I’m a fan of cases. In fact, I have a case for almost each day of the week and use them often depending on what I might do. It varies between going to school (Journal case), field training (Otterbox), a friend’s house (silicone skin), road trip (Incipio), or just bringing it along because you never know. Since the BlackBerry PlayBook is so portable, I rarely leave it behind. The only issue I have with cases is the added bulk you get.
I decided to look into skins. By skins I’m referring to the decal stickers you apply that acts as a “case”. Since I’m a fan of “WhiteBerrys” and enjoy simplicity, I decided to buy the all white skin from iStyles.com.
To my disappointment, the skin doesn’t cover the entire PlayBook like BodyGuardz skins do (It’s more expensive and I don’t like the cuts it has, looks fake). However, it does give it a unique two-tone look. For the skin I bought, I selected the matte finish. It keeps the premium look and feel of the PlayBook. A tip I had seen on youtube videos in the past, is to use a blower to get the creases out of the skin.
The tricky part came when applying the front. It was especially difficult because I had a screen protector on. The good thing about the decal is that you can apply and reapply, meaning if you don’t get it right the first time, you can try again. You’ll need patience though, trust me.
It could be that I just didn’t do it right but the decal isn’t an exact fit on the PlayBook. After numerous attempts, part of the decal over laps the frame slightly. To fix this issue (don’t try this), I cut the corner where it over lapped. This made it look ugly and bad. I was upset because it cost $19.99 and 1. It back didn’t cover the entire PlayBook (as I already mentioned) and 2. Because I just damaged it.
I decided to make one last attempt at getting my PlayBook to look right. I bought another decal but this time from Mighty Skins (my other option was Decalgirl). My hope was that perhaps, unlike iStyles, other manufacturers would cover the entire PlayBook (not that it’s a bad thing because the two-tone look is pretty cool). Might Skins decal doesn’t cover the entire PlayBook either. Since I was only replacing the front, I bought it in the “glossy” finish. I figured since it used to be glossy black and I’d save $5, why not.
In the end, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not just me but the decal is slightly bigger than the actual screen. I took a different approach in applying it. Instead of going first on the PlayBook, I did it to the screen protecter, than applied the screen protector to the PlayBook. Either way, I like the way my PlayBook looks (not that I have much of a choice) and for now, it’ll be the way I’ll be sporting my cool looking, white PlayBook. How do you sport you PlayBook? Naked? Case? Skin (decal)? or just carry it in a sleeve? Let us know in the comments below!