psp owners: a word of advice on durability

[darkblu]

avoid using the cleaning cloth supplied with the NA value pack!

i don't know what it is made of but i witnessed how a brand-new psp (with zero faulty pixels) got its first scar on its screen after the very first gentle wipe performed with the supplied cloth, which had been removed from its wrap less than 5 secs prior to that (i.e. ~0% possibility of it having cought any hard dust particles)

from my personal experience with my own psp, above only confirms my suspicions - i managed to induce enough, though tiny, scratches on my psp screen through predominantly using the supplied cleaning cloth.

bottonline: use a proven quality cleaning cloth - usually the ones that come with expensive glasses tend to be of very high quality. since i started using one of those i haven't noticed any new scratches on my psp screen.

*me remembers those talks b3d'ers had before the psp release 'bout sony using some durabe coating of the screen* muahahaha!...

[digitalwanderer]

Does any PSP owner here NOT use a screen protector? We're on our second already, but I won't let the kids use the PSP without it on.

[darkblu]

well, i personally do not use one, as i've been unable to find one that does not degrade the image quality below my tollerance. regardless, the psp is not a touch-screen device, so hypotetically it should do without one - just a cloth for wiping off the accidental durt/dust from the screen and a hard case to keep it from shocks should do*. in practice, though, things are very different - you a) either coat the screen in protectors, scarificing your full quality experience with it, or b) you put up with the minor scars which may or may not be distracting under different light angles/conditions.

* had the "opprtunity" to test the sturdiness of the logitech case - it's fine - a drop from ~70cm height on a hard wood floor, featuring a couple of flips and bounces inflicted exactly nothing to the device inside.

[Teasy]

How can the screen scratch so easily? I mean a cloth can easily scratch it? Is that really good enough for a portable device?

[darkblu]

How can the screen scratch so easily? I mean a cloth can easily scratch it?

depends on the cloth (see my original post), but re the one that comes with the value pack - yes. though i should admit the scratches it leaves are mostly minimal, and usually visible only on a black screen background and under sertain reflection angles - the extreme reflectivity of the psp's screen coating plays a significant part in that. on a more matte surface those scrathces would have been virtually non-detectable, or just not occurring.

is that really good enough for a portable device?

apparently not. a portable's screen should not only remain intact after a wipe with a cloth, but also withstand contact with some hard dust particles, to the least. it'd be nice if some accessories vendor came up with a front plate substitute made a bit more durable, and not necessary with that high refelctivity. then again, i've not opened up my psp yet, so i'm still to see how viable a front plate repalce would be, if at all.

[hey69]

i personally do not use one either.
i blow the eventual dust of , the rest i clean with wet cloth of glasses. (0.8euro for 10pack) one big wipe and its shiny as new.

wet baby wipers are also usefull but you have to dry clean your psp afterwards because it leaves a litle on the screen

[Farid]

apparently not. a portable's screen should not only remain intact after a wipe with a cloth, but also withstand contact with some hard dust particles, to the least. it'd be nice if some accessories vendor came up with a front plate substitute made a bit more durable
Yeah, and it would be made of one of the few matter that resist micro-scratches. Diamond.
:wink:

There's no resonably priced matter that can avoid micro-scratches.
And the PSP screen, indeed, has a hard coating, but no, sadly, it's not made of CNT or diamond.

[darkblu]

There's no resonably priced matter that can avoid micro-scratches.
And the PSP screen, indeed, has a hard coating, but no, sadly, it's not made of CNT or diamond.

well, given their present "hard" coating is so susceptible to micro-scratches (includingly from the supplied cloth) they could have made that coating a tad more matte, no?

[jvd]

they should have included a screen protecter with the value pack

[Teasy]

Yeah, and it would be made of one of the few matter that resist micro-scratches. Diamond.

Erm yeah the only thing more resistent to scratches than the PSP screen is......... diamond :D

I've whiped my DS screens with my T-Shirt, a towel, socks (:lol:) all sorts and never got a single scratch.

[PC-Engine]

Same here, in fact I always wipe my cellphone screen with my shirt or pants and it has never developed any hairline scratches. I think SONY was basically blowing hot air when they said PSP uses a hardcoating. It's amazing people still fall for the hype...especially the B3Ders. :lol:

My guess is that SONY quietly skimped on the hardcoat to lesson the money bleeding on each unit sold because there is no way a hardcoat will allow scratching of the screen with a harmless clean piece of cloth. So now the list includes, scratched screens, dead pixels, stuck buttons, poor battery life, and 222MHz clock lock. :shock:

[Shifty Geezer]

Hard substances=brittle. A glass screen would be cheap and resist a lot of scratching, but I guess they don't include it for fear of fractures from impact (being dropped). So I'd go with a washable polyurethane cover that attaches by static or something similar.

