Support NeoGAF

[Slaythe]

Isn't it impressive (in a bad way) that a screen gets so easily scratched...It's a shame Nintendo didn't consider a stronger screen that could at least resist those nasty plastic tabs.

No what is really bad is that they didn't include a screen protector in the box.

The plastic screen allows it to have incredible longevity and is quite robust. That ensures kids can play with it without ruining it in 2 minutes.

A tempered glass protector gives it the aspect and scratch-free(ish) quality of glass.

It costs nothing to produce those, so nintendo should have included them...

 

[Dawnbuster]

It's $90 because that's how much Nintendo believes consumers are willing to pay for it. That's how Capitalism works. Prices are rarely determined solely on manufacturing costs.

I look at the dock by itself ($60 not including HDMI cable or power brick) as a cheap piece of plastic surrounding a USB-C hub with 3x USB-A ports, 1x HDMI output, and power delivery via USB-C input.

Those hubs cost $50-$70 on Amazon by themselves.

So it's not unreasonable IMO. USB-C cables are pretty hit and miss right now, as others have noted, and good ones cost money. So do good USB-C hubs.

The cost of manufacturing is likely a lot lower than retail, but the retail isn't wildly out of line with other USB-C hubs of similar function.

 

[empyrean]

Do we know for certain that a plastic screen protector won't scratch itself from the dock? Or a glass protector for that matter?

 

[Peterc]

I can tell how many times you need to slide it in ennout, but i still haven't got a single scratch.

I think it's overrated, previously they said the same about vita that the screen is scratch sensitive. I wouldn't buy to much in it. Could even be click bate

 

[Dr. Black Jack]

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

 

[Slaythe]

Do we know for certain that a plastic screen protector won't scratch itself from the dock? Or a glass protector for that matter?

The chances of you scratching your glass with the dock's plastic are really low.

Clean your dock between uses to remove dust and it will be even lower.

Even if you don't, you are looking at potential micro scratches (that's kinda bound to happen anyway from anything), far more subtle than anything shown in this thread.

That being said, the failed docks have different degrees of failure. If you have an extremely bent dock, it could damage it over time, yes. If it's a normal to "kinda bent" dock, you're fine.

 

[Seik]

No what is really bad is that they didn't include a screen protector in the box.

The plastic screen allows it to have incredible longevity and is quite robust. That ensures kids can play with it without ruining it in 2 minutes.

A tempered glass protector gives it the aspect and scratch-free(ish) quality of glass.

It costs nothing to produce those, so nintendo should have included them...

You're right, after watching a drop test video, it would never have survived 11 drops, screen would have died after 1st or 2nd drop, good point.

Yeah, a little piece of adhesive plastic wouldn't hurt with the package though.

 

[ViciousDS]

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

I haven't needed a touchscreen on my iphone 6s+


oh wait, that's because it has a competent screen in the first place.

 

[Toparaman]

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

Never gotten a scratch on my smartphones. Never used a screen protector. And those things have jostled around in my pockets, sometimes with keys in the same pocket.

 

[DesertFox]

And yet this could easily have been avoided by not having a front plate on the dock. Design might be a series of tradeoffs, but if at any point they decided a scratched bezel is worth causing for an aesthetic choice for the dock, they truly do hire stupid people.

Why is it better for you that this was intentional rather than an oversight? In my mind it would be much worse if they wanted to damage everyone's devices out of the box.

There are tons of docks for tablets on the market, and none of them damage the screens of the tablets they hold. This is Nintendo reinventing the wheel, but with corners.

They could have done a design like this that utilized a sliding rail on the back of the device to secure it to the dock and avoid scratches entirely. But then you wouldn't have a plastic box proudly displaying the Nintendo Switch symbol.

 

[ToD_]

I haven't needed a touchscreen on my iphone 6s+


oh wait, that's because it has a competent screen in the first place.

Never gotten a scratch on my smartphones. Never used a screen protector. And those things have jostled around in my pockets, sometimes with keys in the same pocket.

No doubt Nintendo saved a few bucks by using a plastic screen, but there are also other reasons why they made this decision. In particular, your phones may be free of scratches but dropping them will cause the screen to crack. Since the Switch will not be in pockets with keys and will often be found in the hands of children, it is more important for it to not crack when dropped.

 

[LowParry]

Judge me GAF. I've already applied the normal Hori screen protector but is my dock safe? (And yes, today is cleaning day, dust be damned!)

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

My Xperia Z3v has never had a case or screen protector, no scratches. I dropped it a few times, and the only one that did damage was a big drop on pavement after getting out of a tall truck forgetting I had the phone on top of stuff. I pretty much threw it down, the corner is cracked, but it's a small area, and you can't even tell unless you look at it closely. Thankfully it doesn't even get close to being near the actual display area.

