and feels kinda hard and rigid and a little slick - which was very nice for the N800. Touching the screen seemed to work fine, and may have actually improved the "pinpoint" accuracy of the touch. Touches and stylus motion glided smoothly across the screen at first. But after a little while, the stylus chewed the surface of the protector to shreds. It basically created very fine etchings. On most angles, you didn't visibly notice these etches. But you sure as hell felt them with the stylus. And along the side where the scroll bar is located there were so many etched lines that things got kinda hazy.....
Now, they're cheap enough that it would be easy enough to remove each one when it got a little bad and replace it. Installation wasn't ideal, but it wasn't too bad. But, I decided I wanted to try something else.
People over on the ITT board mentioned invisibleSHIELD by Zagg. So I decided to try it. $13, shipping brought it to $20. They have this thing in the demo videos where they say "built to protect army helicopter blades," and show it being slammed down on a pair of scissors, which only succeed in temporarily stretching it. Which is cool.
I got it, and was a little daunted by the instructions. There's a rubber squeegee, and some lubricating mist that come with it, and an exhaustive list of instructions that include description of a "palming" technique, and a link to an on-line installation video. This seemed like a big deal. When I finally worked up the courage to do it, however, it was really easy.... I peeled the backing off the protector, spritzed it with the lubricating mist on both adhesive and outward sides, lightly cupped it in my palm, slapped it onto the face of the N800, and used the squeegee to push water and bubbles off the surface and out from under the protector. The lubricating mist allowed me to slide the protector around and bit and get a better fit, even though it was cut perfectly for the N800. I had to wait 12-24 hours before I could really use it, but that was no big deal. So, installation: really easy.
One of the things Zagg mentions is that it "improves your grip" - and that's just about right. After about 18 hours of drying, the protector set up clear as a bell - even a little glossy when held at the wrong angle. It has a kind of slightly "pebbled" surface to it that attacking it with the squeegee didn't solve, but it doesn't interfere with the view. The problem is that this thing is like rubber. This isn't too bad with a finger - again, it seems to improve the "pinpointability" - but with the stylus it is horrendous. The N800 stylus catches on the surface of this thing like nobody's business. Moving widgets around on the desk top is a chore. Using the little "up" gesture on the software keyboard to generate uppercase letters - never an easy proposition - is damn near impossible. It feels squishy.....
This seems to improve if I use a different stylus; I have an old Concept (who used to make the WriteRight protectors) honking stylus that glides pretty well across this protector. But it's huge! The stylus on an old Cross multi-pen works about as well, but it's pretty big, too. The stylus from my old Dell Axim doesn't catch quite as much as the Nokia's native one, but it's still pretty catchy. I'll have to try my wife's multi-pen with stylus, but I'm looking at a solution here that does not fit into the slot on the back of the N800. Not ideal.
So.... If you like to use your finger a lot - this may work very well for you. Seems to be no problem with cleaning (it even seems to stay cleaner), I know that nothing is getting through this thing to damage the actual screen, it is practically invisible, applies easily, and the finger (at least the nail) seems to glide nicely (a fleshy fingertip still grabs somewhat). But I like to use the stylus a lot - and I am seriously considering removing the protector. I know it provides superior protection, but the gripping and grabbing and squishiness is a serious deal breaker. I don't think I take it out nearly as often anymore because I don't want to confront it. I'll prolly try to find a stylus to use with it - but I am kinda missing the smooth glide I had without a screen protector....
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