Does the "fully laminated display" of the iPad Air 2 mean a screen protector is unnecessary? Cuz one thing I do not love about the screen protectors I have used with the good ol' iPad 2, is applying them in a 150 year old house full of dust and cat hair. Impossible to not have little particles float down and get between the screen and the protector as I put the the thing on. So it always has these little bubbles. It doesn't hinder funtion or anything, it just sort of takes the sparkle off my utter thrill at having a iPad.

Ok, it makes it harder to pretend I'm using a PADD.

The ipad Air 2 is supposed to have a coating that renders its screen less reflective, for outside viewing and a more matte appearance without sacrificing the resolution. It'll be up to the user to determine if it works for them; I've found that my iPhone 6 Plus is less reflective and less irritating in terms of seeing my own face, but I still am considering a cover for spills and the like.

One thing I've done, Wind, is take the device and the protector to Apple or Best Buy or whoever retails in your area (alternatively purchasing it there) and asking the staff to apply the protector for you. Then you're in a relatively clean environment with someone who's applied screen protectors many times.

Windy a screen protector is still recommended. It's a little pricer but the ZAGG Glass Shield feels like the Gorilla Glass the iPad screen is made of it and it's easier to install.

Best Buy will install it for you, there's a fee but if they screw up the install you don't have to pay for another protector (at least that's how it is at my store).

The glass is also more smudge resistant.

I have quit putting on screen protectors. Have not noticed any problems.

Thanks, everyone. I'll have to figure out what I want to do.

I've never used a screen protector on any of my iDevices and haven't had problems. My iPhones have all lived in my jeans pocket with all sorts of keys, and I work on some pretty inhospitable job sites.

I've never found any need for a screen protector, but if it helps sway you that way, I do find the latest generation to be noticeably less smudgy than previous iDevice screens.

I am also in camp Never Bothered Screen Protecting. I wear glasses all the time so I always have a cleaning cloth somewhere in my purse.

Talk to me about sound bars, people. My Vizio TV is exactly 3" from the cabinet it's sitting on to the bottom of the screen (not the bezel, the screen), so most sound bars are too big to put in front of it. Would I get decent audio if I mounted it to the wall above/behind the TV? Should I be looking at a "sound base" instead, and if so is there one that fakes surround sound pretty well?

I have this Vizio soundbar: [link] . It is recommended by Wirecutter as well as Lifehacker, though apparently has been updated with a more expensive version that I don't know about. The subwoofer connects wirelessly to the main bar and the satellite speakers connect to that and give pretty darned good surround sound through the optical input - luckily, my (and I assume your) Vizio TV will stream the full surround signal from any HDMI input through the optical port, which not all do - my old, more expensive Samsung TV did not.

I think it would work if mounted above/behind the TV. My dad has a soundbar mounted up above his that works fine.

I love it. I replaced a $1000+ surround system with it to slim down the space taken up (and because I don't really watch as many movies as I once did). The sound quality is definitely less than what I had, but pretty amazing for the price and more than good enough. I also have a Vizio TV, and I can say that this soundbar (and I assume all Vizio ones) will work perfectly with your Vizio TV - in fact, if set up to do so the volume buttons on your TV remote will control the volume on the soundbar directly, and volume-up can turn it on. A nice trick, especially if you're not one for universal remotes. The only problem I've had with it is that every so often the subwoofer gets confused and starts pumping at full volume, making everybody sound like James Earl Jones. I can easily fix it by turning the sub volume up then down one click, but it was weird and confusing for a while.

The reviews on the Vizio Sound Stand [link] are good, too. I doubt it's the world's best at pseudo surround sound, but it's a very good price, and even though I bought one that has surround speakers I really do wonder how much I'd actually care if it didn't have them. Depends on the user and room size I suppose. It's a shame Vizio doesn't offer a sound stand that pairs with a sub and satellites like mine, as it's a cool feature that not many competitors offer.

Edited to add: I just noticed that your problem isn't space to put the bar, just that it would block the TV. Mine did that too. I just put the TV up on some books behind the soundbar - the bar hides the books. In some ways sound stands are supposed to be better than soundbars - bigger soundstage, larger speakers, thus higher quality - but if you decide you want a soundbar that is a workable solution to the height issue.