PRS-350 Fit and finnish on the PRS-350 Skins @DecalGirl

[CraftyDan]

I love my PRS-350, but I've had it with the silver shining back on me every time I read.
I think skinning it is the best way to go and the DecalGirl skins do look nice, but I haven't seen anything but their photoshoped mock-up.


I'd like to hear personal experiences with the PRS-350 skins from DecalGirl. Specifically, how closely do they come to cover the reader around the edges?

I've seen the comments about the 950 skins having a thin rim of metal around the screen. I'm wondering, if I get a dark skin will I have a tacky strip of silver around my screen?

Will it cover all the way over the side of the reader up to the plastic, or is there a silver strip around the edges as well?



I'm already sold on the quality of the company -- I'm more interested in hands-on experiences with this cut out. (If you must chime in about how much you like your "not a 350" skin, I suppose I won't complain)

[Ripplinger]

I've have a 350 skin from DecalGirl on my reader for quite awhile now and I love it (I paid extra for the Milky Way design, now it's available cheaper). I really didn't find any silver glare annoying to me at all, but I went with advice from readers here about that and thought it might be bad in the summer when reading outside in the sun.

When I first put it on, I had it slightly touching the 2 left buttons and they were stiff to push. They still worked but it just annoyed me enough that I pulled it off a few weeks later to reposition it.

There's a little stretch (not much at all, but you sometimes can pull it where you want it), so the first time I put it on, I had zero silver showing around the text area and that looked the best because of the black trim around the screen. There was a slight silver edge showing next to the edges of the reader, which really isn't noticeable though because it's next to the white plastic edge. I don't think there's anyway to avoid that.

After I pulled it off though, that stretched it out a bit, it was hard to pull off from around the screen without stretching it. Reapplying it now has left me with a very slight silver edge on 2 sides of the screen, which annoys me somewhat when I look at the skin, but honestly isn't even a factor when using the reader to read and not to examine the skin placement.

I don't think you can avoid a tiny amount of silver showing around the edges though, and around the buttons slightly (but you want that so button presses aren't restricted like I had). But as I said since it's next to the white edge, it really isn't noticeable or even slightly annoying to see at all.

I was amazed that the skin will go on without any bubbles and quite easily. After using a screen protector on my cell phone and just accepting that there will be bubbles forever, it was quite a nice surprise. When I removed the skin, I was surprised again there really was zero residue left on the reader. I probably should have opted to take DecalGirl up on their offer to send a new skin for free and just pay for shipping if you screw up placement somehow, but I didn't feel right about it for some reason.

I think you'll be happy with the skin in spite of the slight silver around the edges though.

[Wordeater]

I can't speak of the Decalgirl skins for the 350, but I did have one on my 650 for awhile and the fit was tremendous. The key thing in my experience was to use real care to NOT stretch the skin if you find you have to remove it to re-align it when putting it on. Once stretched, it will not fit properly.
I did read the trick was to dip them in soapy water before attempting to put one on. This apparently allows them to be manipulated a bit and helps to reduce the risk of stretching them. (I understand the skins have channels on the adhesive side to allow the bit of soapy film left to be evacuated) Maybe someone else can chime in here as to the validity of this technique. I did NOT use this method.
The fit of the skin on my 650 was more accurate than I expected beforehand, so if I were to do it again I would just approach it by just lining it up EXACTLY along the right hand side edge. (I'd know how close I had it by the time it approached the the bottom right-hand 'option' button; measuring the distance between the right-hand edge to the first button would give you an exact location to set the RH edge to start)
This way I wouldn't have to remove very much of it to adjust the fit if I needed to, lessening the risk of doing damage. I might also suggest you remove as little 'backing' as possible to avoid having any part of the 'sticky' surface of the skin making contact anywhere on the reader except where you want it in the end. I peeled back some of the backing and cut a little bit of it off with scissors to leave as little of the adhesive surface of the skin exposed as possible. Trust me on this.
I removed the skin I had shortly after I put it on because I didn't like the way it looked. I prefer the 650 'naked'. I also bought a skin with the 'matt' finish, and if I were to do it again I go with a 'glossy' one.
BTW, the skin I had was 'Matrix Code'.
I can appreciate wanting to cover up the 'silver' finish of your 350. Not wanting a silver reader was the main reason I ruled out getting a PRS-950, and I sure didn't want a pink 350.

