H2O Anti-Fingerprint Measures

[biteme]

Hi, first time poster.

I've been through a few eReaders the years, primarily of the Sony variety, more recently Kobo (Touch, Glo), since Sony made the commercially suicidal decision to abstain from frontlighting. As and when I pass my readers on to kids and relatives, or lose/break the things, I buy myself the latest and greatest non-Kindle device. So last week when I dropped my Glo and broke the screen I promptly trotted off and bought an H20.

Impressions thus far have been very positive. It's got a great screen, has a much more sensible lighting range than the Glo, and the size is perfect for me. For some reason it seems a bit faster than the Glo, although I understand it has the same processor and RAM.

Some Sony style physical buttons would be nice, but I expect they would defeat the whole-water proofing idea, and add cost. Oh, and having to press three “clicks” to get to either the Table of Contents or search function is beyond stupid, in fact it’s brain dead. There is more than enough room on the menu bar at the bottom of the screen to put a couple of shortcuts for those functions there. While they are at it, a shortcut to take you to a certain page number would be worthwhile too.

However, overall, it is the best non-Kindle device readily available, at least in Australia.

Alas, there is one big, huge, enormous problem. The glossy front bezel of this thing is a fingerprint magnet like no device I have previously owned.

The Kobos (Koboes, Kobii?) are generally great readers. Any reservations I had when Rakuten took them over have been thoroughly dispelled. But the problem with the glossy bezel on this machine is bad. Really, really, bad.

I don't know how they managed to achieve this result, given the wonderful finish that they applied to the rear of the device. If Kobo had applied the same matte/rubbery finish to the front bezel this device would be fantastic. Maybe Kobo did all their R&D testing in Canadian and Japanese winters where sweaty, oily fingerprints aren’t such a problem. Maybe I’m an exceptionally sweaty and oily pig. I don’t know. I’ve never had this problem before.

So, how to fix this?

I don't like the idea of applying adhesive skins to my devices because, in my experience at least, they invariably peel off and look tacky.

I could buy a cover like the Gecko Protection Deluxe which covers the bezel, but I find those too bulky, heavy and intrusive. In fact I don’t like covers in general, and the H2O is big and heavy enough, as it is. I prefer to carry it in a sleeve in my briefcase.

So....I'm thinking of taking some fine sandpaper to the bezel and rubbing it down to a matte finish. Does anybody know if the black finish is through and through, or am I going to wind up rubbing through to a different coloured base material?

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Meeeowww!!!

[biteme]

Meh. I have evidently put the above post in the wrong sub-forum. Would a mod mind moving it up one level into the Kobo Reader non Tablet area. Please accept my apologies.

What can I say. I'm new here. I'm a noob. I am less than human. I am less than feline. So be it.

[davidfor]

Hmm, isn't "Less than feline" implied by "Less than human"? At least that's the opinion of all the cats that have deigned to let me live with them. Or is that just me?

As to the fingerprints on the bezel of the H2O, I just keep wiping them off. I seem to remember the Glo was pretty bad when new, but somewhere along the way it stopped being a problem, or maybe I just stopped noticing it. I don't think I would take to the bezel with fine sandpaper, I'd be to worried about slipping and getting the screen. I don't know if the colour is a coating or not, but there have been a couple of people who pulled the H2O apart and taken photos. They might give a hint.

For the performance, I've also noticed the H2O is faster than the Glo. I think it is memory as I am sure the Glo had 256MB and the newer devices have 512MB.

And I really wish you hadn't mentioned the plural of Kobo. That's going to be driving me nuts.

[rjv]

Like you, I've noticed the same thing about the bezel being a fingerprint magnet. Despite my OCD tendencies, I'm learning to just live with it. Almost everything else about the H2O makes it by far the best e-reader I have ever owned. And as I'm always reminding my wife, we don't live in a perfect world. It doesn't hurt to have a microfiber cloth handy, for the screen and for the bezel.

[biteme]

Thank you both. I'll see how I get along over the next week or so.

FWIW I do recall being a bit annoyed a bit annoyed with the the glossy bezel on the Glo, after being accustomed to the very nice matte bezel on the touch. I don't recall the Glo being this bad though.

It reminds me of that bizarre phase that laptops went through a year or two back when all the manufacturers were producing nice, shiny, piano black models. They looked beautiful, until somebody had the audacity to actually start using them...

Oh well, if this is the worse thing that ever happens in my life I have nothing to worry about - think of first world problems and all that. The rest of the device is pretty damn good.

