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AMD Hates Laptop Stickers As Much As You Do

pickens writes "David Pogue writes in the NY Times that when you buy a new Windows PC, it comes festooned with stickers on the palm rests: one for Windows, one for Skype, one for Intel, one for the laptop company, maybe an Energy Star sticker and so on. 'It's like buying a new, luxury car — and discovering that it comes with non-removable bumper stickers that promote the motor oil, the floor mat maker, the windshield-fluid company and the pine tree air freshener you have no intention of ever using,' writes Pogue. But the worst thing is that when you peel them off, they shred, leaving adhesive crud behind. 'When you've just spent big bucks on a laptop, should you really be obligated to spend the first 20 minutes trying to dissolve away the sticker goop with WD40?' But AMD has a solution. Starting next year, AMD will switch to new stickers that peel off easily, leaving no residue; after that, it's considering eliminating the sticker program altogether."

47 of 597 comments (clear)

  1. WD40 by mcgrew · · Score: 5, Informative

    Baby oil works better.

    1. Re:WD40 by nschubach · · Score: 5, Informative

      Goo Gone... works for everything I throw it on. (sometimes even paint...)

      --
      Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
    2. Re:WD40 by Ark42 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Watch out for glossy "piano finish" surfaces like found around many newer TVs, monitors, and laptops. Goo Gone will actually smear the glossy surface as well as remove any gunk, leaving you with basically melted plastic that hardens into dull rough matte plastic after a short while. My 46" LCD looks great after I removed some stupid sticker from the side of it ::rolls eyes::

    3. Re:WD40 by alphax45 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Blow dryer is the best. Melts the glue and no residue. My dad is a truck driver and this is what he use to use to remove the decals when he switched companies. Works for every sticker I have ever tried so far.

      --
      K Man
    4. Re:WD40 by Slightly+Askew · · Score: 3, Funny

      Really? I read it 14 times, each time with a different voice, gradually getting faster and faster.

      --
      Public use of any portable music system is a virtually guaranteed indicator of sociopathic tendencies. -- Zoso
    5. Re:WD40 by maxwells_deamon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Peanut butter is the best stuff for removing sticky. The mix of polar and dipolar in a thick paste will cut everything in a mild way. Then sponge off with soapy water.

      Really, it works

    6. Re:WD40 by pspahn · · Score: 3, Interesting

      When I lived in Tahoe, we would go up to Boreal Ski Area in the late afternoon and ask the people leaving for their tickets. Crank the heater up in the truck and put the ticket+wicket over the heat for a few minutes and you could peel it right off and stick it on a new wicket and ride for free when the mountain was open at night.

      I'm sure that by now they use those perforated tickets, so probably not feasible anymore. Good times while they lasted.

      --
      Someone flopped a steamer in the gene pool.
    7. Re:WD40 by Ozan · · Score: 3, Informative

      Nooo! It contains acetone or ethyl acetate, both of which are good solvents for most kinds of plastic, like your laptop handrest. It can seriously f%$# up the surface, making it look worse than with stickers.

      On metal or glass it works great though.

    8. Re:WD40 by mark72005 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nota Bene: You should not make a great breakfast with it after cleaning gadgets.

    9. Re:WD40 by Carnivore · · Score: 3, Informative

      I hate stickers with an OCD fervor, so I have become an expert at removing them. I have found that one of the most effective methods is to use the adhesive itself--most of the time when you peel a sticker off, some of the adhesive stays on the sticker. If you put that patch on the adhesive that stayed on the surface and make a small twisting motion, you can remove the residue quickly and without solvents or much heat build up.

    10. Re:WD40 by blair1q · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nose oil.

      No, seriously.

      Peel off as much of the sticker as you can, preferably until there's just a schmutz of glue left, then rub your finger on the side of your nose and use that to loosen the rest of the glue. After a little rubbing, you can wipe it all away with a cloth or towel.

      It's free, all-natural, always handy, and something you want to get rid of anyway.

  2. buy a mac by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    us mac users have never had this problem.

  3. Two words: rubbing alcohol by uptownguy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A bottle of rubbing alcohol costs 99 cents. Lasts for years. A tiny dab on a microfiber cloth and that sticky residue is history. Takes about 30 seconds. Leaves your laptop looking nice and bare.

    --


    I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
    1. Re:Two words: rubbing alcohol by Chemicles · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Agreed. The reason WD40, baby oil, and rubbing alcohol all work great (as opposed to water) is because they are much more non-polar than water and dissolve the adhesives and other goop from the stickers much more easily. Anyone remember "like dissolves like" from general chemistry?

      Rubbing alcohol is my preferred goop cleaner because, as the parent says, it's cheap and lasts for years.

    2. Re:Two words: rubbing alcohol by IICV · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And if you put it in a spray bottle (99 cents) and mix it with a lighter (another 99 cents) you've got hours and hours of entertainment! The fire is relatively low-temperature, so you can do stupid shit like put some on your hand and light it. Burns really cleanly too, so it doesn't set off most fire alarms.

