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iPod Hairline Scratches on iPod Gen5

Stylez Cz said:
The Ipod shouldn't scratch this easily for $300, period.

With price is supposed to come quality. It's an unwritten rule, but it's still a rule. Same applies to other places. You go to a restaurant that charges $100 a plate. It doesn't say it on the menu but the service better be better then Mc Donalds. The ipod gets scratched due to poor design materials. Simple.
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You do know that microfiber is an abrasive, correct? It is not the same as a lint-free cloth and is not meant for the same applications. It picks up dust and debris and becomes extremely hazardous to many surfaces unless it's brand new.

Polycarbonate is a higher quality material than acrylic. With price, you get that quality. The iPod is tougher with polycarbonate. It is harder to chip, crack, shatter. It resists damage from more chemical agents. It provides better insulation against impacts. It is 25 times stronger. It is EASIER to polish properly. It is also somewhat easier to develop minor scratches (but harder to develop more major cosmetic problems). Since acrylic is not substantially harder to scratch and has all of those other problems, it is an inferior choice. The iPod is made to be tough, not scratchproof. It resists major cosmetic damage, but light scratches are easier to come by. Given that they are also easier to polish out, what's the problem? Where's the lacking quality? Why would you rather have acrylic?

That $100 meal offers better service (Apple's customer service is consistently ranked in the top tier), better food (Apple's products are quality and subject to high testing standards), better presentation (Apple's design is an industry leader). But you know what? That china plate scratches a hell of a lot easier and breaks much more readily than the plasticized material at a $5 buffet.
 
matticus008 said:
That $100 meal offers better service (Apple's customer service is consistently ranked in the top tier), better food (Apple's products are quality and subject to high testing standards), better presentation (Apple's design is an industry leader). But you know what? That china plate scratches a hell of a lot easier and breaks much more readily than the plasticized material at a $5 buffet.
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In the example I gave: The ipod itself would be the meal, service would be the quality of the ipod, the china plate would've been the packaging as that's what the meal was delivered on, etc.. Customer service is a different situation. That doesn't come in the box, that's something you only use if you need it. Enough of comparing the Ipod to food I'm getting hungry..

On my other ipods I used eye glass clothes to clean them. Never gave me a problem. A few said even using those have scratched thier new ipods. I didn't clean mine yet or barely use it so I can't say if it's true or not. I'm probably going to end up just getting rid of it today and keeping my ipod photo. At this point i'm not impressed with it. A million hours to convert a video and some of them come out without sound when I could just hotsync the original .mpg file to my treo and straight out play it. It's nice but not worth the hassle to me.
 
Yes we all know polycarbonate is stronger etc.
But I think people are upset that if they treat their ipod with EXTREME care it'll still lose its look pretty quickly. That is NOT the fault of the user.
Of course, If you don't treat your ipod that well and drop it around the place then polycarbonate is a much better option than acryllic.

Basically Apple have helped out the not so careful users at the expense of careful users. Is that right? Well, that's a matter of opinion, but personally I think people who drop their ipod should expect chips in it, whereas normal everyday use shouldn't produce as many scratches as it does now.
I think Apple have made a rare mistake here.
 
todge said:
Yes we all know polycarbonate is stronger etc.
But I think people are upset that if they treat their ipod with EXTREME care it'll still lose its look pretty quickly.
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Ultimately, any iPod scratches up to about the same level in any and all real world situations. Even gentle users like myself (my last cell phone looked better after three years than most of my coworkers' after six months) accumulate a fair number of scratches after a few months. Once there are a healthy number of scratches, it looks about the same forever after. You can tell the difference between a brand new iPod and one that's two months old, but another few months and it's just about impossible to know whether it's six months or one or two years old (unless you know the differing designs ;)).

People seem to want to extend the inevitable, and that's a fair reaction. But buying a couple extra weeks of minimal scratching can't possibly be worth losing all the other advantages, so no, I don't agree it was a mistake or even a hard decision for Apple. Most people just toss them around like keys or cell phones or shoes, and those of us that don't are probably too uptight anyway.

CDs scratch way more easily than any iPod out now (including the nano). I think if there's somewhere to direct scratch-phobia, it's optical media.
 
Everyone I know with an iPod treats it like a baby - people are aware of the cost, (unlike cell phones which are pretty much free) and the fact it looks breakable.