And David, yes, you are quite correct about the feline perception of where humans stand in the great scheme of things. I did get that line of logic somewhat distorted.


Meeeowww!!!

[meeera]

I found that the fingerprints showed on the bezel when it was brand new, but now that it's a few weeks old it seems to have developed a 'patina' or similar, and it's a non-issue now.

[treadlightly]

I added a decal. It doesn't peel off. At the very least you could try it and remove it if you don't like it before scratching up the surface. I also added a decal to my Sony T1 when I had it because that bezel was worse for fingerprints.

I'm going with Kobos as the plural. I have two Kobos.

[biteme]

Thanks Meera. I remember that happening with the Touch Glo. It just seems more extreme with the H2O. Time will tell.

Treadlightly, I've looked at decalgirl.com. That would certainly appear to be an option if the situation doesn't settle down.

It just looks plain unhealthy at the moment. Kind of greasy. I keep wiping the bezel but it keeps getting oily. I'm washing my hands so much that people are starting to wonder if I'm obsessive-compulsive.

##### Lightbulb Moment ####

I've just retrieved the original box and extracted the funky little microfiber cloth. Maybe THIS is what it is intended for....

[marshap]

I applied a plain black decal from decalgirl, which is a bit tricky to apply straight and even, but it reduces the fingerprint issue.

[filmo]

Glossy bezel never really bothers me enought to remove but was common complaint at Sony Reader Forum. One fix was to remove gloss with rubbing compound. Should be easy to find the thread.

[icallaci]

I hate the glossy bezel too. When I got my new H20, I took some toothpaste (not the gel type) to my old Aura HD's bezel, which is also shiny, in an attempt to dull the finish. It worked ok but wasn't really enough of an improvement to warrant all the work. It still shows fingerprints, although not quite as badly, but my OCD nature still looks for the uneven areas where the toothpaste didn't quite do its job because I couldn't apply even pressure everywhere like a machine can. Anyway, I just carry a microfiber cloth inside my H20's case and use it often. Sometimes a little rubbing alcohol helps.

[biteme]

Originally Posted by filmo

Glossy bezel never really bothers me enought to remove but was common complaint at Sony Reader Forum. One fix was to remove gloss with rubbing compound. Should be easy to find the thread.

Originally Posted by icallaci

I hate the glossy bezel too. When I got my new H20, I took some toothpaste (not the gel type) to my old Aura HD's bezel, which is also shiny, in an attempt to dull the finish. It worked ok but wasn't really enough of an improvement to warrant all the work. It still shows fingerprints, although not quite as badly, but my OCD nature still looks for the uneven areas where the toothpaste didn't quite do its job because I couldn't apply even pressure everywhere like a machine can. Anyway, I just carry a microfiber cloth inside my H20's case and use it often. Sometimes a little rubbing alcohol helps.

Both of these are kind of what I was thinking of. I had in mind 600 grit wet and dry sandpaper over a cork or sponge block.

[Ken Maltby]

I Googled "matte overcoat" expecting results from auto detailing/modding sites, but it appears that there is something for putting a matte finish over nailpolish. Youtube.

You need to be sure and keep anything you apply to the bezel on the top surface, nothing should end up on any of the black IR transmissive plastic under the bezel's top surface.

Luck;
Ken

[Ripplinger]

The skins from DecalGirl are indeed very nice, very rugged, and you should never have a problem with them peeling off on their own. When you first apply it, you'll be able to remove it to re-apply if necessary. After some time though, they adhere extremely well. To remove it at that point would ruin it, stretching it out with each pull. When I removed one off a Sony 350, it pulled the serial tag off the back with it and there was no way to remove that tag from the skin... it's like it was part of the skin. And if you do decide to remove the skin, they leave zero residue on the reader, an absolutely smooth clean surface is left.

I hated how the Glo showed fingerprints at the beginning, but it really does seem to reach a saturation point or something odd where they no longer show. I'd give the H2O time to see if the same thing will happen. If not, I'd apply a skin at that point because those fingerprints would drive me nuts. You can get even a plain black one if you prefer to not have a busy pattern and want it to be as invisible as possible.

[Calenorn]

Originally Posted by biteme

##### Lightbulb Moment ####

I've just retrieved the original box and extracted the funky little microfiber cloth. Maybe THIS is what it is intended for....

Yes, microfiber is your very good friend.

Also, I find I'm becoming more comfortable using a stylus while reading. There's a certain elegance and flair about it.