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A few pics of my new MBP covered in Best Skins Ever armor.

ozziegn

ozziegn

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
1,363
931
Central FL Area
I knew that I wanted some sort of armor for my new $2500 toy, but at the same time I didn't want to rob the laptop of its good looks nor did I want to add any extra bulk either.

my solution? body armor from www.bestskinsever.com - this stuff comes perfectly pre-cut to match your MB or MBP and it comes with a lifetime warranty. it's suppose to be extremely durable and as you can see from the pictures, its 100% clear. I absolutely love it. now I don't have to worry about getting any marks on the top or bottom part of my new MBP from the natural oils on my hands. this is something that drove me batty on my old black MB. I always found myself wiping that thing off 50 times a day. I was also concerned with the silver finish on the keypad area wearing over time from the palm of my hands. this won't be a problem now. ;)

okay, so here's a couple pictures:







*a few things to note. this stuff is kind of easy, but kind of hard to install if you want that 100% perfection look (like I did). they say to use a soapy water mixture and to submerge the skin(s) in the mixture so it does two things. one, the water activates the adhesive which is what makes it stick to the surface of the MBP. it also allows you to move and slide the skin around so you get it just where you want it. you then just take a credit card to squeeze all the water out.

the trick is to use some soapy mixture but obviously not too much. you damn sure wouldn't want excessive water dripping inside your beloved MacBook Pro laptop. you also have to spend some time on each one of the corners to make sure the areas that fold over stay put. installing the entire skin on my MBP took me every bit of three hours. it took me that long because I wanted to be sure everything looked and worked like its suppose to. as you can see, it did and I'm very happy with the results.
 
Thanks for posting. I intend getting a solution like this when I buy a 17" MBP later this year. Can the cover be removed with ease?
 
auero said:
But how and what would happen if you wanted to take it off?
Click to expand...

they say it can be peeled off and it won't leave any residue. however, it will stretch pretty badly so you would have to get a new set if you wanted to put it back on.

however, I really can't see why you would need to remove it once its on there because the skin even has four holes cut out underneath it for the four screws on the bottom. so this shouldn't be a problem for warranty issues.
 
Cloudsurfer said:
That's going to trap heat like crazy.
Click to expand...

I don't think so because I did some before and after CPU temps testing and it literally didn't change anything. CPU temps stayed the same whether it be at CPU idle or heavy loads like video encoding. they didn't creep a bit. ;)
 
linshiwen said:
Beautiful application job.
Click to expand...

thanks. :)

like I said, it did take me a while because I was so anal about wanting the perfect look. I think as long as people take their time and follow the directions, they will get the same look. the key is to NOT rush through it because if you do, I can almost promise you it will look like junk.
 
Cloudsurfer said:
That's going to trap heat like crazy.
Click to expand...

I'd some what agree with this perhaps. You've tested before and after temps but what about when the machine is rendering and moving at full speed?

Isn't the whole point of the aluminum casing to give off heat? Wouldn't it 'melt' the armor?

I'm interested in this product, let us know how it does when it really heats up.
 
Great Job....you had me sold til I saw they don't make it for the 17" .....my only concern would be if the corners started to peel up over time,,....but even so it seems like a cheap and good solution. I have to put mine on an xray belt everyday so I am looking for a solution....not really crazy about the plastic cases being offered
 
ozziegn said:
body armor from www.bestskinsever.com - this stuff comes perfectly pre-cut to match your MB or MBP and it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Click to expand...

Looks great!

Have a few questions for you...

How "perfect" is the pre-cut? For example the area around the trackpad? I noticed with invisible shield, its actually like 3 separate pieces that they use to cover that area, with the bestskinsever is it one piece? and then a separate piece to cover the trackpad button?

Also how well are the corners being covered?
 
I've used their iphone skins. They feel great giving some grip to the phone. That being said, I am now on the third set of applications. The edges tend to peel up. Admittedly, iphones may get more pocket use.

I don't see anything on their web site about lifetime guarantee. If so, I going to ask for a replacement for my iphone skin.

BTW they are easy to peel when you want. No residue left. No stickiness.
 
That came out really good. Color me impressed. I've been looking for an option like this so I could put stickers on my laptop without having them directly on the machine. And I don't like speck.

Cool.
 
That looks impressive. I too am concerned about the heat. I have a Moshi palm rest cover and an iSkin keyboard cover. Also have the two pieces for the track pad and the button. This covers all the critical "contact" areas with my skin without negatively impacting the heat dissipation of the aluminum bottom case.

I wish you luck with the new product.
 
I have used Bestskinsever for my samsung i730, motorola Q, and samsung i760, as well as ordering 2 sheets of the stuff, one to use on my 7" touch screen car PC and scraps for use on my other electronics like digital cameras, remote car starter lcd etc etc. I often forget that the stuff is on there. I used my Q heavely in my pocket with no other case so it pealed up faster than usual. The others have held up really well with no problems. I tried the other stuff, way more expensive, skin armor or whatever someone said a few posts above and it pealed off my Q in 2 days. (yes I know how to apply it, just like car window tint, which I have also done)

I was so excited over ordering my new MBP that I completely forgot that they make stuff for the MBP! I will be placing my order in 3...2...1.....
 
Actually the BSE's come with no warranty what so ever, aside from initial defects. Still a killer product though. I have it on my iPhone, my gf's iPod Nano, my DS Lite and a number of other items.
 
I also forgot I have it on my nano (gen 1, been on it since gen 1 came out!) and I custom cut one for my Chumby. The Chumby screen runs hot and is on 24/7 and the skin keeps the scratches off the touch screen like a champ. For the price you cant beat it. I know when I go to sell my electronics, the fact that I used a screen protector and it is in MINT condition with NO scratches means alot, specially with Apple products
 
I bought a few Invisible Shields here a while back when they were 50% off. Comes in a little fancier box and everything but same material. I wasn't aware that Best Skins Ever had a lifetime warranty on their products like Invisible Shield though.

Personally I don't think I'm patient enough to apply one to a MBP lol. I applied one to my new Zune 80 gig here a while back and I kept getting a few little air bubbles and the edges didn't go down as perfect as I wanted.
 
I have Invisible Shield on my IPOD Touch and it's great. Does not have the heat issues of the MBP since it has a SSD.

I would love to see a bench test of these products and the long term effect on an aluminum MBP.
 
I can also vouch for the efficacy and quality of this product. I have used it on two Blackberry Curves. And simply put, it is perfect.

One TIP that I would have loved to know before my several trials and errors, is that the water AND bubbles from underneath the skin (after application), will evaporate over time. It takes about 4 days until it does. Even if you see no puddles or bubbles, the overall "look" can be somewhat hazy or even rainbowy. But after 4 days, all of the water and trapped air will escape through the permeable membrane and look as though there is nothing there.

Unless there are major bubbles or puddles, do not labor over getting all of the tiny pockets of water or air out. It is not only not worth the time and energy, but it often shifts the skin or stretches it. Just be patient, and within 4 days you will be happy that you were.
 
Is the skin thick at all or is it like a screen protector? Also what speakers are those in the third picture they are nice.


ChrisN
 
Ye I know they were bose but I didnt know their exact name lol but after a bit of searching I found out they were companiaon 3 series, would you recommend them though.

ChrisN
 
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