Help!

[MerryBlooms]

I want to buy personal touch-screen pens for myself and a few other germ phobics to carry in our wallets. I'm seriously creeped out having to use the public stylus and touchpads...

Will these work for stores and such?

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Motorola-Blackberry-Playbook-Bluecell/dp/B00575TN42/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1319829912&sr=1-1

[OriginalGeek]

1. Most of those public touch screens will work with your finger so

pretty much any stylus will work. Nothing electronic or special about them other than they are made to not scratch the surface of the screen.

And you are probably prolonging your life. I have seen some naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasty shit on those screens.

[MerryBlooms]

2. Friends and family make fun of me for writing checks

instead of using my debit card. I haven't used a public pen in probably 20 years, it truly just grosses me out to use the touch pads and public stylus.

Thanks for the info; I'm finalizing my order.

[OriginalGeek]

3. I'm not saying you would laugh at them

when they are in the hospital
clinging to life
and desperately fighting off staph
and strep
and mononucleosis.
and babeosis.
etc...



but you could.
;o)


(I work in IT. I bring alcohol wipes with me every time I visit a user's computer to do anything. They think "Oh that's nice - he's fixing my thing and making everything look new!" and I let them believe that is all I'm doing. We know better though.)

[MerryBlooms]

4. +++ I would never laugh at them, but I'm good with the -

'I told you so!'. =P I haven't had a cold or flu for eons, and I intend to do my best to keep it that way. We have a Pertussis outbreak in the Chicagoland area right now, and let me tell ya, I'm SO not signing up for that shit!

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. Only on SOME of them and increasingly the newer ones it will NOT work.

I know that on the Ingenico terminals, it will NOT work.

On the older terminals at Lowes, you can use one of the tablet pens. And in some other places. But an increasing number of the newer pads, it won't work and you'll have to use their stylus.

I did find a workaround at the grocery store here that uses those. If you swipe your card and press "Approve" then hit "cancel" it will generate a paper receipt for you to sign. I haven't tried that anywhere else though. And of course if you're a germophobe, you still have to press the buttons on the screen.

It is not that those tablet stylus are any different from one another. On the terminals that it does work, you can use the back of a regular pen, your finger nail or anything else. On the terminals that it doesn't work, it has to be their stylus that is connected with the wire.

[MerryBlooms]

6. crap

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. It's still a worthwhile thing to get IMO.

I'd get the skinnier ones though that look like stylus'
Because those ones in the amazon pic look like pens.
And if you go to sign it with one of those they may think you're signing with a pen and freak out.

With my last phone I used them to write on the screen. I think I got them from Staples. Super skinny. And they were cheap.

[MerryBlooms]

9. K, thanks. n/t

[OriginalGeek]

10. good to know!

I haven't run across those yet (or just didn't notice them if I did).

I wonder if merchants who use that kind provide an alternative for people who don't want to touch their nasty shit. I've seen people let their booger eatin' kids touch everything up there.

[seabeyond]

8. wear gloves? nt

[hobbit709]

11. How do you deal with actual money?

open doors in public places, use a handrail, breathe unfiltered air, etc.

[MerryBlooms]

12. I carry Purell and paper towels with me.

And, I avoid handrails and public lavatories... I know, it sounds totally irrational, but it's just me. :(