Maybe Apple made this decision with the intention that many people will choose to upgrade if their iPod looks horrible from all of the scratches it's accumulated. As someone else mentioned, this issue now affects everyone, even the most careful whereas before most peoples iPod lasted okay until the battery crapped out.
 
Casio uses scratch resistant material in their G-Shock watches that sell for about $100, or at least the more recent ones. Would it really be that hard/expensive to use on the iPod?
 
angawi said:
Casio uses scratch resistant material in their G-Shock watches that sell for about $100, or at least the more recent ones. Would it really be that hard/expensive to use on the iPod?
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Well considering that polycarbonate costs about $9+ per square foot and the synthetic aluminum oxide "scratch resistant" material costs many dollars per square inch (up to ridiculous sums exceeding $100, depending on the quality), yes. The lens on a watch is one of three potentially expensive parts, and it's a much smaller area than the front of an iPod.
 
One issue noone has addressed is the fact that this is the first ipod that is going to have constant use of the screen-- not just occasional glances for what's currently playing, or to change songs-- the 5G is going to be scrutinized every time a music video or tv show is played. I think that apple is going to wish they'd used the less scratch-prone stuff. At the same time, I recall that there were also plenty of complaints about hairline cracks on the older ipods. I use an iskin on my 3G and I haven't even seen my "naked" ipod in 18 months; don't know if its scratched or not.
 
How come Oakley sunglasses (uses PolyCarbonate lenses, yes all of them) don't scratch so easily?

aw, that sucks. looks like i'm gonna wait til they get this figured out OR buy a white one. but BLACK IS SO COOL.
 
Got rid of my ipod today and actually made money off of it so the 5th Gen is good for something after all. Anyway I'm back to my Ipod Photo now so this is no longer my concern. Good luck to everybody else.
 
Stylez Cz said:
On my other ipods I used eye glass clothes to clean them. Never gave me a problem. A few said even using those have scratched thier new ipods.

A million hours to convert a video and some of them come out without sound when I could just hotsync the original .mpg file to my treo and straight out play it. It's nice but not worth the hassle to me.
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I suspect that people notice the scratches more on the 5G/nano because they either look at the screen more and/or they got the black one where scratches show up more.

All I know is that my 4G iPod scratched quickly until I got my iSkin. I also know that my Nokia 3100 cheapie phone's screen is scratched to all heck, but I put a piece of PDA screen protector on there and it is great. My digital camera's screen is also scratched, and it lives in a case all the time.

I am also surprised that the 5G doesn't support MPEG-1 or -2 natively. Seems like the Broadocm chip should support that.

B
 
This iPod must be in its little case when it's in my pocket, right? Without it I would assume that it would get scratched pretty badly..

Also, there's a fingerprint above my clickwheel... how would you suggest getting rid of it?
 
Lurk said:
This iPod must be in its little case when it's in my pocket, right? Without it I would assume that it would get scratched pretty badly..

Also, there's a fingerprint above my clickwheel... how would you suggest getting rid of it?
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If NOTHING has been rubbed on your iPod's face, I recommend you take a picture (or series of pictures) of it to document what it looks like right now... the best light for documenting scratches is reflecting off the iPod's face into the camera (sunlight works best for seeing scratches, with the iPod shut off).

Beyond that, the only thing I can suggest WRT to cleaning it is that you use something VERY soft and apply almost ZERO pressure. Once you've done that, see if any scratches have appeared. If they do, let us all know what you tried.

A question for anyone who's just acquired a NEW iPod... when you unwrap it, check the screen right away to see how it looks... again, try this in sunlight. See if you see any sort of linear scratches surrounding the light source in the circle... and if they move based on the position of the reflected light source.
 
When I got my iPod, I noticed a small, but noticable scratch to the left of the wheel. It pissed me off, but it wasn't on the screen, so it's not that bad. I'm gonna try some cleaning kit for glasses, hopefully it's soft enough.

Edit:
I just got some baby whipes, dried off most of it, so that it isn't too wet and used almost zero pressure. After, I got some toilet paper and gently whiped it off.. It worked! No extra scratches so far.. :) (I used this to remove finger prints and dirt)
 
Has Anybody used any of these two Cases?

