iPod Nano owners in screen scratch trauma

[Nomad559]

iPod Nano owners in screen scratch trauma

People slavering to get Apple's "impossibly small" iPod Nano into their sticky hands may want to pause a moment: those ahead of them in the queue have discovered that it's also unbelievably easy to scratch the screen, nixing its photo-displaying abilities.

Apple's discussion forums are already host to a 188-post thread on the topic, where people have spotted that the plastic used for the screen and front of the product is as sensitive as a Kate Moss sponsor.

Trouble is that a few scratches will quickly make the colour screen all but useless for viewing album art and photos stored on the machine. In which case you might as well have bought the cheaper, screenless iPod shuffle, hmm?

[realisticphish]

1. well, you could have bought the ipod shuffle

if you never wanted to really pick what you listen to. i have a nano, and i have no intention of using it for either of those uses

[emulatorloo]

2. or you could stop putting your nano in your jeans pocket w your car keys!

Apparently this nano crisis was much ago about nothing.

Here's a link where they just destroyed a nano and it kept working!

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/3

Later I'll post a link on the screen non-issue

[Touchdown]

3. I did that with my regular 20g iPod.

...and it scratched the hell out of my screen. So this isn't just the Nano, it's all of them. I;ve seen others in worse shape than mine, but they still work. Buy a protective sleeve with it, and use it.

[emulatorloo]

5. a little brasso or plastic polish will take most of those scratches out

I got a case for my gen 2 ipod that scratched the screen when I put it in!

I used some plastic polish (from automotive store, for motorcycle windshields) and it got rid of it. . .

I'll post a link to a guy's webpage where he demonstrates the procedure if I can find it.

OK HERE!

http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/

[architect359]

4. I wonder...

I don't have a Nano yet (not for want of, er, wanting...) and I'm talking out of my butt here. The company claims that they're using the same material as the regular iPods right? Now, I have a first gen iPod (that 5 gig one) and its been through hell and high water by this point. Yeah, it's scuffed and scratched. I wonder if most of this is perception? Maybe because the screen is smaller and the display correspondingly smaller, that any imperfection made to the surface compounds the effect? Maybe contrast is another issue, the older iPods are monochromatic, basically black on white (well, light grey actually) and it reads better despite scratches and what not. With the Nano, because of the several shades of both grays and color PLUS the small screen - again, the effect is more noticeable.

'Course, this is a perception question. If however, the scratches are gouges and the like, that's a whole different story, I guess. I've tossed mine into the bag all the time with keys, cell phone, etc without any serious gouging issues. Ha, ha - maybe the cosmetic damage is already so uniform after all this time that, what's one more scratch. Anyway, just my 2 cents. But I would like to know what other people think or their experience has been.

[emulatorloo]

6. Link: Restore your iPod nano to new condition with a $4 can of Brasso

http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/

[realisticphish]

7. that is freakin sweet

i'll do that before i put it into its leather case (which is backordered, the fuckers)

[pinniped]

8. Some dude is pulling a class-action lawsuit on Apple for this.

http://kron.com/Global/story.asp?S=4021004

....Tomczak and others are asking for a return of the $25 fee they each paid to return the Nano, plus the original cost -- up to $249 -- and other damages.--

I wonder what other "damages" were allegedly incurred.

[emulatorloo]

9. maybe his car keys were scratched by his nano?

or perhaps he had "emotional distress"

[Rob H.]

10. I just bought my first-ever iPod last night

It's a Nano, fwiw, and I waited 'til yesterday to buy one because the iSkin Duo I ordered finally came in. (Excellent case, btw.) Ironically enough, I put two scuffs on the screen while gently inserting the included plastic screen protector! After that I put the thin plastic cling film that the front of the Nano came covered with back on to protect the screen. (I was concerned enough about scratches that I actually put thin rubber gloves on before I even unwrapped the Nano, that's how careful I was. It also went straight from the box directly into the iSkin.)

I'm a little disappointed that my first-ever iPod had scratches on the screen less than 1/2 hour after opening the box (it's not as if I was deliberately abusing it), but I'll fix it and make sure it doesn't happen again. I'm going to pick up some plastic polish or maybe Brasso, I dunno, to fix the scratches and some PDA/cell phone screen protectors and ditch the IMO worthless screen protector that came with the case.

[realisticphish]

11. This whole thing is pathetic

i carried my nano in my pocket, unprotected (but alone, no keys or change) for 3 weeks, and there were only normal scratches for a plastic object, like on any cell phone. these people are just morons who can't figure out that it may be little, but is a sensitive piece of electronics