iPod iPod Video Scratches

[nomad01]

I have a 4G 20G colour iPod, which I carry "naked" in my breast pocket when travelling on the tube listening to it and to date I have no significant scratches of note.

I carried my first nano like that and although I didn't have it for that long, being kept in a suit or shirt pocket didn't harm it at all.

Having said that every iPod I've owned has scratched fairly easily (my 4G ironically got it's screen scratched while I was applying a protective film to the back of the iPod. ) but then again, everything made of shiny polished plastic seems to scratch pretty easily in my hands so I use screen protection.

One question springs to mind though... these nanos that are REALLY badly scratched... I'm assuming that they didn't get that way after one single use so wouldn't you think that most people would think "hell, this thing is starting to scratch, I'd better get a case/cover for it?" and not just subject it to further torture?

Maybe I'm just a bit anal about protecting stuff.

 

[MacTruck]

PACKAGE TAPE!

That Is all I have on my nano, it works great to protect the back and front, no wavy look, and is FREE (got a roll from the UPS store for free).

Exactly. I was just about to post this. Works like a charm.

 

[japasneezemonk]

My 3G and 4G iPods both got faint scratches during the first few hours of use, but so does the bottom of a new cd or dvd. Just get a protector for the things, and if they don't exist, get creative. I had to keep my PSP on a cushined cigar box until i could find a good case and screen protector for it. I know several people with iPods and they all treat their gadgets differently, i have one friend who has an iPod with dry ketchup on the back of it, and he seems to think its fine. My point is that i don't believe everyone treats their iPods like they should, and if so, don't expect much in return.

 

[xyouxfailmiex]

as long as it plays , and the battery doesnt diein an hour like my old mini i could care less what it looks like......beat the lil thing up ...makes it look hipper anyway

 

[qevlhma]

Excuse the cross posting: but this applies here:

I actually do not normally post, but I think this is important.

I like everyone else thought Apple was telling the truth.

I never wanted a nano, but I did want a 5g.

I went out yesterday and bought a 60 GB 5g video enabled ipod.

The actual video is great, the form factor is wonderful.

I kept it in the provided case and I was very VERY careful with it.

Just putting it in and out of the provided case casused MANY scratches on the screen. This is obviously a lot harder to ignore than on a music only player.. as I am trying to watch the thing.

I took it back and swapped it for a new one and bought screen protectors.

I went home and applied them.. setting the ipod on a really lush towl and.. i honestly felt like I was doing surgery.

Here is where it gets bad.

1) the current screen protectors distort the video. (obviously nobody noticed this when it was non vid.. but the protectors that glue on degraded the video quality to the point where I could not deal.

2) By the time I finished the application I noticed that the body of the ipod was scratched TERRIBLY again..

I was being SUPER careful.

My 3g ipod that I have used for 2 years had less scratching than one I had for 1 hour.

This is not only a real problem.. but I just wanted to say that.. I was one of the people calling BS on all of this..

There is without a doubt a real problem.. I hope apple can fix it soon.. I want my 5g back. (I took it for a full refund.)

This is not about a case.. this is not about a protector.. you basically really can just breathe on it and it scrathes and looks like crap.

 

[snowmoon]

please don't cross post to multiple threads

 

[HardHatMac9]

Is it possible the scratching is only happening to the BLACK 5G iPod (Video) and not the White ones?

 

[qevlhma]

Mine was the white 5g, not the black.

I had the two different ones and was SUPER careful.

Both were scratched beyond my 2 year old 3g within hours.

 

[stubeeef]

well just ordered a 5g 30g a couple of hours ago. it is my first iPod, and I should have read this thread first, is this happening from some but not all, ie a vendor issue, or is everyone PO'd?

seperate note is there a good thread going on 5G (assuming that is the latest generation, can't keep up-that is the video iPod right?) accessories?

 

[qevlhma]

Yes 5g is the video ipod.

From what I have been reading on multiple forums; pretty much every one has the exact same issues the nano has.

The materials are identical to the nano.

 

[Ryvita]

Is it possible for the scratched to post some pictures?
Naive as I can be, I can't believe that the iPod is covered with some soft "stuff".
It's about time that mine's getting into my hands...

 

[qevlhma]

I should have taken pictures;

I was so pissed off that I returned both and got full refunds..

I am sure you will be seeing a lot of pictures soon as more people buy the 5g.

 

[kuruptr]

You know, i'm getting pissed because no one has posted any such pictures of this, and i have my freakin 400 dollar ipod sitting in its box waiting for the invisible shield to get here. I want to use it, but this crap is ridiculous! Someone has to have a damn digital camera...

 

[JMW]

IPOD Video Scratches Badly in 24 Hours

Do not buy a new IPOD Video. Within 24 hours the screen was badly scratched and Apple and my retailer have told me its my problem. The IPOD was handled with reasonable care and stored in the case provided with the IPOD. This is really disappointing since before the scratches the screen was sharp and clear.

I already own an older model IPOD and a mini-IPOD and neither has scratched after years of use; the new IPOD video did looks terrible after 24 hours. This will be my last IPOD if Apple doesn't step up and take care of its customers.

