Customer Reviews

Fellowes 98025 Writeright for Palm V series

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These thin, plastic sheets are cut to fit the screen of your Palm perfectly, are self-adhesive and remove easily. The problem is that the texturing, which is supposed to reduce glare and make writing easier, also reduces screen visability.

Another problem with this product is getting these sheets to lay down smoothly without any air pockets. You are supplied with a credit card-like applicator, but if not applied perfectly the first time, you can go over and over the thing and the bubbles still remain.

There is no doubt in my mind that this product will protect the Palm's fragile screen from scratches, but if you can't read the screen, what's the point? I discovered, however, it's very easy to cut the sheets so they just cover the graffiti portion of the screen, and this is the part of the screen that takes the most abuse from your stylus. Using it this way, you get the advantage of a textured writing surface (very nice) yet you can still easily view the screen. Furthermore, you'll get three of these mini protectors from each single sheet.

Keep in mind that if you choose to use the method of only covering the graffiti portion of the screen, and a coin or some other object gets lodged between the case and the screen, these protectors will do little to keep the rest of the screen from being scratched.

I think the textured writing surface makes this product a good bet for most users, and you can start with the entire screen covered and see if you can live with it. If not, cut the sheets (as described above) and I think you'll be happy.

I've found that these little things work exactly the way they're supposed to and they do the job well. Now that you've spent all that money on a great gadget, why not protect the part that will experience the most wear and tear?

These clear sheets are pre-cut to fit exactly on the screen of a Palm V, Vx, or IBM Workpad C3 (they have versions for other PDAs too). I found getting them to stick to the screen aligned and without air bubbles was pretty easy (and I usually suck at putting things like decals on straight). All you have to do is line up the top of the sheet with the top of the screen, roll it down the screen, and smooth it out with the little card they give you. If you mess-up, just lift it up again (before you've laid it all the way down or pressed it onto the screen) and start over!

Once it's on you'll notice two things. First, it's a bit textured so I found it reduces glare. Some people have mentioned that it reduces visibility or clarity. I haven't found that's really an issue at all. I find the screen still very easy to read with and without the backlight.

Second, the texture gives a bit of "feel" when you're writing. The screen itself is quite smooth and slippery. This is fine, but I find the bit of texture makes it easier for me to write and just feels better. That's a subjective call, but if you find the naked screen too slippery this will help.

The sheets seem to last at least as long as they say they will (about a month), but I suppose that will depend on how much/hard you write on your screen. The box includes 12 sheets, so enough for about a year.

There are only two negatives I can think of for this product:

1. The sheets appear to shift very slightly on the screen over time. My suspicion is that as you write on it, you shift it slightly with each stroke. After about a month of using one, I found very little wear on the sheet but it appeared to have shifted to the right about a milimeter or so. You can shift it back, but it's not easy and if you lift it up to re-apply it the adhesive is less sticky. This is not a big issue since it doesn't seem to be even noticeable until it's about time to change the sheet, but it happens.

2.... I wish they were a bit cheaper. I know that $20 for a year of protection isn't much, but frankly paying $20 for some sheets of plastic that can't cost more than a few cents each to manufacture still bugs me a bit. I would actually rate these 4.5 stars with the 5th star being reserved until they lower the price ... ?

In the end, however, an once of prevention is definitely worth a pound of cure. In this case it could be $20 for screen protectors vs. $100 to replace a screen! So, despite my 2 little gripes, I'm happy with this purchase and think it's worth trying to protect your investment in a toy/tool that I use ALL the time!

Hope this helps...good luck with your purchase!

try Scotch Brand "Magic" tape for the Graffiti area on your Palm.. "Magic" tape has a matte, or raised surface. The matte surface adds a nice feel of resistance to the stylus somewhat similar to paper. putting the tape only in the graffiti area keeps visibility unobstructed in the main viewing area.

I recently purchased a Palm Vx and I bought this product along with it. I was warned that the Writerights would make my screen blurry, but the Palm Vx is supposed to have a better resolution that some of the other PDA's so I didn't really care much. Since I'm rough on electronics I felt that a little blurriness was worth the peace of mind. I put the Writeright on immediately after buying my Palm and have never used my Palm w/o the Writeright. So if there is any blurriness, I don't really notice the difference, and that's exactly how I wanted it! But it seems fine. The display is pretty sharp and I use the smallest font and play games on it and I've had absolutely no problem with it. My palm has already taken several tumbles both with and without its hard case on, and the screen is still as perfect as the day I bought it. I think the product is overpriced though. It probably costs Fellowes less than 5 cents to make a 100 of these things, but they do last longer than a month and you can easily get a pack to stretch out longer than a year. So for $20, it's not that bad. If you've already had your Palm for some time, you might want to get the cleaning wipes to go with this to use before you put on the Writerights. I can just imagine that if a little particle of dust or sand got caught under that piece of plastic it might cause a little gouge or scratch. Once you do apply the Writeright, there are quite a few bubbles that are noticeable, but you can carefully push them out, or if you just leave them, they'll come out by themselves within a few days. The bottom line is that $20 is a small price to pay to protect a $500 investment.