[Farid]

Erm yeah the only thing more resistent to scratches than the PSP screen is......... diamond :D

I've whiped my DS screens with my T-Shirt, a towel, socks (:lol:) all sorts and never got a single scratch.
That's the indeniable proof that DS is superior to PSP. :twisted: :wink:

Well, only your DS though, because mine have micro-scratches.

Micro-scratches on thoses kinds of materials are, I repeat, virtually impossible to avoid.

But remember that we're talking about micro scratches here, they are not visible and obvious scratches. You can see them when the screen is turned off and only from certain angles and well positioned light sources.

PS: You really use socks to clean your LCD devices? :lol:

[mech]

I've wiped my PSP with tissues, the supplied cleaning cloth, my sunglasses' cleaning cloth, I don't have a screen protector, I carry it everywhere with me in its bag, and I'm yet to get a noticable scratch on it.

Yes, it probably has microscratches, by why look for something that you can't normally see when it's only going to bug you? Like the others said, there's no way to avoid it, no matter what the device.

PC-Engine, again, you're ranting about something you have no clue about, so why not just pipe down now and save yourself more embarrassment?

[PC-Engine]

PC-Engine, again, you're ranting about something you have no clue about, so why not just pipe down now and save yourself more embarrassment?

This thread was started by someone who experienced micro scratches from using the included cleaning cloth. If you have evidence that this cannot happen then feel free to convince everyone. Until then why not just pipe down now and save yourself more embarrassment like the many times before? :lol:

[jvd]

the ds really needs a protector on the bottom screen. I go through protectors like water . I'm on my 6th

[Snyder]

Same here, in fact I always wipe my cellphone screen with my shirt or pants and it has never developed any hairline scratches. I think SONY was basically blowing hot air when they said PSP uses a hardcoating. It's amazing people still fall for the hype...especially the B3Ders. :lol:

My guess is that SONY quietly skimped on the hardcoat to lesson the money bleeding on each unit sold because there is no way a hardcoat will allow scratching of the screen with a harmless clean piece of cloth. So now the list includes, scratched screens, dead pixels, stuck buttons, poor battery life, and 222MHz clock lock. :shock:

Please. Don't derail yet another thread into a flamefest.

[Kolgar]

they should have included a screen protecter with the value pack

Post of the thread!

Would have been a good idea - saving new customers from inflicting damage on their beautiful new PSPs, while teaching them that a screen protector is a necessary part of the care and feeding of their PSPs.

I'm only on my second protector, and while it's not perfect (it's the Pelican brand), my screen is not only intact, but flawless. :)

[Teasy]

Vysez

I almost included a "this is not about DS vs PSP" disclaimer in my post :D

I know we're talking about micro scratches but micro scratches caused by a clean cloth (one made to clean the PSP screen). Which IMO is a little worrying.

Its not only my DS that hasn't got any of these scratches either. Though I'm sure some will have scratches, the screen isn't invincible :) A clean cloth isn't going to do it though.

BTW yeah I really used a sock to clean the touch screen on my DS once :lol: It was the only bit of cloth I had near me at the time.

[mech]

PC-Engine, again, you're ranting about something you have no clue about, so why not just pipe down now and save yourself more embarrassment?

This thread was started by someone who experienced micro scratches from using the included cleaning cloth. If you have evidence that this cannot happen then feel free to convince everyone. Until then why not just pipe down now and save yourself more embarrassment like the many times before? :lol:

If you look closely at any surface you'll see micro-scratches, because they're inevitable. How much time have you spent with a PSP? Do you have one? Do you take it everywhere with you? Have you inspected the screen after wiping it with a cloth? I sincerely doubt you have any experience to be commenting on the durability of the PSP screen (which, btw, is excellent).

[darkblu]

guys, please let's keep the handhelds "vs" debates out of this thread - this one is solely on the durability of the psp screen per say. if you have any observations/experiences/solutions to share - you're welcome.

mech,

i don't think that the psp's screen durability is excellent (in contrast to its image quality), but that's quite some screen real estate they had to provide protection for, in which aspect, i concur, it is not exacly comparable to other smaller-screen handhelds, i.e. a glass cover, that could have nicely solved the problem, would have hardly been applicable here.

yet..

as already mentioned a couple of times, the crux of the problem is in the glossiness of the coating - had they used a more matte coating material the problem could have been greatly deminished or maybe even neutralized. a good candidate could have been the coating that portable cameras producers use on their units' vizor/playback displays - i'm yet to find a single (micro)scratch on my cannon camera display, and i assure you i expose that gadget to way harsher treatment than i have/would put my psp through (but i inspect the display surface for scrtches just as closely).

