WiFi in the Park: anti-glare filters vs. hoods
Today was the first day I was able to do some real work in the park, Brooklyn’s Prospect Park that is, and I must say it was pretty nice: watching people with their kids and dogs, hearing the breeze in the branches, feeling the sunshine on my shoulder, feeling like John Denver (well not exactly).
The 2 biggest drawbacks were the upload speed, which I’ll complain about (nicely) and the glare on the glossy screen of my MacBook. Coincidentally I received a 3M privacy filter that I had ordered from Amazon.com today and was pretty disappointed to find that the dimensions did not fit my screen at all even though it is supposed to be for 13.3″ laptops. I just found another one from ViewGuard that’s even more expensive but seems to be made specifically for 13.3″ wide screens and glare reduction.
As another coincidence the Lifehacker blog today has a post about an anti-glare hood for using laptops outside. I’m not sure if I would want to use that thing, it looks kind of weird, but if it works and eliminates 100% of glare then what the heck!
I should mention that while the glare was pretty annoying it did not make it impossible to use the laptop. I was there for only 2 hours, any longer would have been unbearable. The problem wasn’t so much from over head sunlight but from reflections of objects facing the screen, mostly me. The fact that I was wearing all black with long sleeves made the situation a lot better than it would have been otherwise though I couldn’t really angle the screen in a way that would only reflect my upper body and none of the sky behind me. These observations lead me to believe that something to cut the reflectivity of the screen like a glare filter would be more useful to me than a hood to shade it from over head light.
Other must-haves while working outside in the park are the already mentioned external battery from Batterygeek.net and the Kennsinton cable lock. There are no outlets in the park, and this is Brooklyn after all… I don’t want anybody to be tempted to snatch my Mac while I’m using it out in the open!
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Good move on giving the anti-glare hood a thumbs down. It wouldn’t match your MacBook at all. Cool computer and nerdy accessory. Hmmm…..
I have a ViewGuard for my MacBook and it works great. The glare reduction helps when working near windows and lights. I purchased mine directly from http://www.buyviewguard.com but I think you can also get them on Amazon.
I ordered a ViewGuard and I’m sitting outside in the park right now not using because it creates more glare and makes the screen less visible than without it, and my MacBook has a glossy screen too. In order to test this thing I had to peel off protective film from both sides which might make it impossible to return it to Intelligen. Add to that the fact that even if they do take it back they would deduct a 15% restocking fee and I’m pretty disappointed.
On the other hand it does work great as a privacy filter, but that’s not what I need. Anyway I hope I can get this resolved and get some refund. I purchased it through Amazon.com so if the seller doesn’t want to take it back at least I’ll be able to attempt a reimbursement claim with Amazon.
stay tuned!…
Well I finally got a refund for this thing from the seller, minus the 15% restocking fee. It was taking so long I had also contacted Amazon about it so I’m not sure if that had anything to do with it. Anyway save yourself the hassle I went through and don’t buy this filter expecting to use it with you laptop outside. On the other hand if you really need a privacy filter then go for it. In any case it seems pretty over-priced.