Plastic on back of screen: On or off?

[pudah]

wouldn't it be annoying if something that wasn't supposed to come off said "don't take off". it would be like the annoying stickers on your sun visors that have warnings about your annoying kids and air bags. those by the way are not supposed to come off. people always try, and i charge them to replace their sun visors after they become damaged. things that are supposed to come off tell you to take them off to avoid conversations such as these.

Except those are clearly intended to stay, convey a warning message and really do not come off despite attempts to do so. They also look like they're supposed to stay and different from removable items, though annoying.

The droid sticker looks like all other removable stickers, and comes off VERY easily. Not all stickers say remove me but are supposed to be removed just like it. It serves no purpose after delivery, the phone works better with it off, it slightly hinders function while on and the manufacturer repeatedly instructed people to remove it!

Yours was not a fair comparisson. A better one would be to the paper mats they put in your car when serviced because those too are temporary and intended to be removed, and also do not have built in explicit instructions or tabs for doing so.

 

[nerdkill]

the problem is it isn't that obvious. if it were there wouldn't be these threads. you win, i took mine off, you alllllllllllllllllllll were right....now i'm just bummed i can't get those neato stickers. and it is a fair comparison because they look like they can peal off, but when you try to it ruins your property. people are worried that if they take off the sticker it's going to damage their device.

 

[wickedkae]

ok I just removed mine after a week of debating and reading these threads. Much better with off. So much smoother and the keyboard now locks. Take it off.

 

[Mercuie]

I didn't even know there was plastic behind there, and i looked behind and im like "wow crap design, scratched up the back of my phone" and then i took it off because plastic on phones is meant to come off (a few weeks late) and now its pretty. Thanks for the semi informative thread guys. Phone slides a lot better now, feels a lot smoother. I also like that it took me this long to find it. Its like extra unwrapping! <3

 

[shademar]

Two droids, both times the plastic was bubbly, flimsy and superfluous and didn't affect the sliding mechanism in the slightest.

 

[triptych]

You guys are cruel, trying to convince people to remove something that is supposed to be there. What if someone doesn't get your joke and decides to take it off? Then they might as well toss the whole phone because I doubt it would hold up for longer than a day. This is going to cause a whole slew of insurance claims and global warming.

/sarcasm

 

[LrdElderon]

It does not loosen your slide. It is supposed to be off per Verizon and Motorola. It makes the slide smoother and actually makes it snap open and closed more firmly. I've posted this many times before and will surely get blasted here again, so listen if you want or don't, and I'm not going to reply to this again, but it is supposed to be off.

Hmm, I don't know what to think. I've heard that it does loosen the slide and I've heard people complain that it's done so enough that their droid becomes basically semi unstable because the slider moves to freely.

Personally I just left the plastic on. I like the little extra firmness it gives the keyboard to make it slide. Personal preference I suppose.

Also I don't get why people say that it won't lock when you don't take the plastic off the back. Mine has it's plastic on and if you pop the slider out it locks in place perfectly fine. weird.

 

[bwhite757]

Hmm.. Was I the only one that didn't have a choice to take it off? The VZW Rep peeled all my plastic off, including the said piece in question. I never even knew there was a debate on this until reading this thread. So mine has been off since release date with no ill effects.

 

[cuskit]

Same here - mine has a very pronounced and solid "click" as it locks in the open position. Yet, the slide action is very smooth and fluid - just the right amount of "drag" to keep it from flopping open!

I believe it's some kind of teflon plastic film - treated for lifetime lubrication to ensure the proper slide action. Motorola donated a fortune to DuPont for developing this special polymer blend of mylar, teflon and kevlar to guarantee that the film could stand up to the abuse inflicting by the opening/closing of a keyboard in multiple uses throughout the course of a day.

cuskit

 

[adrynalyne]

I hope that was sarcasm, because it was pretty funny

Seriously, no hardware design, is going to go into production that requires a flimsy static cling piece of plastic to stay on a phone to work properly.


If it needed it, it would be:

1. Using adhesive.
2. Durable enough not to peel up on corners as it has for so many.
3. Not be a film at all, but a coating! Common sense, anyone?
4. Be noted specifically NOT to remove on it.
5. Fit all the way to the edges of the back of the screen and be flush.
6. Not have a random tab off to the top right. Seriously, what function does that serve? Oh yeah, to help pull it off

 

[pudah]

It does not loosen your slide. It is supposed to be off per Verizon and Motorola. It makes the slide smoother and actually makes it snap open and closed more firmly. I've posted this many times before and will surely get blasted here again, so listen if you want or don't, and I'm not going to reply to this again, but it is supposed to be off.

Hmm, I don't know what to think. I've heard that it does loosen the slide and I've heard people complain that it's done so enough that their droid becomes basically semi unstable because the slider moves to freely.

Personally I just left the plastic on. I like the little extra firmness it gives the keyboard to make it slide. Personal preference I suppose.

Also I don't get why people say that it won't lock when you don't take the plastic off the back. Mine has it's plastic on and if you pop the slider out it locks in place perfectly fine. weird.

It doesn't give extra firmness. It doesn't help keep the slider from opening/closing/being loose. If anything, the longer you leave it on, the more wear you will put on the slider from being too thick, causing the problems you say you're trying to avoid. I doubt that'll actually happen, but that makes more sense than leaving it on actually helping anything. It'll wear eventually and look bad, leaving debris in the slider. Removing it helps the slider to move more smoothly, which I suppose could be taken as loose, but its not loose, its smooth, nice, and as intended. It clicks open/closed with the film on, but better with it off. I don't get the debate. Motorola has repeatedly and 100% of the time stated it is supposed to be removed. Leave it on if you like it, but not because you think it is supposed to be there or because it helps anything, because it isn't and it doesn't.

 

[aristo1963]

The only reason it was there was to protect the highly finished and laser etched backplate during assembly and shipping.
If you leave it on it will peel and eventually gum up the slider.

 

[Jumper2pilot]

This is perhaps the dumbest issue I have ever read. It's supposed to come off. You don't need an official answer - it's obvious. It's a thin piece of plastic exactly like all the other ones you take off. If it were to stay on - it would say "Don't Remove".

Now that you guys have an official Motorola link saying to take it off please do what you want but stop starting these threads.

Ahh Guru, its just the the same guys that leave the tags on there hats and plastic cover on their new watch... LOL Hell you could always just attach a strap to the plastic box and leave the watch in there too!

 

[blue rocket]

remove it, it's protective film. then replace it with one of these: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/droid-accessories/7136-customize-back-your-moto-droids-screen.html

 

[hughesjr]

Of course it is supposed to come off ... is anyone REALLY claiming it should stay on?

I don't think it HURTS anything if you want to leave it on for a little while, but there is some glue on the backing and if you left it on long enough for it to actually wear through (which it will, there are marks on the plastic, so it is touching when slid), then the glue would then gather on the places where it is touching.

I mean, it is your Droid, so leave it on if you want to. It is not built to stay there though.