Tech Talk at ShieldsGroup

I have had a PDA since the old Casio SF-R20 pictured here. But it wasn’t until the days of the Palm iv that I realized the need for a screen protector. I had read extensively how easily the face of the Palm was scratched and immediately placed a protector on it. It diminished the clarity of the display, but I felt it was probably worth it.

Then I bought the Palm m-130. It was a disappointment from the word go. It’s resolution was so poor I felt like scratches wouldn’t hurt it a bit, so in the month or so that I had it, I went without a screen protector. Guess what. The surface began to show scratches in that short time. So when I upgraded to the Sony CLIÉ and then to my iPAQ, and then to my iPod, I made sure I put screen protectors on them. I bought the protectors in bulk and cut them to fit.

When I bought my Droid 2, I realized it would need a screen protector, but I didn’t want to use the ones I had bought years ago. I knew screen protector technology must have changed since the days of the Clie, so I went to Verizon. They wanted about $20 for a pack of three screen protectors. When I made a Scotsman’s face (I am good at that), the clerk said, “Check ebay or another online source.”

So, once again, I read the reviews, and I bought a protector from Stealth Guards. I bought the free one. I know that sounds weird, but their basic screen protector is actually free. You just pay for shipping. It looks like a scam, but it is legitimate. When I got the guard, my wife (who is good at hand-crafts) and I watched the video and then she put the Stealth Guard on the device. It worked well. There was a small amount of air under the protector, but in about a week, that was completely gone. I would guess that most people looking at my Droid would not even know there was a screen protector on it.

Later, Tim ordered one of the carbon fiber scratch resistant ones.

Both of those we ordered are impressive. They are cut precisely for the phone. The carbon fiber model looks great. And I am sure it will protect the phone better and last longer. However, there were two things we didn’t like about the carbon fiber screen protectors:

1. Except where it covered the screen, it was not transparent. So the buttons at the bottom of the screen are no longer visible on Tim’s phone. That’s not a problem if you know they’re there. But what about when you hand your phone to a friend to show him how it works?
2. Because the frame is non-transparent, the transparent screen cover is a separate piece. That makes a small crack between the boarder of the screen and the actual screen protector. Can anyone say dust trap?

If I were to buy another Stealth Guard, and I am sure I will, I would get the free one. It’s well-designed and protects the entire phone without inhibiting use at all.

I am not sure Stealth Guards are the best ones out there, but I am very pleased with the one on my Droid.

This morning, in the dark, I booted my Droid 2 and found the buttons were not lighted. Or were they not lit? Whatever, they were dark.

Reading around a bit, I learned that this happens when you boot you phone in the dark.

It seems that the phone uses the level of light at bootup to decide if it needs those lights. If you boot in the dark, the droid assumes that level of light as daylight and never turns the lights on the buttons on.

I solved the problem by turning off the phone and starting it in the light.

It would appear that the Android Phone Calendar has difficulty creating a recurring event — unless you want that event to run into eternity. That’s just not practical. Most recurring events have a starting and ending date.

So how do you create a recurring calendar event on the Droid phone? I tried these steps:

1. Create the event in your calendar setting it to repeat according to the way you wish it to repeat.  Save it. You now have an event on your calendar that repeats every day forever.
2. Go to the day after you wish the event to cease and select the event. Open the menu and choose delete.  Select “Delete this and all future events.”

It seemed to work at first. Then the entire series was gone.  Kind of crazy, huh?

Anyone have any other ideas?