      And if you put some rubbing alcohol into one of those 5 gallon drums, shake it up to disperse the stuff well, then drop a match into the throat you'll get a pretty awesome gout of flame. Just, you know, make sure you're not aiming it at anything you care about.

      Basically, pyromania knows no bounds with rubbing alcohol.

    3. Re:Two words: rubbing alcohol by IICV · · Score: 5, Funny

      Of course not! Try it in someone else's home, your shit is flammable.

  4. Not on Mac? Really? by e065c8515d206cb0e190 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Try to remove that huge apple that says "I overpay my hardware" with WD40...

    1. Re:Not on Mac? Really? by mark72005 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Apple makes money because people don't buy hardware specs, they buy function.

      And aside from that, a PC running Windows plus a bunch of YourPCNameHere bloatware plus all the requisite security software might have better specs, but it may or may not run any faster.

      "A GB is a GB" is a myopic way to look at things.

    2. Re:Not on Mac? Really? by NiceGeek · · Score: 3, Informative

      "1) Buy Laptop.
        2) Install Linux."

        3) Pray that all the features of the laptop are supported under Linux (not a troll - I have a Toshiba NB 205 Netbook that I'd love to run Linux on but there isn't a single distribution out there that supports all the features, at least not reliably or without heroic efforts)

       

    3. Re:Not on Mac? Really? by DeadboltX · · Score: 5, Funny

      You may not be able to remove it with WD40 but you can sure cover it up with a WD40 sticker

  5. Not just laptops.. by slashkitty · · Score: 4, Funny

    They have them on desktops too, even some monitors have obtrusive logos. One of the things that Apple got right with their computer products.

    --
    -- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
  6. I like the stickers by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Makes me feel like a NASCAR driver. Vrooom...vroooom!

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    1. Re:I like the stickers by Haffner · · Score: 5, Funny

      left turn! left turn! left turn!

      --
      "Going to war without the French is like going deer hunting without your accordion." ~General Norman Schwarzkopf
  7. Stickers by 0racle · · Score: 4, Funny

    My MacBook had nothing of the like. It just didn't.

    --
    "I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
  8. Next step: by poptones · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wow great! So I can buy a shiny new laptop and not have to spend the first twenty minutes of its life removing the ugly mess of stickers that the manufacturer seems obliged to festoon upon its creation? Or no, I just have one fewer to remove because AMD is just one company (or two, I suppose, depending on the motherboard chipset and graphics subsystem). So all that would be left for many is that ugly "Windows" sticker...

    Wonder if AMD will do anything about that? Sure would be nice to be able to buy a shiny new laptop and not have to spend the first hours of its new life formatting and loading an operating system that doesn't suck.

    Ah, who am I kidding? It could come loaded with the latest and greatest uber-Ubuntu and I'd still reload it just because it's not partitioned the way I want it...

  9. This is one place Apple has it right by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is one place where apple really shines. You buy a new machine, it comes with no stickers on it. It looks really sleek. No stickers, nice clean lines, really helps the machine look nice. I don't know why none of the PC makers can do this. Make a machine that is esthetically pleasing, and don't mess it up with stickers. Also, does anybody find it odd how they related it to cars? When you buy a car, it has the manufacturer's logo, possibly a hood ornament, the type of car (sunbird, tempo, Ranger), the model of the car (SX,ZX,whatever). Also you get the dealership slapping their name on it too. Often the dealer will not only put their name on the body of the car, but also around the license plate. It's basically a billboard for the manufacturer and the dealership. I kind of equate it to buying a $50 t-shirt with some designer name printed across the front. Basically you're a walking billboard. I would love to be able to buy a car with no markings at all on it.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  10. That's why by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's why I buy Apple, I hate branding so much that I am happy to report it came out of the package without stickers marking my allegiance to one company or another. It also comes with this cool light on the back in a funny shape that's not really useful, but I'm sure I'll figure it out its purpose someday. It's really cool, you guys should try it.

    --
    Qxe4
    1. Re:That's why by Atriqus · · Score: 4, Funny

      I buy Apple

      ...

      I hate branding

      *Head Explodes*

      --
      Hey, look! It's Bono's brother.
    2. Re:That's why by men0s · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It shouldn't have exploded but merely felt a nice breeze as something went sailing over your head.

  11. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by NReitzel · · Score: 5, Informative

    For those of you who prefer completely natural cleaners, d-limonene (orange oil) works wonders. Goo Gone is limonene diluted with a (cheaper) petroleum solvent.

    The only downside for pure citrus orange oil is that your laptop may smell like oranges for days.

    --

    Don't take life too seriously; it isn't permanent.

  12. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by ThatMegathronDude · · Score: 5, Funny

    The only downside for pure citrus orange oil is that your laptop may smell like oranges for days.

