Scratches on Plastic Screan

Hey guys. I bought the HP dv7t with the infinity display. I was doing homework the other day and my clipboard scratched the screan kinda bad. the scratch is more than just light scratches from normal wear and tear. It is about an inch and a half long and is on the bottom of the screan, so its not that noticeable. I was wondering what I should use to remove it. Any good products you guys have tried out?

 

RMA?? .....

 

RMA? whats that?

 

I like your signature btw

 

Sorry, just my dumb way of asking whether or not you could conceivably fit it in under a warranty claim ( RMA means return merchandise authorization, and is short-hand for returning it as a defective good).

Thanks!

 

No I dont think so, I love the laptop and everything else works just great. Was just wondering if there are any solutions to removing scratches.

 

If they're really deep, I don't think there is, short of replacing the screen itself (you might check to see if there's a separate layer above the lcd itself that can be separately removed and replaced). One useful source of info might be an NBR member named Zfactor - he's extremely knowledgeable about all things lcd-related. Send him a pm and see if he's got anything that might help.

 

Theres no way to remove it. Put a screen protector on it and it will cover it up if it bothers too much. However, some protectors may make the screen not as sharp and bright.

 

You may want to try something called Plast-X, which is a clear plastic polisher, used for car and motorcycle applications. e.g. headlights, helmet visors.

They carry it in Wal-mart in Canada in the automotive section with cleaners/waxes.

 

To be honest, you might as well leave it as is. It seems like you end up damaging it even more when you try to repair it.

 

I've heard of using toothpaste before, I've used it on my old PowerBook G4 and it looked great afterwards and the scratch was barely seen, but the PowerBook had a matte screen. I don't know how well it would work with a glossy screen.

 

This will damage gloss screens and strip the thin anti-glare layer. On a matt screen I wouldn't know.

Would this also work for those piano black finishes that laptop cases have these days? They look great but scratch pretty easily. Mine has spots on it already from being put in my bag (special pocket in backback so it slides and rubs on the wall) and it's been only a week.

 

You have three options:
1. Replace the scratched part
2. Fill the scratch in
3. Remove the material around it

Replacing the part is probably going to be more expensive then it is worth. Filling the scratch in would be something along the lines of using wax and polishing it. The wax will fill the scratch and should make it less noticable. The last option requires you to use an abrasive to remove material around it. Toothpaste works because it is full of abrasive particles (a sand-water mix was long used as toothpaste). As already mentioned this is generally a bad idea because you'll be removing important coatings. This also relies on your skill level, so making it worse is very possible. If you do go with this method make sure you get a good automotive product rather then toothpaste. The later may work, but it won't be as reliable.

 

Just an Update on what I did

I ended up buying and acrylic plastic scratch remover from walmart. It came with a cloth, puddy buffer and very light sandpaper. I did not use the sandpaper on my glossy screan, but I did use the puddy stuff. Overall I would not recommend this solution because it buffed the glossy screen and I can see a dull circles where I buffed. I think the little scratches were removed, but the two big ones are still there. I wiped my finger on the screen which had some oil on it and the dullness dissapeared, perhaps a polisher or just pertorlum jelly or the like will work.