3M™ Privacy Filter for 14in Laptop, 16:9, PF140W9B

Purpose: I purchased this privacy filter for my work laptop to limit the visibility of my screen both at work and when I'm out of the office using it in public places.Shipping: The screen came in a typical product envelope, enclosed in a padded shipping envelope so it was in perfect condition on opening.Function: The screen was easy to apply with the provided adhesive strips (2 for my screen). It comes with an extra strip if you happen to bungle one. The screen has both a glare and anti-glare side, allowing you to select your preference. Although I opted for the non-glare side, one feature of the glare side is it makes it even harder for others to see your screen in bright light conditions because of reflected objects. The glare side does not seem to impact straight on viewing (at least in fluorescent lighting conditions - I did not test it outdoors). Straight on viewing is just fine with privacy effects coming immediately as you move to the side (30 degrees or so). If your system is at it's default brightness, the screen will appear considerably darker for straight on viewing. Adjusting the brightness on my laptop made the text/graphics stand out as normal with no loss of privacy from the sides as mentioned above.Fit: This product fits exactly as described. I applied the filter with its adhesive strips carefully to my LCD. It covers the entire display with just the slightest edge of the LCD visible. It is almost a perfect fit. I'm glad for that little bit of space however because it allowed me to get the screen in position next to the LCD framing despite my large fingers. There is a small fingertip cutout at the top edge which gives you room to pull the filter off if you need to adjust it. You can slip a fingernail behind the screen and gently pull it away - no hunting for sharp, thin-bladed objects to peel it away.Overall, I am very pleased with this product. It is exactly as described and completely met my expectations.

TRUTH: not perfect but still great.The filter is mounted by transparent sticker tabs you adhere to your laptop's screen.At first I hated these stickers making my shiny new laptop ugly but after a few public uses (I travel a lot) I got used to them surprisingly fast.It is pretty cool how the filter darkens & blurs the screen from the sides. For this to work best you have to make sure it sticks to the screen as closely as possible (otherwise it blurs it for you!).It doesn't come flat like the product picture, it's bent and has a glossy and matte sides, for me the glossy side let me push the filter close to the screen with the stickers on the frame pushing the sides against it (I bent the stickers inwards to have the filter completely touching the screen).Anyone directly behind you can also see, but for me this is a plus as I share "live" what I'm doing with others.I was already used to sitting with my back facing the wall so this didn't bother me.It works great when the place is well lit well but not so well under low light situations (dark places), in the latter it blurs the image rather than darken it.Quick summary with TIPS:- darkens and blurs the screen for "side" viewers- anyone directly in front of it can see (TIP: have a wall behind you WITHOUT CCTVs, mirrors, or pictures with reflective glass)- doesn't work as well in dark places (TIP: avoid dark places...duh!)- holds in place with transparent stickers (TIP: (a) bend the stickers inward to push the filter as close to the screen; (b) place 2 short high on the sides, 2 long low on the sides, and 2 short at the bottom => see photos)- it will darken the screen a bit, increasing brightness will do the trick but will use more battery

To begin with, I haven't used a privacy filter before outside of seeing them on screens at medical offices and the like, so I'm not sure what I was supposed to expect.That said, I am satisfied with the filter. I am using it on a 2nd gen (late 2010) MacBook Air 13" and it works fine. I've read this model doesn't work on the latest 2011 MBA models due to a different screen.At maximum brightness on my MBA a person sitting next to you on an airplane certainly could read your screen if they so desired (at least one half of it, text is unreadable on the half that's furthest from their view). However, simply decrease your screen brightness to about 50% and it would be nearly impossible to read text and very difficult to distinguish any graphics. More than an airplane seat away and the screen appears nearly black. Viewing the screen straight on is not too hard on the eyes, but there is a slight interlaced pattern on my MBA. Don't expect to retain the same crisp screen quality that you had without a filter... but I imagine most people use these for writing private documents occasionally and aren't graphic designers.Also, it's not obvious in the picture, but the filter has a small \______/ shaped notch at the top, this allows you to put a fingernail between the screen and filter to slide it off more easily, but about a 1.5x0.5cm notch at the very top of your screen will not be covered by the filter. This isn't an issue for me, as my toolbar is the only thing visible there, but I don't remember anything in the description about this.To attach the filter it comes with two approximately 4 x 3/8" clear adhesive pieces of a plastic, and six approximately 1 x 3/8" pieces. You attach these in whatever configuration you'd like to the edges of your screen, and the filter slides between these pieces and the screen. I used the two long ones on either side and the filter easily slides and stays against my screen. However, at least on my MBA, I could get away without any of these pieces and just sit the filter in the recess of the screen. It would fall out if I close the lid, but for only occasional use, that might be fine.4/5 stars. Incredibly easy to use, feels like a quality product, perfect fitment for my MBA. Would get 5 stars if I could keep my screen at full brightness and maintain a very narrow viewing angle.. but since I don't have much experience with privacy filters, I'm not sure this is possible.