Your iPad screen is the most vulnerable, exposed and potentially fragile part of the entire device, so it’s natural to want to keep it clean and free of fingerprints and dust as well as protect it. Padacs has a couple of products to help you to look after your iPad screen, kicking off with its Screen Care Kit ($12.95), which consists of a 30g tube of anti-static, alcohol- and ammonia-free micro gel, and a micro-fibre cloth. It’s a neat little package and it certainly does the trick of getting rid of all those pesky finger marks and smudges. It’s very easy to apply too, all you do is squeeze a small pea-sized amount onto the micro-fibre cloth, then wipe the screen with the cloth in a circular motion. I found that you only need a very small amount of gel, I actually put far too big a dollop on initially, and it took a little longer to work in, so next time I’ll be using a much smaller amount. In the end I was very pleased with the results, as it left my iPad screen looking finger-print free and very shiny, and it also felt like it had a little extra protective coating against subsequent finger prints.

Padacs’ second screen protecting product is its GlareGuard, military-grade anti-glare screen protector. This is actually quite a tricky area, as there are quite a few dodgy screen protectors out there and I’ve already been burned by spending a lot of money on a screen protector which turned out to be very cloudy and spoiled the vibrancy of the iPad’s display. The ideal iPad screen protector should cut out glare and protect the screen from scratches, splashes and smudges, at the same time as remaining very responsive to the touch and not dulling the pleasure of the experience of using your iPad. I’d have to say that the Padacs GlareGuard is successful on all counts.

As far as applying the screen protector goes, well it’s pretty much the same as putting on any other screen protector, you just have to take your time, make sure you’ve thoroughly cleaned the screen first with the supplied cloth before applying it, and be completely sure you’ve lined it up with all the edges before you start to smooth it down with the little piece of cardboard that also comes with the kit.

Once the GlareGuard was actually in place, I was pretty satisfied with the end result – it doesn’t dull the colours, it cuts out excessive glare very effectively, and it definitely hasn’t diminished the responsiveness of the screen in any way. I know that not everyone feels it’s necessary to have a screen protector for their iPad, but I certainly feel a little happier knowing that my screen is protected from any little splashes or mishaps that might occur! And, at $12.95, it’s half the price of the expensive screen protector I ended up dumping in the bin. So a result all round, I’d say.

Both the GlareGuard screen protector and Screen Care Kit are available from Padacs here.

I'm using the ZaggMate with my iPad, along with the Invisible Shield. I've found the Mate discolors the Shield - leaving a 1" purple band across the entire Shield. This occurs after about 3 months of having the Shield in place, and has happened to all 4 of the Shields I have installed. Does this product also produce banding if used with the ZaggMate?