[PC-Engine]

as already mentioned a couple of times, the crux of the problem is in the glossiness of the coating - had they used a more matte coating material the problem could have been greatly deminished or maybe even neutralized. a good candidate could have been the coating that portable cameras producers use on their units' vizor/playback displays - i'm yet to find a single (micro)scratch on my cannon camera display, and i assure you i expose that gadget to way harsher treatment than i have/would put my psp through (but i inspect the display surface for scrtches just as closely).

But wouldn't that allow the LCD to be damaged very easily? For example the standard laptop LCDs can be exposed because you can close the display so they can use that matt finish. Also even the newer laptops have the shiny new LCD protection.

[darkblu]

But wouldn't that allow the LCD to be damaged very easily?

according to my experience - no. on more than a couple of occasions the screen of my camera has been in a state when i was sure any wiping-off would have left micro-scratches due to hard dust particles (e.g. earth dust from outdoors) and none of those times this actually happended. even if such scratches did occur they must have remained virtually invisible due to the low-reflective nature of the coating.

For example the standard laptop LCDs can be exposed because you can close the display so they can use that matt finish. Also even the newer laptops have the shiny new LCD protection.

i'm not sure the new lcd coating is better at protection than the previous - i believe they use it for purely IQ reasons.

[london-boy]

Erm... what are the chances that maybe - just maybe - there was a hard bit of something on the cloth when the guy wiped it?

A soft cloth does not scratch a screen on its own. If there was a tiny bit of something between the cloth and the screen, that might have scratched the screen. It's elementary, soft cotton does not scratch hard plastic on its own.

[rabidrabbit]

Fortunately I bought the japanese PSP value pack, which doesn't include the sandpaper cleaning cloth... :roll:
I use some microfibre cloth I've got from somewhere, which I've also used to clean my camera screen. This cloth has not left any micro scratches, and I've wiped the PSP with it at least daily.
At least not to the extend that I would have noticed on normal use.

I did use a cloth that came with the SE P900 smartphone, and it didn't clean the screen nearly as well as the other cloth.
I think it also is microfibre, but it's not as good quality as it leaves some lint and is not as dense as the one I use. Actually when I cleaned the PSP with it, I first was shocked as I thought it had scratched the screen, and they didn't look like micro scratches but bigger ones.
On closer inspection it revealed the "spongy" microfiber cloth had just smeared the grease on the screen instead of removing it, producing scratch like streaks across the screen.
Wiping it again with the better cloth got rid of them.

[hey69]

Erm... what are the chances that maybe - just maybe - there was a hard bit of something on the cloth when the guy wiped it?

A soft cloth does not scratch a screen on its own. If there was a tiny bit of something between the cloth and the screen, that might have scratched the screen. It's elementary, soft cotton does not scratch hard plastic on its own.

no it does. i wiped my first psp's screen of with the end of my tshirt and bang.. micro scratches!

[london-boy]

Erm... what are the chances that maybe - just maybe - there was a hard bit of something on the cloth when the guy wiped it?

A soft cloth does not scratch a screen on its own. If there was a tiny bit of something between the cloth and the screen, that might have scratched the screen. It's elementary, soft cotton does not scratch hard plastic on its own.

no it does. i wiped my first psp's screen of with the end of my tshirt and bang.. micro scratches!
Not my fault if you shop at cheap megastores!! I only do haute couture :lol:

[Shifty Geezer]

Though I have no experience of PSP, from cleaning optical lenses my advice for PSP is...

1) blow away or brush away particles from the surface. DON'T use a cloth to remove particles as that presses them into the surface. A soft sable/squirrel hair paintbrush works great, of just some puffing and blowing.

2) After removing particles, use a camera microfibre cloth. Breath on display and wipe to remove grease. These cloths efficiently remove grease (maybe have to press quite hard) without leaving lint. Remember to wash the cloth once in a while if you use it often. It absorbs grease from sweaty hands, not just cleaned lenses, so after a while you'll just be smearing your own muck over the surface.

Key point being, don't wipe away dust as that wipes hard abrasive particles across the surface. Lift dust away with brush or air. And I would also like to add that the state most people keep their TV screens, glasses, sunglasses - covered in smears and muck - it makes me cringe :(

[hey69]

Erm... what are the chances that maybe - just maybe - there was a hard bit of something on the cloth when the guy wiped it?

