psp owners: a word of advice on durability

[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 Geezer]

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...
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 Geezer]

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

 

[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

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

 

[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

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

 

[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

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 ), but I really wasn't expecting you of all people to be one in return.