Review: Bodyguardz full body protection kit for the Macbook

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Intro


Regular readers of my blog know that I have reviewed a couple of protective skins for the Macbook, which include Shieldzone's invisible shield and DeinDesign's DesignSkins. Today I'd like to add yet another product that promises to protect the Macbook: The Bodyguardz.

Package Contents

The package that you will receive when ordering the full kit includes a Bodyguard for the palm rest, the trackpad, the clicker on the trackpad, the bottom case and the top case. On top you get two bottles of solution that you need to use to apply the shields.


Material

The material used for the Bodyguardz is different from the invisible shield and the DesignSkins. It is neither made of vinyl nor that material used for the invisible shield. It is apparently a material that is used by automobile tuners. It is very thin and in my opinion it is the clearest skin that I have seen so far.


Design of the Bodyguardz

The design of the Bodyguardz is also quite different from what I have seen so far. First of all the palm rest Bodyguard covers the whole partition below the keyboard (it is only one skin). The trackpad and clicker skins look just like other products. What really is different are the top and bottom skins though. The top skins not only covers the top case but the little side portions (edges) also, so that only a very small part of the top case is actually unprotected. However, there is a cutout for the Apple logo, which I frankly didn't quite get since the Bodyguardz are transparent. I personally would have liked the skins without the cutout even more. The bottom skin is also worth mentioning. It covers the bottom case plus the edges also (the portion where the ports are located and the slot in portion excluded). I hope I was able to describe the design of the Bodyguardz well enough for you to get the idea. In one sentence the Bodyguardz do protect more of the Macbook than any other skin product that I have reviewed so far.


Application process

Now to the application process. Bodyguardz has a video on their site that gives customers a brief overview on how to apply the skins. However, in my experience the application of the skins is far more complicated than show in the clip. I truly suggest you do it with another person; especially the bottom skin was hard to apply. Anyways, in short there are three steps in applying the Bodyguardz. First, clean your Macbook (dust that is trapped beneath the skin just looks bad). Second, peel off the Bodyguard that you want to apply and spray it in with the solution (use rather more solution than less). Third, try to align the Bodyguardz as neat as possible and squeeze out the liquid beneath the skin out to the sides. When you have completed the three steps you need to let the Macbook rest for 12-24hrs so the remaining liquid can evaporate. Don't worry too much about the really small bubbles that you can't get out. Most of them will disappear after a couple of days.


My thoughts on the Bodyguardz

Now my personal thoughts about the Bodyguardz are positive. However, there are some points that I need to mention. Firstly, the application of the Bodyguardz is rather complicated (especially on the Macbook). The reason for this is, that the skins do not slide that well even with them being soaked in the solution. Secondly, because they do not slide that well it is truly hard to align them perfectly. That's why I recommend doing this with another person. It makes the aligning process a lot easier. Lastly, it is possible to try to align the skins multiple times but I suspect that doing so somehow stretches the skins after a while and makes them not fit perfectly (either that or I may have received a slightly miscut bottom bodyguard). Even though most of the points were aligned, in my case one just edge didn't align perfectly, so that I had cut that part out in the end. Now the good part: I truly like the fact that the Bodyguardz cover more of the Macbook than any other skin product I have seen so far. Personally, I would have loved to see the Apple logo covered also but it still covers more than the competition. Another great point is the clearness of these skins. It really is very transparent and you have to look twice to see the existence of the Bodyguardz. So my final conclusion of the Bodyguardz is: it is worth the money and it protects the Macbook very well. But keep in mind that the application of the skins may be trickier than other skins out there.


MB-switcher