A soft cloth does not scratch a screen on its own. If there was a tiny bit of something between the cloth and the screen, that might have scratched the screen. It's elementary, soft cotton does not scratch hard plastic on its own.

no it does. i wiped my first psp's screen of with the end of my tshirt and bang.. micro scratches!
Not my fault if you shop at cheap megastores!! I only do haute couture :lol:

har har , very funny .............;

i bet you have a 200£ tanga under your tight one ;)

[rabidrabbit]

You're not supposed to use tight referring to london-boy in the same sentence, it's against the english grammar.... and I believe it's also against the laws of physics.

[hey69]

i could use some other combination of words, but i think i would be banned here and dont want to insult LB :twisted:

[gokickrocks]

i had the same problem with the cloth provided by sony, brand new and it scratches...i use my cloth from my glasses that i leave out in the open and it doesnt scratch

[philoni]

Why couldn't they use synthetic sapphire or hardlex like watches use? Too expensive?

[PC-Engine]

Why couldn't they use synthetic sapphire or hardlex like watches use? Too expensive?

No too ugly/smelly...

[Ty]

no it does. i wiped my first psp's screen of with the end of my tshirt and bang.. micro scratches!

The "end"? Do you mean the seam? If so, that is a mistake. Good car detailers routinely remove the seams from their towels to prevent them from coming into contact with their car.

Mind you, I think the screen should be a helluva lot tougher than even the seams. /shrug.

[Rys]

"You might damage something if you use it". Way to state the obvious and spin off a heated two page thread based on that.

You might drop your PSP. No screen protector is saving that shit. You might get run over if you cross the road :roll:

Take care of your PSP using common sense and care, and barring acts of extreme stupidity, like this thread, it'll be just fine.

[darkblu]

say, rys, speaking of acts of extreme stupidity, how exactly did you expect this otherwise dying off thread to develop after your contributive post? wouldn't it have been better for everybody had you just gone to see your urologist instead?

[Rys]

I was simply commenting on what appeared to be a thread based on a common sense issue, with people seeming ignoring what their common sense would tell them.

It's obvious that something might sometime scratch the screen, but to warn people off of using the supplied screen cleaner, something I might add I've been using on my own PSP since day one with no micro scratches to be found, because of what appears to be an unfortunate accident (something caught in the cleaner), seemed plain daft.

Many thanks for moving this thread on with your own useful contribution, too :lol:

[darkblu]

I was simply commenting on what appeared to be a thread based on a common sense issue, with people seeming ignoring what their common sense would tell them.

oh, so you were commenting on something which appeared to be a common sense issue, with people seemingly ignoring what their common sense would tell them.. i see then, that puts your completely asinine comment in a totally different light.

It's obvious that something might sometime scratch the screen, but to warn people off of using the supplied screen cleaner, something I might add I've been using on my own PSP since day one with no micro scratches to be found, because of what appears to be an unfortunate accident (something caught in the cleaner), seemed plain daft.

an unfortunate accident it appears to be. what is more unfortunate, though, is that the outcome of this accident turns out to be worringly-well reproducible under different circumstances, so again before attributing it all to marginal probabilities in conjunction with lack of common sense you may, just may, actually ask yourself if that may not be a matter of common sense? after all, if common sense was the end-all-be-all of human intelligence and perception then we'd still be walking on a flat planet with celestial bodies pinned a couple of feet above our heads.

anyway, as you were so kind as to hint of a counter-evidence from your experience, you may actually elaborate exactly how you use your cleaning cloth such that it does never, ever leave a micro scratch on the screen of your psp.

Many thanks for moving this thread on with your own useful contribution, too :lol:

i'd never appropriate that credit.

[Rys]

*chopped insults*
anyway, as you were so kind as to hint of a counter-evidence from your experience, you may actually elaborate exactly how you use your cleaning cloth such that it does never, ever leave a micro scratch on the screen of your psp.

Sure thing. I hold the PSP firmly, but not too hard, in my left hand, so that the screen is facing upwards. Then I take the cleaning cloth supplied in the Value Pack and I gently wipe it across the major surface of the unit, not limited to the screen. I do so after checking there's nothing on the cloth.

After a couple of laps around the screen with the cloth, it's done, so I put the cloth away in a cool carry case I bought in Canada, and usually stick my PSP on charge. That's so I've got some juice if I ever want to get out of the house and forget the people that attack me on the internet with the tiny amounts of wit and repartee they possess.

Hope that helps!

In all seriousness, I simply wanted to point out that it seems like lack of care, attention and common sense were the reasons their PSPs were getting slightly damaged. That was all. I may have done that like an arsehole (actually, I was an arsehole :lol: ), but I really wasn't expecting you of all people to be one in return.