Invisible Shield: Not as good as it used to be?

Gahh... I just cleaned off one of my white PSP Slims, I use a damp micro-fibre cloth. And it's caused some micro-scratches to show up on the Invisible Shield screen protector.


My 2 PSP Slims have newer Invisible Shield (post-ZAGG takeover) screen-only protectors and my PSP-1001 has an older Invisible Shield protector that covers the front faceplate (pre-ZAGG takeover) since the old PSP-1000's have an unbroken surface between screen and faceplate, that's why I went with the full Shield.

A few things I've noticed about the newer Invisible Shields-- they don't seem as good as my first one bought in 2006. That one did have a problem with the analogue nub butting against the cutout; I had to actually peel away some of it so it looks kinda rough around that area.

But other than that, the PSP-1001 Invisible Shield is just a smoother, flatter protector than these new ones.

My other PSP Slim also has the annoying micro-scratches on the Invisible Shield. I didn't clean this one for a long time... maybe not even ever.... and there were no scratch problems. I wasn't sure it was because of the wiping that caused the scratches, but now I know. Which is damn odd, because I'm using a MICRO-FIBRE cloth, specifically made *not* to cause scratches on ultra smooth surfaces (these are for glasses) I've used the same kind of cloths to clean my PSP-1001 Invisible Shield screen protector, and no scratches on that. At least not noticible ones.

The micro-scratches on my Slims screen protectors are really noticible when the PSP screen is showing light things like an outdoor afternoon scene or brightly coloured games like LocoRoco 2. The scratches sort of reflect the light, which is bad.

So I have to conclude that Invisible Shield, a brand of screen protector that I really championed, has lowered its quality somehow. I suspect it's a manufacturing thing; they changed the Invisible Shield "formula" to something cheaper for them to make. That's annoying, they charge a premium for their protectors. Part of the cost goes towards their lifetime replacement guarantee (I wonder how much longer that's going to last...) It's great that I could get a replacement, but it's such a bother to install the things that I don't want to do it unless I HAVE to, y'know?

It's still not a bad screen protector; once it dries and sets for 3 days, there should be no bubbles-- they look like they were applied when the PSP was manufactured. Most of the time, they really are invisible. But they're just not as good as they used to be.

When it comes to the PSP, almost any screen protection is better than NO screen protection....

I'm wondering if I should just try out Best Skins Ever next time or what.



later
don