I agree with most of the other reviews that this product is more hype than it is effective. I have serious misgivings about its claims. The only one that I would not have a quarrel is that it protects your screen. As for the others they are not what they claim. One the claims are that it helps improve handwriting recognition. I did not notice any difference in accuracy. The other is that it helps prevent glare. This I found completely unfounded. The plastic sheet reduces the sharpness of the display and does nothing to improve glare. The other issue was that the sticky plastic sheets are very hard to place on the display and frequently takes many attempts in order to get it in the correct position. I would not recommend this product.

As a heavy note taking and word processing user of my Palm (writing into both Palm's memo program and Data Viz's Documents To Go), I was starting to notice scratches appearing on my screen, particularly over the most used letters of the tap screen keyboard. (Since I don't use Graffiti, these scratches were beginning to obscure the live viewing area of the display when the keyboard was not in use.)

I immediately purchased a package of Fellowes WriteRight based upon a friend's recommendation.

The WriteRight plastic overlays immediately covered up the scratches on my screen (making it look new again) while providing me with the protection that I was seeking.

With the WriteRight sheets, the clarity and contrast of my screen are reduced somewhat, and glare reduction (as touted on the package) is negligible at best. My Palm screen, however, is still usable in either reflected light or when using the Palm V's backlight (the latter being very important to me since I work on my Palm at night either on a plane or at my kids' sports practice).

The life of each overlay sheet easily exceeds the one month suggested manufacturer's recommendation. And, when removed (which is easy to do), it leaves no adhesive residue.

The enclosed "squeegee" (a credit card-size piece of plastic) made application and air bubble evacuation more certain. And the non-glare finish of the sheets does prevent fingerprints from being seen as claimed.

Fellowes WriteRight is overall a very good product. Be sure to buy some either before or after you scratch your display. Either way, the WriteRight sheets, even though they may seem a bit pricey, are certainly a good value and much less expensive when compared to the alternative -- paying to have the screen replaced.

I didn't buy my writerights from amazon. I wish I would have, i think i paid $25 for mine. Although the product is little more than a sticker, it is very functional. the screen is easier to read with the writeright. there is much less glare and I am more confident that I won't be scratching my screen.

One bad thing, They covers are a little difficult to install, you have to make sure you get them straight without any bubbles or fingerprints.

overall, well worth the investment

I bought a pack of these at the same time as I bought my Palm Vx. I had tried out the screen on store models and did find the Graphitti area if nothing else to be a bit slippy and hard to make the handwriting work so figured what the heck. Since I put the first one on soon after taking the vx out of the box, I would hope my screen stays in its virgin condition.

First let me talk about the "installation". It took me 2-3 times to get the top lined up as I didn't want to touch the sticky part of the protector. As a result, I had some bubbles like the other reviewer. Using the provided "squeegee" I was hard pressed to get rid of the bubbles near the top soooooo I used my Library card which is a credit card size piece of harder plastic and got nearly all of them. I suspect if I use it upon the next installation from the start I should wind up with little to no bubbles. For the price they should give you a little more sturdy applicator. Getting the sticky screen cover off it's backing was not an easy task but with practice it should be easy.

How does it work? There is a very slight degradation to the viewing area but given the tradeoff of having it not get scratches, it's no biggie... the Vx more than makes up for it. The Graphitti works fine... mastered it in about 5 mins. It also keeps the dust/grime off the screen itself which is why I bought it.

Bottomline: Good first purchase to go along with your Palm but make sure you get their cleaner pack as well as you should use it when you go to change the screen cover every month.

This product offers great protection for a Palm Pilot screen, and I think that it does make writing on a Palm Pilot easier. I never found it a problem to put it on- though it does take a couple of minutes. The only problem that I found is that it doesn't reduce glare. In fact, if anything, I think it reduces sharpness. Overall, I'm happy with this product.

Picture this:

You are sitting on a bus, using the stylus on your PDA, when the bus jolts, and you accidentally dig a small scratch into your PDA with the stylus. Or you scratch it with a ring you are wearing. Or someone touches the screen the wrong way and you go off your rocker.

All of your worries can be solved with this item. No longer need you worry about the safety of your PDA screen: by putting on this item, you have essentially installed a new screen that you can replace yourself at the end of a month or when it is itself is damaged. Like one other reviewer said, a worthwhile ounce of protection.

Actually, it is only about 1/10 of an ounce (or even less), so you really don't know that it is there. Except, of course, when you are writing. The PDA's screen is very slippery, and the screen protector adds a paper-like feel to the screen, so it is much easier and gratifying to write on.

My only complaint: there is a small copyright line at the bottom of the film that lies on the lower border of the stylus-writing area. It could have been worse, but it really shouldn't be there at all. Hardly noticeable, but not worth going without the protection.