iPod nano Owners In Screen Scratch Trauma

wellington map writes "TheRegister reports iPod nano users have discovered that it is unbelievably easy to scratch the screen, which quickly makes the colour screen all but useless for viewing album art and photos stored on the machine. Apple's discussion forums are already host to hundreds of threads on this topic."

Comments

When will people learn?

[jrockway]

Always wait until the second generation to buy from Apple. This has been true for years, and it is apparently continuing. iPod nano 2.0 will cost less, have more space, and probably a better screen.

It hardly ever pays to be an early adopter. Let other people work out the bugs, then enjoy the fruits of their labor :)

(Posted from a Rev. 2 15" Powerbook G4 :)

Re:When will people learn?

[jrockway]

I always put my 4G iPod into its own pocket but that thing is so scratched I don't even want to look at it. So if you were to ask me, I would say that iPods are not scratch resistant.

I realized that as soon as I opened the box, though. Something that shiny isn't going to stay shiny unless you put it in a locked glass case and never touch it. It's a music player (with a 1.5yr life thanks to the battery), people, not a Lost Relic Of The Past. As long as mine plays music, I'm happy.

If you want durability, get a mini. Mine still looks new, and I certainly don't go out of my way to not abuse it.

Re:When will people learn?

[pgpckt]

I see that we are now on stage 22 of the apple product lifecycle, to wit:

The obligatory "I'm waiting for Rev. B" discussion appears in the Mac forums. People who've been burned by first-generation Apple products open up their old wounds and bleed their tales of woe. Unsympathetic technophiles fire back with, "if you can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen. pussy." Everyone has this stupid argument for the twenty-third time.

http://www.misterbg.org/AppleProductCycle/

Re:When will people learn?

[EpsCylonB]

It hardly ever pays to be an early adopter. Let other people work out the bugs, then enjoy the fruits of their labor :)

Of course if everyone did this there wouldn't be a second generation.

I guess we all do owe the early adopters some sympathy.

Re:When will people learn?

[Anonymous Coward]

You're right - I totally can't read the 1:47 on the screen.

OK, seriously, WTF did you do to this? You scratched the hell out of the WHEEL... Which takes some effort.

Was this a diamond based candy wrapper, or what?

I got the nano shortly after it came out... and yeah, it has a few scratches, but you know what? I got it because I wanted a small form factor that had 4GB of non HD based memory. It sits in a pocket a good chunk of the time, and yeah, it gets a small scratch if you sneeze, but it's NO worse than anything else that's shiny. LIke the typical cell phone that ends up in someones pocket.

I'm an apple person, but I don't get you guys at all. This would be like getting a new car and then bitching that you need a new paint job when something incidentally scratches the paint. Take some damed responsibility, know that the "new car feel" is going to wear of very quick, and suck it up. Use it for what it was meant for.

Unfortunate really

[megla]

You'd think with all Apple's advertising resources, they'd have had "Tim from marketing" put it in his pocket for a day just to test it.
Obviously not. It does seem something of an oversight to launch the product way before the covers and cases are available too. I wonder how long it'll be before we see a 2G nano with modified screen coating...

Recall? BWahahaha.

[Anonymous Coward]

>Apple is going to have to announce a full recall

More like they'll write a support entry of the form "Don't scratch your iPod Nano. HTH. HAND."

Remember, Apple can do no wrong. If this statement feels odd to you, please report to your local Apple Store for re-indoctrination ASAP!

CAUTION!

[Kjuib]

There is Malicious Code in Parents Sig. Conforming to his sig will cause chaos to your web browser and all unsaved work will be lost.*

* Keep out of reach of children.

Apple Fanboys

[jdc180]

Read through those comments, some of them are just insane. Like one said they kept it in their pocket with a travel pak of tissues. The reply was "That would mark it no problem.... I think it is just something we will have to live with."

Another one says "I am not certain apple is responsible for that... freedom of choice"

My bet is that steve jobs could kill a baby with an ibook, and they'd defend him.

Re:Apple Fanboys

[BasilBrush]

I only touched my Nano whilst wearing white cotton gloves. Unwrapped the shiney thing from it's packaging and wrapped it in bubble wrap and cotton wool, then put it in a titanium case, and left it locked in my desk drawer for 24 hours. When I came back to it, it was horribly scratched. Who'd have believed it possible?

Re:Apple Fanboys

[Anonymous Writer]

My bet is that steve jobs could kill a baby with an ibook, and they'd defend him.

Current iBooks are equipped with Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor to instantly stop hard drive motion and protect data upon impact, so at least your data will be safe.

