[Asus  Eee Pad Transformer Prime] Blairware:
My take on Gorilla Glass

On phones, the most common scratching of the screen occurs with keys and device in pocket. Another common mishap, is surprisingly (or NOT surprising when you think about it) from women wearing Diamond Studs in their ears. Hold Glass screen to ear, diamond scratches glass. Obvious, right?

But I DO NOT CONCUR with all the statements about how tough Gorilla glass is, and here's why. My story takes place on the very same night that I, on all my incredible wisdom, wrote in a thread about screen savers the following statement:

Anything hard enough, and with enough force to scratch Gorilla Glass TM will probably still do so, in spite of a piece of protective plastic.

Yes, and that, my argument went, is why screen savers are a waste of time. Not one hour later (Oh the irony!) I was in tears over a very noticeable set of scratches on my Prime. In the border (the only break I caught) a 1 inch wide by 1/4" swirl of reasonable deep scratches. The kind that would take WET SANDING, and then hours op polishing with Cerium Oxide to maybe, possibly remove the most noticeable ones.

How did I get to this point? Picture this. My 11 year old daughter asks if we can play a game together on the tablet. Sure! She plays "Fruit Ninja a few times, with me sting next to her. NOTHING contacts the screen except her fingers. Then we play a fast moving, heart stopping action game called "Where's My Water" We take turns, getting water to the little alligator (or is it a crocodile? These are the agonizing questions I ask myself in the middle of the night, when I can't sleep and... well... I digress) So when we are done, I go to give a nice wipe down to get the sticky little kiddie fingerprints off my beautiful Prime.

But hey... what's this? OMG!!!! HOLY ****!! These are scretches... deep permanent scratches in the glass between the camera and the top right corner. WTF??? How did this happen? Then I look at my daughters hands and I see it. A cheap, vending machine ring... the kind you get for a couple of quarters and comes in a plastic egg. THAT piece of crap ring... on her hands did THIS?

The thing is she never handled the tablet roughly, never even grabbed at it or anything remotely like that. She just HELD IT. IN HER HANDS, in the normal way you would hold a tablet.

Now we have no doubt that the ring was the cause of the scratches, though we still can't figure the mechanics or physics of it, since the ring would have been positioned ON THE BACK of the tablet, based on how she held it, and how the ring was on her finger... Makes no sense, but it is the only explanation for what happened. I clean the tablet often, many times a day, and it was fine shortly before this. We also take full responsibility for scratching it. We don't blame Asus, or Corning, or anyone else but ourselves. But we are shocked at how easily this occurred, and really concerned at how sensitive the tablet i, almost to the point where I am squeamish that it will happen again. This was just TOO EASY to happen..

Lesson for anyone that is open to it is: Treat the tablet with GREAT care. Not just REASONABLE care, as most will tell you, and finally: Check EVERYONES hands that you pass the Tablet to. If they have one or more rings, ask them to kindly remove them. Seems crazy that a tablet thats so sharp looking would be so easily damaged, but the back is even worse. Several reviewers claimed to scratch the back "with Gentle Care", but then I see them resting it on the edge of the dock, which is metal, and I know that the "gentle" description is a bit exaggerated.