I recently received the Librem 15 in the post and I’m very happy with it.
The laptop seems to come with some sort of screen protector layer affixed. This layer has some air bubbles in it, as shown in the photo (bubble on bottom right corner near contents of /dev, smaller bubble higher up, a couple of others not shown).
Is this screen protector intended as a permanent layer? I very gently tried pulling at a corner but it didn’t come off, so I assume it is permanent - but how do I get the air bubbles out if so?
I am happy that you are happy with your new Laptop
The screen foil is not for permanent usage, it is only for protection during production and transport. Getting it off can be a little tricky. Try to get hold of it in one of the corners and slowly pull off. I would advise to do this very slowly and if possible to do this with a good earth connection - pull on the foil with one hand while holding the metal case with the other or similar. What happens while pulling it off is that quite some electro static can build up and could discharge into the display.
If you can not get hold of the foil in the corners you may try to help with some duct tape. Press the duct tape to the foil near a corner while keeping the other end of the tape in your hand, then try to pull.
I managed to get hold of it with a fingernail in one of the corners… did not work in any corner but luckily there are four of them to try
I quite liked the idea of a film protecting my screen, so I switched off the laptop and gently managed to lift one corner and pulled the protective screen till all the bubble area was peeled off and then with a soft cloth gently wiped the film back onto the screen making sure no bubbles remained.
Yes, the protective film is only meant to be temporary for extra shipping protection, you must remove it to enjoy your screen as it was meant to be. It is sometimes tricky, especially if the air pockets are in the middle instead of the edges, so I devised a technique to shift air pockets to the screen edge by repeatedly pulling them directionally with ducktape (and then once you lift the plastic from the edge, you can use your fingernail to pry the whole plastic film off). This is a video I provided to Purism to illustrate the technique, in which you can see ducktape folded on two edges in order to create “grip handles”:
I wouldn’t be too worried about static electricity, but it never hurts to turn off the computer just in case.
Thanks all - to update, once I knew the film could be taken off I was able to do so using a fingernail, which I am glad to report was extremely satisfying, and now I have a lovely matte screen.
