Home > Consumer Reviews > 3M Privacy Filter for Widescreen Notebook Computers with a 12.1" diagonally measured display

The 3M screens comes pre-cut for standard sized laptop screens -- mine is a wide format 12.1" screen, but just about all the other standard sizes are available. It attaches easily with five stick-on tabs, and you can remove it easily, although I don't bother to do that. You can see the screen perfectly head-on and maybe 10 degrees to either side, with a very slight loss of brightness. Someone sitting next to you on a plane or at Starbucks sees a black screen. They may wonder what the heck you're doing typing into a laptop that appears to be turned off. (If they're sitting directly behind you, your screen will still be visible.) The value really registered on me last week when I sat next to a guy on a trans-Atlantic flight who didn't have one of these. He spend many hours working on a PowerPoint presentation that was completely visible to me, and which included financial information that was confidential. If you use your laptop to work on private things in a public place, get one of these screens and charge it to your employer.

No more wandering eyes on my computer screen when I travel! This product works perfectky.

This product is remarkable. Discovered my need for it while typing a document on an airplane and I realized the sensitivity of the subject matter and the privacy expectations of my clients. The filter makes the screen black to persons sitting on either side, and does not at all diminish readability for the person using the computer.

I had my doubts about ordering a product like this online (whether I would get the right size or not), but I also couldn't find the PF12.1W size at any of my local stores (I live in a smallish Midwest town). The filter fit my Latitude's screen perfectly, and it works well. My only complaint is that the filter reduces the overall brightness of the display so it's somewhat dim even at the brightest setting, which is a little challenging for my old eyes. Oh well. You can't have everything.

If you often find yourself sitting in close quarters with strangers and don't care to provide them with reading material off of your screen, this is a must. Now rather than discussing what they are seeing, I talk to strangers about why they can't see my screen.