protecT M1210 Keypad cover review

I'm sorry this is not a professional review. It was just random thoughts!

Thanks

ProtecT Keypad for DELL XPS M1210 cover review –

I purchased the Keypad cover from protecT for $20.70 USD. My protecT keypad cover came via UPS today. I ordered it on Wednesday February 21st and it came exactly seven days later. I would consider their shipping to be mediocre.

It arrive in a big yellow envelop that said FRAGILE DO NOT BEND; thankfully UPS listened to the instructions.

Warrantee – Copied from the letter they sent me.

ProtecT Computer Products, inc. warrants all new keyboard/laptop covers to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 30 days from the time customer takes possession. This warranty does not cover normal wear and tear and/or damage caused by misuse or accident. Any liability, either expressed or implied is limited to replacement of repair of the product.

In no event shall ProtecT Computer Products, Inc. be liable for any consequential or other damages whatsoever (including, without limitation, loss of business information or damage to computer equipment or other contents) arising out of the use of this cover. In any event, ProtecT Inc.’s entire liability under any provision of this limited warranty shall be limited to the amount actually paid by the original purchaser for this cover.

Unless otherwise arranged or contracted, buyer must secure a Return Merchandise Authorization (RMA) number code from ProtecT then return the defective cover(s) prepaid.




Installation – Installation is very easy. My only advice to you is if you have a friend around, ask him to assist you. When you get the keypad to “fit like a glove” onto your keypad, ask your friend to use both of the palms of his hands to keep the cover from moving. When he does that, remove the Mylar cover from the adhesive from the top of the keypad cover and firmly press down to make sure the adhesive makes good contact with the top of the keypad.

Repeat with the sides, and lastly do the bottom.

Something I noticed from the installation process was that you shouldn’t ever need to tug the flexible cover. I tried doing that to make sure I had the cover in contact with the palm rests, and all that ended up happening was I stretched the cover and now it’s a LITTLE bit warped, meaning that there is excessive skin. Remember, it’s only by a very tad amount and I’m sure it’ll shrink overnight.

Product overview –

I’m a college student, so I take this notebook with me school every day. In some of my classes, I’m the only one using a laptop to takes notes. So some times, when the teacher stops talking and the presentation is still up on the board, and I’m typing, it makes noticeable click click click click as I type. This is a bit of a nuisance to me, and I could imagine it to be to others in the class room as well (although of course it is 100% acceptable). With this keypad cover, there is barely any noise emitted at all. I love it. I can type as fast as I want, and it won’t bother anyone at all.

The keypad cover does a good job of keeping dust out, and keeping dust in. What I mean to say is, when I closed my notebook before without the cover, I would end up getting dust and other particles on my screen. This was caused from things falling into my keypad and when I set the notebook upright, stuff will fall out into my screen. Now, no dust or other particles can get into my keypad, or get out of my keypad to dirty up my screen!!!! HOORAY!

Another reason I bought this keypad cover was to prevent fading of the material on the keypad itself and on the palm rests. I’ve heard, but never confirmed, about sweaty palms causing premature fading of the palm rest area. I didn’t want to take risk because those parts are not covered under warranty.

An added bonus was the lowered risk of damage that would otherwise have been caused by spilling of liquids onto the keypad.

The keypad cover doesn’t fit quite exactly “like a glove”, especially around the touchpad area which could be a bother to some, but is quite alright with me. The touchpad in itself is hard to use with this cover on. Some time down the road when I have guts and time, I’ll take a surgical knife to the touchpad area and cut it out. If you have clammy fingers, your fingers will skid across the touchpad area.

Overall, I rate this product as an A. Only reason that it’s not an A+ would be due to the fitment.

If there are any questions, I can try my best to answer.

If there are certain angles you would like, please request because I’m not an expert at taking pictures.

Pros –
Keeps dust out
Keeps dust from getting onto the monitor
Prevents premature fading of the touchpad and the letters on the keypad
Lowers the amount of noise emitted while typing
Considerably reduces the risk of damage due to spilling of liquids.

Cons –
Doesn’t quite fit like a glove, but plenty good enough.
Touchpad is a little bit difficult to use.

 

Can i see a picture looking straight down at the keyboard cover and here the site if anyone is interested.
http://www.protectcovers.com/detail.aspx?ID=3

BTW nice review

 

Sounds cool and a great solution for dampening the keyboard sound, can you provide a link to the website for this company and product?

 

Nice review Sirius. Can u plz post a pic for the same. I just wanna see how it fits on a m1210.

 

Here are some pictures. This shows that it doesn't fit exactly like a glove, but good enough.











and yes, typing is pretty much silent. Just a little amount of noise but it's really quite.

any other questions or request for certain angles just let me know. Thanks guys.

btw, some of these pictures make it loose to an extreme. In reality, it's not that bad.

 

I believe kdawgca posted a link.

http://www.protectcovers.com/detail.aspx?ID=3

thanks for looking!

 

Thanks Sirius. I can see my avtar in one of the pics

 

Slighty off topic but thought I'll give my opinion based on my experience with it. I've used this ProtecT covers for both my 700m & E1705. For both of them, I removed the double sided tape. This way it is way easy to wash it & it really does not move about much with the tape sticking the keyboard cover to the palm rest.

 

that's interesting. I don't mind the double side tape because I just use chem wipes to wipe over the polyurethane.

 

update -

I've found out where it covers keys "q,w,and tab" is getting really loose. The polyurethane cover is really loose at this area. It doesn't make contact with the keys at all.

I'm thinking this is due to some sort of heat issue and it is warping the polyurethane.

It still doesn't affect anything but it takes it down a notch in the aesthetics ladder.

 

I'd like one that just covered the keyboard that was secured from the inside, it would be slightly more difficult to install, but not by much, and it would look much cleaner, and possibly more effective and secure.

 

I'm with you on that one. Unfortunately, nothing like that exists. So this will have to do!

 

Could anyone comment more on touchpad usage with the cover?

 

I still have it on. As time goes on, it gets more and more easy to use and right now I find it not even noticeable. Works fine and dandy.

Good luck.

 

btw, an update.

The polyurethane is stretching on some parts where there are more use. But I feel like the polyurethane will hold for a long time so no worries there.