Thinkpads Forum

Hey everyone!
I just bought a W500 with a used lid that needs some covering and I'm creating this thread to see if there'd be interest in a group-buy-ish quantity of these.
We've been making these special skins for iPhones for quite some time. The material used is one that we worked on with a local vinyl manufacturer and is highly reminiscent of the ThinkPad outer material (R60 lid), in fact on these non-matte (unlike the W500) coated models, it is invisible. In other words, on the matte models, you will practically have an R60 style lid. In my experience the rougher R60 style lids are less prone to showing marks of damage.
The vinyl is made in two thicknesses - 145µm (slightly thicker than carbon wraps, but much more resistant to dings and scratches), and 300µm, which is very protective, even in harsh environments. Both are resistant to chemicals like oil, petrol etc. The adhesive is strong, but allows relocation when first applying and does not leave residue when removing. I have the thicker skin on my iPhone since last June and it is holding up great. Keys, change, the occasional fall and slide never get through to the iPhone's glass.
The skin only comes in black, so sorry if you're looking for a fashion statement, these are purely for protective purpose and they do a great job.

Since I'll be making the W500 from scratch, I can create a batch of them or even add other models. Pricing would be in the $20 range +$4 for the thicker stuff.





Feel free to ask any questions in the thread, I also don't mind constructive comments or criticisms.
Please don't regard this as a commercial offer, but I will PM someone asap.

Cheers! Paul

Admin edit: this post is approved by bill..

I've got a machine that would benefit from this - quite interested. Confused about what I'm looking at as far as the iPhone though. Is that a flip open case/wrap? Perhaps more pics of that? Thanks!

Sent from my phone which wishes it could have been a T43p

the above post is ok..

identify9 wrote:Confused about what I'm looking at as far as the iPhone though. Is that a flip open case/wrap? Perhaps more pics of that? Thanks!

The one pictured above is a skin but it was an attempt to make it a "full skin" which doesn't work very well on the iP4 due to the bezel, but this works nicely on the iP5. We ended up making the iP4 skin two-part, like most skins out there.


(iP4 two part)


(iP5 back only)

What I'm wondering in regards to the ThinkPads is if users would like just the top of the lid covered or the sides of the lid too (I'm leaning towards the latter) and if the Lenovo and TP logos should have windows cut out or fully covered.

BillMorrow wrote:the above post is ok..

Thanks!

I might be interested if there was one for the 15" T60 model. These models are commonly modified with parts from newer models since they are the last full size model with IPS screens.

I'd be even more interested if there was a "Frankenpad" logo instead of "Thinkpad" on it.

I'm wondering in regards to the ThinkPads is if users would like just the top of the lid covered or the sides of the lid too

considering the edges and corners get the most wear, if they weren't covered it would make the issue kind of moot, but I'd have to see how these things fit/look before I could consider getting behind the idea.

I'll be posting up some more info and pics soon.
You're right though, in that the lid edges on my W500 would have to be covered because that is the most vulnerable and scratched area on the "rubbery" lids. Not so much on the more plastic ones like my R60 has.
Once the basic design is done, logos and stuff are no problem at all, alhtough as on the first picture, the logo is cut through, leaving the original surface vulnerable. This coule cause differences in the original surface like you sometimes see after removing product labels after a long time.
But we can chat about the pros and cons of that, and I have some workarounds to make professionally looking stuff that doesn't make your machine look like an Acer with a cheap sticker

I would be interested in one that fits an R500. Is the W500 the same geometry?