Also it's glass so that's probably why it's hard to scratch.

 

[bumpkin]

Judge me GAF. I've already applied the normal Hori screen protector but is my dock safe? (And yes, today is cleaning day, dust be damned!)

Looks much stranger than my dock, for sure.

I've been "expanding" mine with an SNES cart since last night, I'll measure tonight and see if I gained any space.

 

[Toparaman]

No doubt Nintendo saved a few bucks by using a plastic screen, but there are also other reasons why they made this decision. In particular, your phones may be free of scratches but dropping them will cause the screen to crack. Since the Switch will not be in pockets with keys and will often be found in the hands of children, it is more important for it to not crack when dropped.

Good point.

 

[Glass Shark]

.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Looks much stranger than my dock, for sure.

I've been "expanding" mine with an SNES cart since last night, I'll measure tonight and see if I gained any space.

Oh this is why someone else said they put a game box in theirs for a few hours or so. Expanding the bay, interesting. I'd just put pads on it, but this seems simpler.

 

[opticalmace]

They could have done a design like this that utilized a sliding rail on the back of the device to secure it to the dock and avoid scratches entirely. But then you wouldn't have a plastic box proudly displaying the Nintendo Switch symbol.

I wish they had done this.

 

[EroticSushi]

They could have done a design like this that utilized a sliding rail on the back of the device to secure it to the dock and avoid scratches entirely. But then you wouldn't have a plastic box proudly displaying the Nintendo Switch symbol.

I imagine we'll be seeing third party docks designed like this. I don't think Nintendo would have done it themselves though. You would have people complaining how their switch went flying across the room from accidental hitting.

 

[whiteninja]

Bent dock here. Tried using the foam stuff that comes with the switch but I got got tiny smudges on the screen and made it too tight so now ill just wait till the sp gets here.

 

[PowerThroughLov]

The could have also just made the dock out of weaker plastic. Stronger things dont scratch weaker things. Ideally, they would have made the Switch with a glass front panel. But from a durability standpoint I can completely understand why they went with plastic.

But the dock needed to be weaker than the switch somehow.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

your phones may be free of scratches but dropping them will cause the screen to crack.

Very unlikely. Gorilla Glass is pretty resilient to drops. Stop pretending like cheap plastic screens are a good thing because Nintendo did it.

 

[Lasdrub]

This felt tape down the front rails inside the cradle is working well for me. The Switch slides in and out without a problem.

 

[linkboy]

This felt tape down the front rails inside the cradle is working well for me. The Switch slides in and out without a problem.

Just be careful, as this could trap some dust and end up scratching your screen.

 

[Kelegacy]

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

It is 2017, why are screen protectors still a thing? Besides companies making money on overpriced plastic, manufacturers should include one for free or screens should not need them to begin with.

 

[FantasticMrFoxdie]

There have been plenty of scratch reports and/or markings on the screen, particularly the bezel area...
Glixel

Blunty

gregtis

moldiver

My dock

tendo(?)

---
There's scratches and then bent docks. If you have a bent dock you'd want to know if that's what caused the scratches/markings, right? This is a thread investigating whether the dock can scratch the screen.

Thanks for this post. Can't believe people are still coming in here and dismissing this. This thread saved me from a headache when I noticed I had a bent dock too and I'm now also extra careful when docking it. I did the makeshift user solution of putting a book between the dock and really hoping this fixes it. That said, its still inexcusable to have this problem with brand new hardware.

also annoyed this turned into a psuedo-thread about buying screen protectors.
I refuse to put a screen protector on mine. the damn hardware it comes with should not be damaging the screen.
Those companies are rolling in the dough now. lol

It is 2017, why are screen protectors still a thing?

Don't read through this thread. lol

 

[Moldiver]

On hold to Nintendo support for 25 minutes...hits 19:01 message changes to tell me they are closed, guess I'll find out whats happening tomorrow.

 

[SarusGray]

when you realize this thread was a marketing ploy by screen protector salesmen all along.

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

No doubt Nintendo saved a few bucks by using a plastic screen, but there are also other reasons why they made this decision. In particular, your phones may be free of scratches but dropping them will cause the screen to crack. Since the Switch will not be in pockets with keys and will often be found in the hands of children, it is more important for it to not crack when dropped.

Kids also do not give a fuck if their screens are scratched. And parents don't give much of a fuck if they bought it for their kids and their kids don't mind.

