What protection is necessary?

snowwhite007 said:

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Iv been looking at possibly buying a sleeve maybe a neoprine one and maybe a keyboard cover? Does the backlight still work with keyboard cover?

Click to expand...

I have a sleeve
no need for keyboard cover
the backlit does does work

If the keyboard cover is clear, the backlighting will still work. If you get one of those thick colored ones from ebay, no.

I would recommend a keyboard cover if you don't mind spending the money for something not THAT useful. The Moshi clear one is really good. Some people thing that they're annoying but I don't mind at all.

snowwhite007 said:

Cool i take it all sleeves are good? Dont wana spend £30 iff i can spend 10

Click to expand...

You get what you pay for. Depends on what your goals are and how much protection you need.

I just use a basic laptop carrying bag ( something I got for free at an Oracle conference ) but then again I am pretty darn careful with my machine.

I have a £15 neoprene sleeve that I bought from John Lewis. Its done great, and my MBA has no damage at all on it. I have always found keyboard covers to be pointless; I dont like the feel of them, and I find them more difficult to type on. They will keep your keys looking new though, so its up to you.

But a sleeve is definitely 100% necessary if your going to be travelling with your MBA.

From my experience looking for sleeves, the ones that I ended up liking, which were typically those with minimalist designs and didn't look 'cheap', were between $50 - $100.

As for a keyboard cover, I didn't use one on my 13" Pro during the two years I had it, but I'm going to get one for my 11" Air, because I did notice that the keys would smudge after some use, and I would also find that lint & debris would often fall onto the keyboard area.

If you buy one from the Apple Store or a local computer store, you could possibly end up paying around $18-25 for one. I suggest just looking for one from eBay and paying the Buy-it-now price. I ordered one a few days ago and payed $5 with shipping included. It should be arriving in a few days.

refurbished said:

I would recommend a keyboard cover if you don't mind spending the money for something not THAT useful. The Moshi clear one is really good. Some people thing that they're annoying but I don't mind at all.

Click to expand...

Do the Moshi keyboard covers "settle" over time? I just picked one up and it has a tendency to rise up at times when typing...I'm considering removing it entirely to be honest . This *is* my first keyboard cover, and I'm not a fan of this one as of yet.

Looking for a cover for 2011 13" air

I have done some research on a cover for my macbook air, just have not decided which one will work the best.

im going with the wrapsol on outside, moshi on trackpad and keyboard

I may end up getting a new sleeve for mine but I'm currently just using my Zeroshock case that I had from my Blackbook. My MBA shakes around it a bit but works for me (for now).

As far as protection goes, I got the keyboard protector from Moshi, iVisor and InvisibleShield.

I haven't installed my InvisibleShield yet as I'm within the 14 day return period - whoa, just noticed. This is D-14 for me. As long as my computer doesn't break today, I'll be applying my InvisibleShield on it very soon I want to preserve the aluminum matte look but oh well...for the price of being a little uglier(?) I get to prevent it from scratches.

snowwhite007 said:

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

Are screen protectors worth it?

Click to expand...

Absolutely not in my opinion. You might want one on an iPhone for instance, because the phone may fall, and it's constantly being slid in and out of a pocket that may have debris which can cause scratches. But a laptop screen is very rarely in contact with anything that may scratch the screen. I think it would be a pain to install, and it may even make the screen look worse.


I just received my silicone keyboard cover I purchased on eBay, and it fits pretty well. It does feel funny, a little squishy, but the backlight still works well with it, and I only payed $5 for it, so I'm going to see how long I can keep it installed.

Seasought said:

Do the Moshi keyboard covers "settle" over time? I just picked one up and it has a tendency to rise up at times when typing...I'm considering removing it entirely to be honest . This *is* my first keyboard cover, and I'm not a fan of this one as of yet.

Click to expand...

I didn't actually notice this on my Moshi until I read your post, I've had mine for a month. The cover on adjacent keys sometimes rise a little bit when I press a key. I think it depends how I press it, doesn't happen when I'm touch typing fast. Also, the cover does settle in a little – when I just removed and replaced the cover, pressing on the number keys causes the ones on the fn row to rise, but not after the cover has been on for a few minutes.

snowwhite007 said:

Are screen protectors worth it?

Click to expand...

I think they are. I have the photodon one to protect my screen from getting scratched while the laptop is closed in my bag being squeezed by a bunch of textbooks. I has happened before.

molala said:

I didn't actually notice this on my Moshi until I read your post, I've had mine for a month. The cover on adjacent keys sometimes rise a little bit when I press a key. I think it depends how I press it, doesn't happen when I'm touch typing fast. Also, the cover does settle in a little – when I just removed and replaced the cover, pressing on the number keys causes the ones on the fn row to rise, but not after the cover has been on for a few minutes.

Click to expand...

Hmm. Well, I'm going to keep giving it a shot. I like the idea of keeping any excess oil and dirt off of the keys if I can help. Thanks for responding btw.

For traveling, a sleeve is great.

As for everything else, (skins, screen protectors, keyboard protectors, etc) they are completely unnecessary in my opinion. They ruin the look of the computer.