M1330 with a black leather skin applied! [pictures included]

Last week I posted about a Leather skin available for M1330 on eBay. Few days later I purchased it, and finally it is here. The skin, as mentioned in the site is not real leather, rather a vinyl type paper with a leather texture. Quality of the paper looks good enough.

Since they didn’t have black, I settled for Dark Gray . As I feared, the color is not as dark as I wanted it to be, but looks OK.

Surprisingly, DELL and XPS logos were cut out to almost perfect size (see the pictures below). Applying it was pretty easy and straight forward.
eBay ad also mentioned that removing it will not leave any residue . I had to put it ON and OFF a couple of times to align properly, during that time nothing was left behind. Therefore, at least for now it looks safe. But I don’t know what will happen over time. [ UPDATE Oct 17, 2008]I recently sent my notebook for repairs, but before sending I removed the sticker. And I’m glad to say that no residue was left behind, whats more I was able to put it back again (once the notebook returned) without damaging the sticker at all . ! [ /UPDATE]

I’m little bit worried about the sticker catching the fabric of the notebook sleeve, especially the area where XPS and DELL logos are cut.

No more greasy fingerprints

Finally the photos :



Click the following thumbnails to view high resolution images

 

looks good

 

Love it, really jazzes that notebook up. Good job applying, as well.

 

Looks very very good, so good that I'd even consider getting an M1330 if only to be able to apply this skin.

 

Thanks for posting your experience (and pictures). I thought it would be a darker grey, but still looks really good.

I can't wait until I receive mine. How long did it take them to ship to you, and where are you located?

 

They have skins for other notebooks and other devices as well:

http://stores.ebay.ca/Polar-Bear-House

 

@mystery905: check out my leather for xps 1530 -->

 

I am curious as I am looking at the brown leather version...

On the front lip does it mould right aound as the natural cover does and if so is there a natural 2" "bump" in the centre for opening the lid?

Also...mine is red. Would there be any pieces of the red exposed?

and lastly...are we sure it wouldn't damage the dull soft finish?

 

No, it doesn’t go all the way around. If you look closely at my first picture you can see the sticker is falling short at the top edge just before the curve starts (it doesn’t go neat the latch). Since my sticker is dark gray, remaining black part doesn’t stand out too much. But since yours is a red, I think it might.
In addition, there are two thin gaps (where the groves are : just above the XPS logo and one closer to the top edge, about 1 cm from the top). This is how the sticker will look like: (white area will expose your lid)

As said before, I took it off a couple of times soon after applying, but nothing was left behind nor the surface was damaged in any way. But I don’t know for sure whether or not the glue will change over time and make it harder to remove / damage the lid (but I don’t think so).

 

Ya I would def have red showing at the vertical lines...too bad because i really like it.

 

There are plenty of other skins available on eBay like from this seller (a complete skin : front , back and palm rest; has 161 designs to choose from). Even though they don’t have a leather like texture, I’m sure you can find something you like.

 

that looks great. almost looks like my matte black finish on my 1520

 

Hey this looks cool, and u said, it'd be great if it doesn't do any harm to the laptop especially near the logos..

 

wow awesome..def what i would do if i had one

 

Actually without the skin matte black finish of M1330 and inspiron 1520 look same

 

looks really nice,and the cut out to the logo is spot on.

 

I just got mine. It doesn't quite fit. The largest piece in the centre is short a few mm on the top. I compensated by putting the top strip lower, covering the upper seam.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Is it because I have the NON-LED screen?

I sent a message to the ebay seller.

 

Yes, I too had the same problem, did the same thing as you (compensate by lowering the top stripe). Also have the CCFL (non LED) screen. It might be that, not sure.

So, do you like it ?

 

I love it! It's better than I thought it would be--pictures don't do it justice. I think without the skin, my m1330 would be naked.

 

I wonder what this would look like on a blue m1330. I'm thinking that either it looks really cool with the black leather on a glowing blue backdrop, or really ugly with two contrasting colors that do not mesh....

 

I don't think it would look good. The grey leather isn't that dark, so it will clash with the blue IMO.

If you really want this skin, you may consider painting the seams on the cover flat black before applying. But then of course, you will have to be sure you will use skins forever.

 

I really like that, do you ahve to go though ebay to get it though?

 

as far as I know

 

I found sgpstore.com in USA site.

 

I was just looking at that seller's ebay store yesterday... dang, that came out sexy

 

Wow! Sweet..that looks really nice! :yes:
(just saw it now )

Fantastic work!

Cin

 

Very Nice...............

 

The cover is sweeeet!