As for the bezel or back of the system getting scratches from the dock... like, it sucks, and if it's from bent docks Nintendo should fix/replace them, but kind of whatever? Literally the first or second day I got my 3DS XL (as a grown-ass man) I somehow did something where an area the size of a dime had the paint chipped off. It was annoying. But it's still there (obviously), and it hardly affected my enjoyment of the system.

I'm not saying it's okay for Nintendo to make things that cause cosmetic scratches, but some of the panic attacks here are.. weird.

 

[eoa-swam]

On another note, it looks like you can't use a USB C to USB cable to power the dock. I just got a message telling me to use an 'official ac adaptor'.

They are £24.99...

 

[Shoebox]

Plastic seems to me to be the right call as far as screen material. While most adults can manage not to drop and break Gorilla Glass devices, I'd say about 50% of teenagers have cracked or shattered phone screens. It does not handle hitting concrete very well.

 

[SarusGray]

Kids also do not give a fuck if their screens are scratched. And parents don't give much of a fuck if they bought it for their kids and their kids don't mind.

As for the bezel or back of the system getting scratches from the dock... like, it sucks, and if it's from bent docks Nintendo should fix/replace them, but kind of whatever? Literally the first or second day I got my 3DS XL (as a grown-ass man) I somehow did something where an area the size of a dime had the paint chipped off. It was annoying. But it's still there (obviously), and it hardly affected my enjoyment of the system.

I'm not saying it's okay for Nintendo to make things that cause cosmetic scratches, but some of the panic attacks here are.. weird.

spending $299 and worrying about that purchase being damaged is not weird at all.

 

[dcx4610]

I'm hoping with enough complaints, Nintendo will either design the dock or at least offer replacements with felt lining.

Still, why did they not go with an open faced dock like the Microsoft Surface? This would have been perfect.

 

[ToD_]

Very unlikely. Gorilla Glass is pretty resilient to drops. Stop pretending like cheap plastic screens are a good thing because Nintendo did it.

Please don't accuse me of being some overly dedicated fan. That is really uncalled for and rude. I understand you are angry at the situation - most of us are.

Also, gorilla glass really does still crack. I actually have an S7 Edge with a cracked screen. No scratches, however.

 

[DSPEED]

I have a slightly bent dock. Put a premium Hori screen protector on my Switch right out of the box. I have had it in and out a good number of times. I don't see any wear on the screen protector where it would have scratched the screen. So weird how some people are affected and others aren't.

 

[Diablohead]

There is a cheap 3rd party open dock coming out but its only for charging, however if someone was able to extend that to the official dock and then hide that behind the tv you could get away with something like that I think. It should be possible with a male to male usb C cable.

Sucks that people are getting bent docks. Mine is fine and since I have a screen protector I'm not too worried.

Spoiler

seriously who buys a new touchscreen device without also buying a screen protector in 2017

Not going against you here at all but my phone doesn't have a protector on it, however I keep it in a flip open wallet style case so similar thing I guess.

 

[ShiftaDeband]

I'm hoping with enough complaints, Nintendo will either design the dock or at least offer replacements with felt lining.

Still, why did they not go with an open faced dock like the Microsoft Surface? This would have been perfect.

It would have, and it would have allowed charging while docked. If there was no HDMI connection, it could default to using this screen. Then you could play... say, 1-2-Switch even if the battery was low.

This, in my opinion, is probably my biggest complaint about this system. I have no idea why they went this route.

 

[Berordn]

On another note, it looks like you can't use a USB C to USB cable to power the dock. I just got a message telling me to use an 'official ac adaptor'.

They are £24.99...

That's going depend on the cable and power adapter you're using. I'm able to charge my Switch with the charger that came with my Nexus 6P.

 

[MisterR]

Kids also do not give a fuck if their screens are scratched. And parents don't give much of a fuck if they bought it for their kids and their kids don't mind.

As for the bezel or back of the system getting scratches from the dock... like, it sucks, and if it's from bent docks Nintendo should fix/replace them, but kind of whatever? Literally the first or second day I got my 3DS XL (as a grown-ass man) I somehow did something where an area the size of a dime had the paint chipped off. It was annoying. But it's still there (obviously), and it hardly affected my enjoyment of the system.

I'm not saying it's okay for Nintendo to make things that cause cosmetic scratches, but some of the panic attacks here are.. weird.

It's amazing the mental gymnastics people will go through to defend their favorite company. It shouldn't be that hard for Nintendo to have a screen on their hybrid system that doesn't get scratched up just taking it in and out of it's dock after only a day or two. This is the first device I can remember that damages itself by basic usage. Well, outside of the 3DS I guess. There is nothing weird about being kind of pissed that your $300 new consult has scratches all over it after a couple days.