Polycarbonate scratches easily

[Ancil]

Despite being incredibly strong, polycarbonate is actually quite soft. You can try this yourself. Take a pair of polycarb safety glasses.. These things can stop a shotgun pellet, but you can easily scratch them by just using the edge of a quarter.

They should have used a more brittle (but harder) acrylic for covering an LCD screen. It's not like it has to be particularly strong.

Apple Could Shit on a Pie Plate - I'd Still Buy It

[Anonymous Coward]

I will continue to support Steve Jobs in all his endevours. At least it's not a Microsoft product. I'd rather push an Apple than drive a Microsoft.

Wrong

[PeeAitchPee]

iPod Nano found to be as scratchable as all previous generations! President Bush will be addressing the nation on this crisis within the hour!

Nope, there will definitely be a delayed response, because as some have already pointed out here before, George Bush hates the Mac people.

Toothpaste to the rescue!

[Snosty]

A response to this comment of mine about how to get rid of the scratches suggested toothpaste. I tried it and it actually works reasonably well with a bit of effort. After having scratched the front on the first day and subsequently used toothpaste to fix that I've been more careful since and have not noticed anything really since then.

Re:Toothpaste to the rescue!

[Apathetic1]

You may also want to try Novus plastic polish. My dad bought some to use on the tables of our pinball machines and it works beautifully. My sister had a car accident that left a scratch all the way down the side of our Saturn - my dad used Novus on it and it's barely noticeable now.

Brasso

[BlightThePower]

Use Brasso, the light abrasive normally used for cleaning brass. A little Brasso will bring a scratched screen up nicely and will also do for the back of the iPod as well. Don't be conned into buying more expensive preparations and products that people are trying to sell.

Re:Testing

[RradRegor]

That's what you'd think. But when I saw the development schedule for the Nano, I understood how something like this could have happened. I think it was months, not years they've been working on this. Less than a year is not enough time to do a lot of development, not to mention field testing. Its an amazing accomplishment to get a high volume product to market that fast, and things like this screen problem are the price you pay for taking that risk.

We can't!

[Anaphiel]

We can't post huge pics! The nano is impossibly small!

Re:Blame yourself for wear & tear.

[Tibor the Hun]

I only remove the iPod from this protection when it is in the dock for syncing/charging. And I remove it slowly.
...my prescioussssss...

Enough bitching. Practical advice... try Brasso.

[John_Booty]

Alright, so the screen is easily scratchable. Enough with the bitching and finger pointing... what can you do about it?

Try Brasso. It's available in your supermarket and costs $3-$4 for what will amount to a lifetime supply if you're just cleaning your iPod.

I managed to drop my iPod Nano on asphault the day after I got it. The player skidded and bounced on the asphault and had some rather nasty scratches on both sides. Naturally, the player still worked perfectly since it doesn't have any moving parts but it looked like hell. Brasso worked like a charm. Here's what you do...

1. Put a drop or two of Brasso on a soft cloth
2. Use a lot of elbow grease to buff out the scratches. Brasso isn't a magic potion; it's actually a very gentle abrasive. You are effectively resurfacing the iPod so it's going to take a few minutes of work.
3. Ta-da!

Now, since you're effectively resurfacing the iPod, I imagine that there is a finite amount of times you'd want to subject your iPod to this. It will leave your iPod looking great though.

I've tried this on my iPod Nano (front and back) as well as my 3g 20GB iPod. Worked great. I imagine it would work on other models as well with the possible exception of the aluminum iPod Minis since their surface differs from the polycarbonate used on other models. Should work, but I don't know.

Use Clickie Eraser

[zentec]

One of those Clickie white latex erasers will remove the scratches.

Re:What mini?

[Jasin Natael]

I'm looking forward to the Rolex(tm) Edition iPod nano, with 10k gold-plated clickwheel, obsidian faceplate, and quartz lens (the back will probably be polished titanium). It'll weigh about 2-3 times what the nano does now, and cost ten times as much, but it won't scratch.

Seriously, guys. It's a cheap gadget. It's a REALLY cheap gadget. Last time I checked, you couldn't BUY removable flash memory for the same $/GB as the 4GB nano. Unless you're in the Vertu (fancy-schmancy cellphones) crowd, just expect that an uber-cool gadget that you can afford might have a few flaws. It's still a good value on the grounds of functionality. If you want a super-flashy fashion statement, either wait for another vendor to copy what Apple has done, or protect what you have a little better.

--Jasin Natael