the mini Blog

The guys over at Shieldzone.com were nice enough to send me their InvisibleShield product for free (I am disclosing this now so I don’t get any flack!) for reviewing and testing purposes. I will go through the steps of installing the shield onto your product and update it as I experience the real life use of it. I will be using this for my Canon PowerShot A540 camera that I bought back in April.
Just as a quick side note: I used the camera to take photos of the beautiful views in Italy, however somewhere at the airport the slide switch to switch between viewing pictures and taking photos got broken. This is really annoying as not only do I have a prom to go to in a week and a half, but after that it’s the summer holidays. I doubt that Canon can fix it that quick, and they won’t even let me talk to them by email, only phone! :(! Read on for the full review.

The first thing that you need to do is make sure you do this in a clean area as well as making sure that you wash your hands. This is to minimise any dust and make the whole process go a lot smoother, and from my experience it certainly does help. It is a good idea to use a lint free cloth (I used the cloth for my glasses) to clean the surface of the device so that nothing is trapped underneath.

Make sure your device is turned off, with the battery preferably removed, so that you can’t turn it on by accident. This also prevents any liquid from the ShieldSpray from damaging the electronics.

Remove the InvisibleShield from the clear plastic wallet and then peel it from the paper backing. Make sure that you know which side is the sticky, as you then have to spray both sides with the included ShieldSpray; and as it gets wet it can be easy to mistake the sides.

With the sticky side down, apply the shield to the device.

My tip: Start from one side and make sure it is properly aligned.

Everything set in the right position gently use the included squeege or a credit card and wipe out the bubble and imperfections from underneath. If the shield starts to move, re-align it and leave it. This is the trickiest part, and took me around 2-3 goes to get it perfectly. Take your time and don’t rush!

After you think everything is just about set right, leave your device alone for 24 hours for the InvisibleShield to work its magic. This is quite critical, as I mentioned above, if any liquid gets into your device it can easily evaporate out during this time. This also allows the InvisibleShield to work, and so you don’t move it by mistake. The picture below shows the finished thing, and you should be able to see some small bubbles which are normal; these are removed by the Shield over 2-3 days.

So far the camera looks pretty good, I only wish I’d received this before my trip to Italy. The camera got quite battered in my pockets! I’ll make some updates as I use my camera over the next few days. Until then, I will be making more blog posts as quite a lot has happened while I was away!

Update 11/07/2006: So far the InvisibleShield has been really withstanding. I’ve just been using it as I use it day to day and no scratches or marks have developed. When I’m using the camera, or even when I’m not, unless I touch the screen it is hard to notice it is even there! I give full marks for the InvisibleShield as it is really good and it hasn’t peeled back before, and no bubbles have developed. I am really impressed with it, as I have used similar products before, namely for my PSP but that left a residue and I couldn’t put it back on if a bubble showed up. With the InvisibleShield it is really easy to remove and re-apply it if for some reason you should need to take it off. I really recommend this to anyone with a screen to protect, and as ShieldZone have such as wide range of versions, your product is bound to be supported. If it isn’t you can get one tailored to fit! Simply put this is the best, cheapest and cleanest product of its like on the market. Well done!