Antiglare screen covers and/or outdoor-grade netbook

Yo, homies. I have a laptop for running autocross software. I mistakenly thought touchscreen would be helpful for this machine, but all the super-shiny screen does is make it hard to read outside, even under the tent.

1. Any recommendations for a good anti-glare cover I can put on it? I don't particularly care if it interferes with the touchscreen capability.

2. I will also need to buy a couple netbooks / large tablets in the near future as auxiliary machines. What models have the best outdoor-viewing capability?

Regards, chaps and chappettes.

3M makes a really good line of anti-glare screen products if it's not one of those bright reflective style screens.

The problem is that most of the outdoors grade units also cost a lot because they are rugged units. Regardless, Get the best quality screen you can and it will help.

You may check out lease returns too. If you don't need this year's technology then something from the a refurbished place may work good too.

Here is the Dell Site: http://dellrefurbished.com/laptops (totally Affiliated)

The new more phone style tablets like the Samsung are a lot brighter outdoors too if something like that works for you.

Yeah, it's a really shiny screen. Amazon reviews said the 3M stuff didn't cut glare much. Thanks!

Turn down brightness.

I used to work at a phone/accessories retail place and ive put on probably 9billion screen protectors. We never used fancy stuff just whatever chinese precut. It works better than none at all but most machines just simply werent designed for outdoor use. That said just order whatever "antiglare" screen protector (they are just a matte finish so its not shiney) off online and turn the brightness all the way up. Unfortunately although I have tons of experience in tablets and such have no advise to offer regarding which look best outdoors because to be honest I was always indoors. Best of luck but I think any antiglare will work about as well as another. Check your local area for a place like I worked, cellphone repair/ case retailer and they may put it on if you buy from them. Its quite the pain in the butt to do correctly on a tablet, that is unless you have window tint experience too haha

The newer style reflective screens are just not as good outdoors as the matte screen styles. They are made to look good in the showroom. Any of the anti-glare shields just don't work well for them.

Something like this is cheap enough and it made for outdoor use:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-E6420-ATG-14-0-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-2520M-2-50GHz-500GB-HDD-4GB-Memory-/381262086916?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c4fdc304

bmw88rider wrote: The newer style reflective screens are just not as good outdoors as the matte screen styles. They are made to look good in the showroom. Any of the anti-glare shields just don't work well for them. Something like this is cheap enough and it made for outdoor use: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-E6420-ATG-14-0-Laptop-Intel-Core-i5-2520M-2-50GHz-500GB-HDD-4GB-Memory-/381262086916?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item58c4fdc304

What makes this unit designed for outdoor use? Or am I misreading your post?

Thanks, gang.

[edit] Oh, yeah, not sure why I accidentally posted this on the GRM board instead of Off Topic.

That unit is a ATG model so it has a screen designed for outdoor use. It's the ATG designation that makes the difference.

We (I work for Dell) sell a ton of those to the military and contractors just for that reason. It's a different style of screen that has a higher NIT rating for better outdoor visibility. There are some pictures at the bottom here to give you an idea. (The E6420 and E6430 ATG both have a very similar screen)

http://www.ruggedpcreview.com/3_notebooks_dell_e6430_atg.html

bmw88rider wrote: That unit is a ATG model so it has a screen designed for outdoor use. It's the ATG designation that makes the difference. We (I work for Dell) sell a ton of those to the military and contractors just for that reason. It's a different style of screen that has a higher NIT rating for better outdoor visibility. There are some pictures at the bottom here to give you an idea. (The E6420 and E6430 ATG both have a very similar screen) http://www.ruggedpcreview.com/3_notebooks_dell_e6430_atg.html

Good to know. Thanks!

You want to turn UP brightness if there's a lot of glare. You could get a matte screen protector for it...or do this:

(Gravity alteration not required )

GameboyRMH wrote: You could get a matte screen protector for it...or do this: (Gravity alteration not required )

Yeah, I did that, but I guess I need a bigger box. I couldn't get it far enough back in to prevent glare from the GRM logo on my T-shirt chest.

In reply to Duke:

Tape the cardboard directly to the side of the screen, make it a full hood like they use on film locations for the monitors.

I've used the cheap matte screen protectors from Amazon on my Vivotab Smart, and found it quite pleasant. I'm still not sure it can manage sunlight readability.

I think the ideal would be to fix up or buy a netbook with a Pixel Qi screen.

turboswede wrote: In reply to Duke: Tape the cardboard directly to the side of the screen, make it a full hood like they use on film locations for the monitors.

My laptop just fit in the available box, which meant with the mouse, timing gear, power, and ethernet plugged in, it would only sit an inch or two back in the box. If I had a 4" wider box there would be enough room to push it farther back in. So to speak.

Duke wrote:

turboswede wrote: In reply to Duke: Tape the cardboard directly to the side of the screen, make it a full hood like they use on film locations for the monitors.

My laptop *just* fit in the available box, which meant with the mouse, timing gear, power, and ethernet plugged in, it would only sit an inch or two back in the box. If I had a 4" wider box there would be enough room to push it farther back in. So to speak.

order more from amazon.. you'll have plenty of boxes in no time.

For our start computer, I've used Asus eeebooks. For example...

Asus eeebook on Amazon

This is a newer model than what we have, but the display description is similar (11.6" 16:9 HD (1366x768) Glare panel). I bolted a laptop cooler pad to the inside side of a plastic bin, then held the netbook to that with some clamps/velcro. You can lay the bin on its side and flip up the display, and this helps reduce glare and buildup of tire dust. It also holds the sensor, reflector, and wires keeping everything together.

For our main timing laptop, we use a Lenovo G780 with a factory anti-glare display. I tried making a glossy display work outside using anti-glare products, but the results were never as good as with factory anti-glare displays.