I am very particular about my things and like to keep them in mint condition as much as possible. I call it being a perfectionist; my husband calls it being retentive. Whatever. So when I received a graphite K3 as an early birthday present, I wanted something that would protect it and keep it from getting scratched and scuffed up. In addition to buying the Kindle Lighted Leather Cover, Black (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle) (very nice!), I purchased this GelaSkin for the K3 from Amazon and I. Love. It.
The skin's graphics are true to the product's picture on Amazon's Web site, and the colors are well saturated and vibrant. There's a nice thickness to the skin, yet it's not so thick as to feel uncomfortable or noticeable in your hand. The skin itself is like a vinyl decal that you peel and apply to the front and back of the K3. There are cut outs for the keyboards buttons and the right and left page-turning buttons, or the kit includes little skins "strips" and "circles" that fit perfectly over them. The keyboard button skins have a graphic of the character assigned to that button and don't affect your use of the keyboard in any way. You can decide to leave the side page-turning and keyboard buttons exposed, but I chose to put the skins on them (I used a toothpick to get the keyboard "skin circles" positioned properly over their appropriate buttons) because I had read in the Amazon discussion forums about the print fading on the graphite (not white) K3's keyboard buttons from usage, which is unfortunate, since the graphite K3, IMHO, looks so much cooler than the white version.
I ordered the skin online from Amazon and received it in 3 days with standard shipping, which was one day ahead of schedule. It was well packaged and sustained no damage in transit. The skin itself is very easy to apply and is very forgiving if you don't get it lined up just right on your first attempt. I ended up peeling mine off a couple of times and realigning it, and the adhesive remained tacky and restuck easily without any edges lifting. I didn't experience any problems with bubbles getting trapped under the skin during the application process, but I did need to trim just the slightest of shavings from the back side, as the width of the skin was ever-so-slightly preventing the page forward and back buttons from depressing properly. It was a fix easily achieved with standard scissors and didn't affect the appearance, functionality, or adhesiveness of the skin in any way. I can't speak to the longevity of the skin or what effect might occur, if any, once the skin is taken off of the Kindle after having been on it for an extended period of time, but it doesn't seem like it will present any problems in either of those areas. It also does not seem like it would be difficult to remove if I ever do decide to take it off. Time, however, will tell on those matters. In the meantime, I am beyond pleased with my purchase and love the protection...and personality...this skin gives my K3. GelaSkins Kindle Skin (Fits 6" Display, Latest Generation Kindle) Bookshelf
I had a Gelaskins Bookshelf skin as the first skin for my Kindle 2, back when this skin only covered the back. They later added a front skin to the Kindle 2 version, with a giant ugly (IMO) block cutout around the keyboard. I soon switched to using skins by another company whose designs I preferred.
With the release of the Latest Generation Kindle (aka, Kindle 3 or K3) Gelaskin revised the layout of their skins, and now use the same individual-letter cutout style that most of the other skin companies do. Because I'd enjoyed the Bookshelf design so much on my previous Kindle, I ordered the newest version for my new Kindle 3, and I'm glad I did. It's a wonderfully fun design, I find myself just sitting here reading all the fun names of the books and trying to figure out what classic titles they refer to. The colors are bright and beautiful, and it matches my Steel Blue Amazon Kindle cover very well. (It would also match the green or pink covers as well.)
I really only have a couple small complaints about this skin:
*The cutouts for the letters and screen aren't stamped very well, so peeling the skin off the backing it comes on is tricky, to say the least. I had to carefully work about half the letters loose from the skin, trying to peel them out without tearing the skin itself in those itty bitty skinny sections between the letters. The poor stamping of the cutout for the screen results in a feeling almost that the skin is tearing as it peels away from the cutout left behind.
*Applying this skin takes quite a bit of fidgeting. I get bored with designs and change the skins on my Kindle often, so I can generally apply a skin from the other company I've been using in 5-7 minutes. This skin from Gelaskins took nearly 20 minutes to apply, as the letters and screen edges were really hard to line up properly. Applying the back was even worse, as the back skin is about 1mm too wide, which means that one side or the other will block the "Next Page" button from clicking properly when pressed. (The button works, it just feels very "mushy.") In the end, I lined the skin up along the top and one side, then took a pair of scissors and trimmed a tiny bit off the edge of the skin behind one Next Page button. Not something I should have to do considering the cost of this skin.
*Glossy finish. Some people don't mind the glossy finish, and it certainly results in some beautiful colors, but when I'm actually reading I really prefer a matte finish to reduce the glare from whatever light I'm reading by. It would be nice to at least have the option from Gelaskins, as I do with the other company I usually get skins from.
Overall, this is a really fun skin for my Kindle, and I'll have lots of fun reading with it and showing it off to Kindle-curious friends. - Decals - Fun - Kindle Accessory - Kindle 3'
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