While I really love the deep blue color that I picked out for my Asus EeePC 1000HE, unfortunately, the finish is super-high-gloss, and is a terrible fingerprint magnet. Also, while the 10.1-inch display is matte, the 1-inch thick bezel around it is high-gloss, which defeats the purpose of a matte display entirely. As such, I have explored a few different solutions that I had hoped would keep the blue color shining through, while breaking up the smooth surface where fingerprints hide. I was unsuccessful, and finally broke down and ordered a skin from 3acp .
I have also purchased laptop skins from SkinIt and DecalGirl in the past for other machines, so I was keen to check out 3acp’s offering. SkinIt’s skin is nice, but was insanely expensive compared to the other two, and only includes the top cover – there are no separate pieces included for the wristrest. DecalGirl was awesome for my Dell Mini 9, but didn’t really have anything that I liked for the 1000HE, unfortunately.
Buying from 3acp is great – they take Paypal, which makes things easy, and I was pleased to discover that they’re based right here in Dallas/Fort Worth, though a nasty surprise is the sales tax – only charged to orders shipped in Texas. A range of shipping options is offered, and I chose USPS Priority. I placed the order on Thursday of last week, and even with Saturday being a national holiday, received the skin today in a stiff cardboard envelope that protected it from being bent or creased.
Application is really simple. First, you should wipe the surface down with a cleaning agent. Rubbing alcohol is preferred, but I used Windex, and it seems to have worked just fine. The skin comes with a clear overlay, so that you can easily make sure that you’ve got things lined up properly. You just use your hand or a credit card to make sure all the air bubbles are out and it’s applied firmly, then lift the clear plastic part off, and wa-la! My Asus EeePC 1000HE is no longer a fingerprint magnet, and the border around the display no longer blinds me in sunlight. All for $30.
Ricky Cadden 