 

[diablos991]

Cutting a pair of my wife's stretchy leggings fixed this for me. Just stretched it over the front side.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Been docking and undocking my Switch a ton and haven't had any scratches. There are two small smudges on the lower right (reverse "L"-shaped smudge) and left (vertical smudge) of the bezel that aren't easily removed, but a bit of liquid on a soft cloth gets them off well enough. Can't really tell if my dock is bent or not. Once the system hits the lower guide I can't really wiggle it at all.

 

[keyboardsnake]

I really don't understand this expectation that glass we have in our hand and pockets and rub and tap constantly should be 100% scratch free. Have you seen most people's phones? Sometimes cracked to hell and people still use them fine. And yet some people put their phones in hyperbolic chamber cases where you will never see the actual phone or screen ever again.

Switch with a few scratches > Switch in a screen condom and a dock covered in band-aids. I'm not even "defending" Nintendo, just questioning this expectation that everything we touch be 100% scratchless.

 

[PowerThroughLov]

It's amazing the mental gymnastics people will go through to defend their favorite company. It shouldn't be that hard for Nintendo to have a screen on their hybrid system that doesn't get scratched up just taking it in and out of it's dock after only a day or two. This is the first device I can remember that damages itself by basic usage. Well, outside of the 3DS I guess. There is nothing weird about being kind of pissed that your $300 new consult has scratches all over it after a couple days.

Serious question - what do you want them to use? There aren't magical materials out there.

The material must be clear so light passes through with no distortion. There isn't a super plastic stronger than glass, and there isn't a glass that doesn't shatter.

I'm not saying this whole thing isn't stupid. The dock should have been designed better.

 

[Herb Alpert]

No doubt Nintendo saved a few bucks by using a plastic screen, but there are also other reasons why they made this decision. In particular, your phones may be free of scratches but dropping them will cause the screen to crack. Since the Switch will not be in pockets with keys and will often be found in the hands of children, it is more important for it to not crack when dropped.

I can't believe how much people have a cracked iphone screen around. I didn't consider that but you have a very good point.

 

[sirap]

I really don't understand this expectation that glass we have in our hand and pockets and rub and tap constantly should be 100% scratch free. Have you seen most people's phones? Sometimes cracked to hell and people still use them fine. And yet some people put their phones in hyperbolic chamber cases where you will never see the actual phone or screen ever again.

Bit of a hyperbole don't you think?

Switch with a few scratches > Switch in a screen condom and a dock covered in band-aids. I'm not even "defending" Nintendo, just questioning this expectation that everything we touch be 100% scratchless.

It's almost like...*gasp*...people have their own preferences on how they want to treat their devices. $300 might be chump change for some people, but for many it's a significant investment and it makes sense that they'd want to take care of their purchases.

Who cares if people want to put cases and screen protectors on their phones and handhelds. It's theirs.

 

[darkwing]

Cutting a pair of my wife's stretchy leggings fixed this for me. Just stretched it over the front side.

I think a screen protector would be cheaper?

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

It's amazing the mental gymnastics people will go through to defend their favorite company. It shouldn't be that hard for Nintendo to have a screen on their hybrid system that doesn't get scratched up just taking it in and out of it's dock after only a day or two. This is the first device I can remember that damages itself by basic usage. Well, outside of the 3DS I guess. There is nothing weird about being kind of pissed that your $300 new consult has scratches all over it after a couple days.

Like I said, they should fix it. And if you have to throw a fit about it to get them to respond (and you might), then that's what you gotta do.

Just in terms of "my console is ruined" or "I'm petrified of putting this thing in the dock" though.. eh. Maybe just me. I ride my phones bareback too though, so.

 

[Saint Gregory]

I was resisting but I caved and ordered a screen protector from Amazon. They must be selling millions of them, damn things all seem to be backordered.

Not a good look one when your #1 selling launch accessory is a damn screen protector. You dun goofed Nintendo!

 

[MisterR]

Like I said, they should fix it. And if you have to throw a fit about it to get them to respond (and you might), then that's what you gotta do.

Just in terms of "my console is ruined" or "I'm petrified of putting this thing in the dock" though.. eh. Maybe just me. I ride my phones bareback too though, so.

I have never used a screen saver on my phones either, and amazingly, they don't have scratches and I've never shattered one.

 

[2Smashed4U]

I've got some smudges on the the 2 ends of the screen where the rail things are, at the bottom. Luckily those wipe off. No scratches yet.

From what I can tell, my dock doesn't *seem* bent, but I can't really tell for sure. Hopefully my luck holds up... xd