 

[clayj]

You know, i'm getting pissed because no one has posted any such pictures of this, and i have my freakin 400 dollar ipod sitting in its box waiting for the invisible shield to get here. I want to use it, but this crap is ridiculous! Someone has to have a damn digital camera...

Well, I *had* a scratched iPod Gen5... but the folks at the Apple Store were nice enough to allow me to exchange it for a new one, which will be remaining in the box until such time as I have a protective case for it.

 

[Star136]

I'm not sure what's going on here but as I posted earlier in this thread my (white) 5g is completely free of scratches - I've used it for several hours everyday both in & out of the supplied case & loads of people have handled it. Is there a batch problem here ?

 

[clayj]

I'm not sure what's going on here but as I posted earlier in this thread my (white) 5g is completely free of scratches - I've used it for several hours everyday both in & out of the supplied case & loads of people have handled it. Is there a batch problem here ?

It's entirely possible.

But it doesn't help that Apple has made a conscious decision to switch from acrylic (hard to scratch, but easier to crack or break) to polycarbonate (harder to crack or break, but MUCH easier to scratch). They've protected a small minority of people who dropped their iPods (acrylic breaks) by exposing everyone to a systemic problem (polycarbonate scratches).

 

[Star136]

It's entirely possible.

But it doesn't help that Apple has made a conscious decision to switch from acrylic (hard to scratch, but easier to crack or break) to polycarbonate (harder to crack or break, but MUCH easier to scratch). They've protected a small minority of people who dropped their iPods (acrylic breaks) by exposing everyone to a systemic problem (polycarbonate scratches).

How have the new Nano's performed - the ones replaced following the origional problems ? In other words did Apple do anything different ? Or was it that these issues were more related to cracks ?

 

[JonHimself]

Not that I'm calling everyone who says it scratches a liar, but I figured I might as well post my experiences with my 5G. I finally got it on Wednesday of this week and after reading about the easy scratching I was terrified to take it out of the box. Eventually I just figured that I bought the thing to use it so I might as well. I took it, being very careful, unwrapped the plastic that says "Do not steal music" and found that (as people have pointed out) the front surface has another cover on it. So I took out the sleeve it came with and put the iPod on the sleeve and sync'd everything from iTunes. Then after playing it through my TV for a while I realized it was time to go to class. I actually stopped and thought, I should just take my 4G monochrome and be on my way and leave this at home. But I didn't, I went and started a playlist up, put the hold on and put it in the sleeve and then into my pocket and off I went. I took it out briefly to turn it off then on again after class and even changed songs a few times. When I got home I took it out and noticed there was a finger print on the back from pulling it out of and putting it back into the sleeve (You have to pinch the iPod to get a hold of it to pull it out of the sleeve) I took the inside of my sweater, breathed on the back of the iPod (like you do with glasses) and ever so softly rubbed the back to remove the finger print. Guess what?!?! It didn't scratch, the print came off and it went back into the sleeve.
Now, the back isn't scratched from it going in and out of the sleeve and the front isn't scratched because I left the plastic on... makes sense to me, right? Even if the back does get scratched, who cares... it's the back. If I ever take the plastic off I'll go buy PDA covers (which are pretty much the same) and replace it... makes sense, once again. I'm not sure how these others ones get so scratched and would also love to see pictures.

 

[kuruptr]

Clayj, did you stick the ipod in your pocket at any point? Was it ever in a confined area? I cant see how something magically deteriorates in the air...

 

[clayj]

Clayj, did you stick the ipod in your pocket at any point? Was it ever in a confined area? I cant see how something magically deteriorates in the air...

Things that touched its screen:

- the included case (which is VERY tight on the 60 GB models)
- an iKlean cloth, onto which had been sprayed some unknown substance that they use at the Genius Bar... I took my iPod in to the Store here so they could see it (they didn't have them yet)... someone dirtied up the screen and the Genius gave me the cloth with the aforementioned sprayed substance on it... this definitely did NOT help (and was why I felt they should replace my iPod)
- a RadTech Optex soft cloth with some Ice Creme (advice I got from them: wipe VERY SOFTLY, zero pressure)

 

[kuruptr]

How long after you bought it did you take off the plastic layer on the front? Did you notice scratches before you put it in the case or after?

 

[clayj]

How long after you bought it did you take off the plastic layer on the front? Did you notice scratches before you put it in the case or after?

Same day. It sat on a soft cloth for a full 24 hours before I ever did anything with it (which was to put it into the included case).

WRT scratches: I didn't fully document the condition of the screen until after I'd brought it HOME from its visit to the Apple Store. Next time, I will be taking photos immediately upon unwrapping, so that I can document any problems and the initial condition of the screen... I don't know if you've noticed, but polycarbonate does interesting things with reflected light... it can look like there are a bunch of linear scratches surrounding any external light source.

 

[kuruptr]

Hmmm, well im guessing that using it with the plastic covering on the front will be sufficient until i get my invisible shield, which god knows when they will ship it, or if its in the mail

 

[coreybox]

i dont think the ipod scratches any more easily than any portable electronic product, its just that it is so shiny and reflective that it is easier to notice.

Anyways i find that the scratches on my ipod (3rd gen) hardly take away from my music listening experience, and ive never not been able to read the screen (unless the sun produces a glare).