Has Anybody used any of these two Cases for their 4G or Earlier iPods?

PRIE Ambassador - Found here: http://www.tunewear.com/english/product/

and

iTubes - Found here: http://www.ipodstreet.com/ipod-video-5g-30gb.htm


I just ordered my 30GB Black 5Gen iPod and it will be in my hands by Nov 4th So I want to be prepared.

Or if anybody knows of a really great protective case for the 5th Gen Please post them.

TIA,

Lasareath
 
the glasses i wear are made of high index material with a layer of scratch protection on them.. why can't the ipods be made of such a material?
 
CubaTBird said:
the glasses i wear are made of high index material with a layer of scratch protection on them.. why can't the ipods be made of such a material?
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Hey Cuba, I have heard someplace that somebody is working on using the same clear crystals used for watches on a new Cell phone coming out. I think Apple should do something like that, But I think the cost would go way up and the iPod would be Very Heavy.

I've Owned Every iPod Generation except for the 4th and I never really cared about a case, I just wanted to be able to enjoy the great looks of the iPod all the time, even when I was using it.

But now with this Black Finish I'm thinking that maybe it's time to protect it a bit.....

Lasareath
 
ok people...... My dad has a iPod Nano. He bought the INVISIsheild for it. In opinion it's the best protector out there. As for myself, i hate have those clunky cases around, but the thing my dad has it pretty cool. Its like this really really thin peice of special plastic, thats resistant to scratches, and even has limited healing capabilities. Whats more is that if it does get scratched, there is a life time warranty and you can send it back! Someone here already mentioned the shield, but i thought i'd tell you what i thought.



Also, its smooth so that is slides in your pocket as if it wasn't there. I HATED* those thick rubber things people always used to use with their iPod.

I have my 20 gig b&w gen 4 iPod, and its covered with scratches, but i couldn't care less. Just as long as i can read it its good... But now with the video pods, i'd definetely get the sheild because i'd be spending a lot more time looking at the screen.



I can post pics you guys want.


my two bits,

james
 
CubaTBird said:
the glasses i wear are made of high index material with a layer of scratch protection on them.. why can't the ipods be made of such a material?
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The prevailing difference here is that with glasses, the lenses are exactly what makes them expensive. With watches, the face is one of three expensive parts. In both cases, the total surface area to protect is pretty small. With an iPod, you're not talking about the same relationship.

Why are $200 glasses more scratch resistant? Because the lenses cost $100. Why are $600 watches almost entirely scratchproof? Because they can afford to spend $150 on a tough crystal watch face and still make a profit from the product. Right now, Apple is just spending a few dollars on the polycarbonate outer shell (somewhere between about $4 and $8). In order to keep prices low (and they are low) and weight down, they can't spend $50+ on a more scratch-proof material.
 
Sundance Kid said:
ok people...... My dad has a iPod Nano. He bought the INVISIsheild for it. In opinion it's the best protector out there.
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Hey Sundance Kid,

I've seen a review on the INVISIshield here:

http://www.rainydaymagazine.com/RDM...tember2005/RDMGG_InvisibleShieldFirstLook.htm

And it's pretty crazy how you need to put it on, With soapy water, Did your father do it this way also?

I'm just a little scared to put this wet object on my brand new iPod,

Please ask your Dad if it was easy, Also can you ask him does the INVISIshield curl up on the edges?

TIA,

Lasareath
 
Lasareath said:
And it's pretty crazy how you need to put it on, With soapy water, Did your father do it this way also?

I'm just a little scared to put this wet object on my brand new iPod,
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It seems a little intense, but if you've ever done plastic model kits, it's the same thing. As long as you shake off the excess water and allow the nano to dry for a few hours, everything is fine. It's also important that your "soapy water" NOT be foamy water. Use a very small amount of soap and very gently add it to a bowl of water and stir it lightly, waiting for the bubbles to subside before using it.

As long as it's not sopping wet, you won't do any damage. You can use just water with no soap, but then you don't have any give to slide it into place; it'll just stick where you put it.
 
Are there any prodects available that are like the invisible sheild or the overlay plus which JUST cover the screen? I like the idea of the black part being covered up but I do not want the click wheel to be covered by a piece of plastic, it will make it feel all different and the be less sensitive. Any ideas?
 
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