    That's a downside?

  13. I wouldn't mind if they. . . by JSBiff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I wouldn't mind a single technical information summary sticker on the underside of the laptop. You know, where the manufacturer typically puts a sticker with serial number, model number, etc.? Something which is sort of the computer equivalent of the 'nutrition facts' box on food packaging, which included info about:

    * CPU make/model/revision/speed/number of cores.
    * Amount of RAM originally installed
    * List of built-in devices (wifi chip, ethernet chip, audio chip, GPU, memory card reader chip, etc)

    Only thing is, I think putting all that info on a sticker, in text large enough to read, would lead to a giant sticker, which might interfere with things like removable batteries, removable access panels (e.g. the panel you normally remove to access the memory slots, etc), cooling vents, removable drives, etc, which are all usually accessed on the bottom of the laptop.

  14. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by hedwards · · Score: 3, Funny

    It makes a certain black man get confused and think that there's a kid in trouble.

  15. Stickers are everywhere! Worst Experience? by NEDHead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Perhaps the most annoying sticker placement I have ever encountered is on the mating surface of copper plumbing fittings. Makes a 10 second cleaning job into a five minute ordeal. Any other sad or funny stories?

  16. Re:The solution. by courteaudotbiz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    No, I'm gonna spend 20 minutes sandblasting them.

  17. Re:I like stickers by Hatta · · Score: 5, Funny

    I peel them off and put them on other things. My Atari 2600 has Intel inside.

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  18. Business laptops by mehrotra.akash · · Score: 4, Funny

    Perhaps you could look at business laptops, generally they only come with 1 or 2 stickers

    1 for the Chipset/Processor
    other for the OS(If it was included)

    and, removing the stickers on thinkpads is extremely easy, run Prime 95 + Furmark for 15-20 minutes, use TPFC to disable the fan. Soon the sticker area heats up enough that you can just peel it off with minimal residue..

    And, its unlikely that a short burst of high temp's will damage the processor in any way

  19. "Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" by DrJimbo · · Score: 4, Funny

    My kitchen garbage has been adorned with this sticker for over a decade.

    --
    We don't see the world as it is, we see it as we are.
    -- Anais Nin
    1. Re:"Designed for Microsoft Windows XP" by Radish03 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I tried that with a Vista sticker on my toaster. The day after putting the sticker on, the toaster died.

      I suspect the toaster took it as a threat and just offed itself, lest it suffer a worse fate.

  20. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by N0Man74 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I prefer to use C4. I prefer the smell of almonds to oranges.

  21. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    It smells like victory.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  22. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by Thaelon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Whether or not it's "natural" depends entirely on your definition of the word.

    Are we going to start calling citric acid artificial because a lemon tree made it? Or call honey artificial, because a bunch of bees made it?

    We're just as a part of nature as bees and lemon trees, so why is stuff we made suddenly unnatural?

    Moreover, since it's completely arbitrary, why does it matter where we draw the line?

    It's a completely useless definition. That is, unless you want to make millions off of people who think "natural" things are better than "unnatural" things. Barnum called those people "suckers".

    --

    Question everything

  23. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by ultranova · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We're just as a part of nature as bees and lemon trees, so why is stuff we made suddenly unnatural?

    Mainly because our minds can invent new things faster than our bodies can adapt to them, thus something invented by us is more likely to cause serious trouble for our metabolism than something that bees or trees invented millions of years ago.

    --

    Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  24. Re:I like stickers by Fumus · · Score: 4, Funny

    When the "Designed for Windows" sticker came off by itself after two years of using my ThinkPad, I put that sticker on my wall, next to the window.

  25. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    What about his left C4?

  26. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by SEE · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Modern staple foods are almost universally descended from plants that were deliberately exposed to high levels of artificial ionizing radiation or chemical mutagens in order to induce mutations. Mankind induced the mutations, then mankind artificially and selectively bred the mutations into the food supply. Outside a few minor heirloom varieties, there is virtually no maize, wheat, rice, or soy on the planet which isn't the result of these artificially-induced alterations of the plant genomes.

    Which is to say, no, there is almost nothing you can eat "which is part of the ecosystem without human intervention." It's all been meddled with.

  27. Re:Goo Gone or limonene by totally+bogus+dude · · Score: 5, Funny

    These days most of the babies used to make baby oil are kept in cages and fed a genetically-engineered diet which is designed to greatly boost the production of the fats which most of the oil is squeezed from. So it's not really "natural" anymore; as they saying goes: garbage in, garbage out.

    If you can, try to find baby oil which is squeezed from organic free range babies. It has a much higher quality due to the more varied diets and additional nutrients they get from natural foraging behaviour; however it's a fair bit more expensive and many stores don't carry it at all. I think the average free range baby yields about 3 litres of baby oil when squeezed; you get around 10L from a battery-farm baby.