Hope this helps.

WE

Edit.....in addition, the sole reason I went with a black skin on my black 650 was to avoid seeing any misalignment of the skin around the screen if that happened as mentioned in the post by Ripplinger, and with the Decalgirl skins, you will be surprised at what little bubbles you'll get, unlike many other skins on devices.

[CraftyDan]

Thanks Rip & WE.

That's the kind of info I was looking for.

I'd purchased a Wrapsol Screen+skin for my red 600. I tossed the screen protector over glare, but kept the skin. I had trouble on the left edge and it shows. What you're saying about DG's skins are encouraging!

BTW, Rip, thanks for paying for the layout work on on the "Milky Way" that one's high on my list!

Now to narrow it to one . . .

[Bookworm_Girl]

My advice is to apply it very slowly and don't be afraid to reposition as long as you do it gently. I started at the bottom around the buttons and then worked my way up the sides to the top. Focus getting the bottom and left correctly positioned first and then it is easier to reposition around the top and right side. I was able to minimize the silver edge using that technique compared to some others on my 950. Get the front right and then the back is easy.

I really like the DecalGirl skin texture and quality compared to the myTego skin that I had for my 505 (even though it was good too). I also recommend that the matte finish is worth the extra $5.

[Ripplinger]

Agree about the matte also, which I forgot to mention. I don't know why anyone would want a glossy finish on their ereader.

[CraftyDan]

Well the matte suggestions came a few moments after I hit buy, but I'd already followed your reasoning and got the matte (whew!) Good to hear I made the better choice!

Ended up springing for the "Tetrads" Skin. Bit of a geek and (surprise,surprise) a big fan of Tetris. figured it would be the closet I'd get to Tetris on my reader

Again thanks for the advice -- I'll post pics when I get it installed.

Too bad there isn't a good way to cover up those chrome plated buttons! The buttons actually reflect sunlight worse than the silver matt finish of the 350. I'm still confused why Sony insisted on silver and pink for the 350 and silver only for the 950, in the USA that is.

I briefly considered trying to use gun blueing to darken the silver finish, but decided it wasn't worth the risk of getting the liquid on the inside circuitry. I tried to carefully remove the outside metal shell of the 350, but I couldn't get it to easily come apart so I quickly gave up that idea to avoid damaging it. If I could have removed the metal shell, I would have painted it matt black.

I've used skins on other devices but never really liked the way they fit. Some of the photos I saw of the decalGirl skins on 950s looked bad as they left too much metal showing around the screen.

[CraftyDan]

I received my skin and installed it with mixed results.



The good:
- Clean, bubble-less install -- as advertised. simply the easiest and neatest installs I've had with a skin. Kudos!
- Nice job on the layout. There's enough art on the margins to get the mood of the skin.
- The print is good and the Matte knocks down on the cheesy skin look (not to mention glare!). Definitely worth it.
- Was able to use the button cut-outs on the buttons. Not the intended purpose and had to cut the gaps myself, but they work and the buttons now blend in instead of blind.

The not so good:
- the wallpaper wasn't available. Contacted support and, while polite, they were mostly unhelpful. The best they could do was say it wasn't going to happen and sent me the Nook color's wallpaper in it's place. Might have helped if it had been cut from the same part of the graphic, but it wasn't. I was able to pester him into sending the request up the chain, but I'm not holding my breath.

The bad:
- while the finish was good, the fit was poor. the cutout for the buttons was precise, but the screen had a thin rim of silver all the way around. Also, the skin doesn't quite make it to the corners or to the bends on the edge. the graphic is vibrant enough to draw the eye away (the silver disappears into the white plastic rib at a distance) but it's still there.



The result:
My primary goal of hiding the silvery glare has been met well with an attractive skin. I'm a little miffed they didn't make a wallpaper to go with it. The total package is aesthetically pleasing, but it could be better.



Overall, I'd give it a B+.

Link to Picasa Web Album

[hidari]

Ta for the review. Just got my Milky Way skin for my 350... Similar results to you ... overall a B+... does not fit perfectly but does cover 98% surfacewise... So I would say it works for the most part.

Would like to reapply mine...but not sure if it is safe to do so after having put my skin on several days ago....

Originally Posted by CraftyDan

I received my skin and installed it with mixed results.



The good:
- Clean, bubble-less install -- as advertised. simply the easiest and neatest installs I've had with a skin. Kudos!
- Nice job on the layout. There's enough art on the margins to get the mood of the skin.
- The print is good and the Matte knocks down on the cheesy skin look (not to mention glare!). Definitely worth it.
- Was able to use the button cut-outs on the buttons. Not the intended purpose and had to cut the gaps myself, but they work and the buttons now blend in instead of blind.

The not so good:
- the wallpaper wasn't available. Contacted support and, while polite, they were mostly unhelpful. The best they could do was say it wasn't going to happen and sent me the Nook color's wallpaper in it's place. Might have helped if it had been cut from the same part of the graphic, but it wasn't. I was able to pester him into sending the request up the chain, but I'm not holding my breath.

The bad:
- while the finish was good, the fit was poor. the cutout for the buttons was precise, but the screen had a thin rim of silver all the way around. Also, the skin doesn't quite make it to the corners or to the bends on the edge. the graphic is vibrant enough to draw the eye away (the silver disappears into the white plastic rib at a distance) but it's still there.



The result:
My primary goal of hiding the silvery glare has been met well with an attractive skin. I'm a little miffed they didn't make a wallpaper to go with it. The total package is aesthetically pleasing, but it could be better.



Overall, I'd give it a B+.

Link to Picasa Web Album

[Ripplinger]

I was able to create my own wallpaper for Milky Way from their graphics on the site. If you click on More Ways to Shop, Shop by Design, you'll find your full image without any cutouts made. With taking photos of the skinned reader, I was able to find the part of the image that was cutout, resized it as needed, convert to black and white and any other adjustments you want. It turned out decent enough that I used it for my wallpaper. But then I started saving the cover of my current book as the wallpaper.

And I'll have to see if I still have the button cutouts, that's a good idea to try to cover them.

[CraftyDan]

@hidari,

If you stretch it out of shape, DG will send another for the cost of shipping.

I'm tempted myself, but happy with good enough.


@Rip

Thanks for the suggestion -- already tried, but the graphic isn't the full image. The right edge of the big image would run right through the options button.

There aren't any gradients so I should be able to rebuild it -- already made a "grid" to measure off the edges -- but it's going to take time and effort.


If you find your cutouts, an Exacto blade works well at making the cuts. Use your fingernail to get a good crease then nick away.

The cutouts will add a little sponginess to the press (it tends to hide the "click") but they still work.

[Ripplinger]

That's odd about the Tetrad design, Milky Way showed the full sheet they used. Tetrad though is almost complete for the section you need, just a small amount of blocks along the right edge would have to be cut and pasted in place to fill the missing area.

This image roughly shows the area you'd have to use, you're missing only about 3 blocks along the right side then. And actually it looks pretty plain, you could add a few more falling blocks, easy enough with cut and paste where you want them, just make sure they're aligned.

[CraftyDan]

Originally Posted by Ripplinger

That's odd about the Tetrad design, Milky Way showed the full sheet they used. Tetrad though is almost complete for the section you need, just a small amount of blocks along the right edge would have to be cut and pasted in place to fill the missing area.

Pretty much, but getting the scaling and placement just right is gonna take time and effort.

The tricky piece is a falling orange brick on the right side, just off the edge of the web graphic. Everything else on the bottom has something to anchor to. those are easy cut and paste. That orange block is aligned on the horizontal, but is only constrained vertically by the single block on the skin. The screen grid should get me what I need, but back to time and effort.

This would be SO much easier if I had the whole source

[Ripplinger]

Try this one. I based the placement for the 2 bricks on each side that will touch the existing bricks off their original design, but I think they sometimes stretch the height differently than the width, so you might have to adjust those 2 pieces.

The easiest way to get placement is if you start with a photo that's taken straight down on the reader, so when you look at the resulting image the reader is exactly rectangular when measured in your graphic program, so the sides don't get narrower at the top.