Scratched iPod

Quicklier · 24-10-2005, 09:54 PM

Hi all,
I've got a iPod photo 40GB.
It was a bad decision to buy apple, but I'm stuck with it now. :togo:

The point of the post is that although I'm extremely careful with the unit, it seems to have accumulated its more-than-fair share of scratches (especially on the metal-like back casing).

Apparently a great deal can be done with brasso, but does anyone else feel my pain? I think it's pretty crap thet you have to fork out so much for bad design.

Ready to collect 2cents from everyone.

parawolf · 24-10-2005, 10:03 PM

I've got a 20Gb 3rd Generation - effectively the same design as mine - in fact they are all the same. Mine gets carried with me in my work bag with laptop, keys, screwdriver, papers, books, pens, all loose.

I've got minimal scratches and it is perfectly good. Never regret buying it.

Venomous · 24-10-2005, 10:05 PM

Yeah ive got one also, mine accidently got dragged along the front and back. Long story. And now is scratched to all hell. I tried brasso, as long as ur scratches arent to bad it'll come up alright, but ive done a brushed effect on the back, look on the net and ull see what i mean. As for the front, im planning on painting it soon so yea.

parawolf · 24-10-2005, 10:07 PM

Why was it such a bad idea to buy an Apple product? Just because it has some scratches? Or some other underlying reason?

Venomous · 24-10-2005, 10:10 PM

Nah i love my ipod to bits, couldnt imagine life without it now, i use it everyday when i go to school, isnt a day where i dont have it.

MX837M-GE · 24-10-2005, 11:07 PM

I think scratches are good. Make it look less like every other man and dogs ipod.

So long as it still works, its all good!

The backing on the 20/40gb etc ones do have a reputation for marking and scratching though.

Quicklier · 25-10-2005, 12:33 AM

I regret the apple choice as theres quite a bit out there that is better.
I love being able to carry my music everywhere, but should have saved up and got the iriver. I love the look of that brushed look, which style did you go? Did you leave an image on the back, or did you brush the whole lot... I think I might have a go with the brasso and get some sort of lead case to protect it from the hidden hammers and galvanised nails I must be carrying in my pocket!

Rodp · 25-10-2005, 07:15 AM

Love my iPod, got the 60 and have around 50 hours of Howard Stern Shows on there as well as 5000 songs... also comes in handy at work when I need to transfer some large files from my notebook to a server I happen to be working on, doubles as a nice USB hard drive ;)

parawolf · 25-10-2005, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MX837M-GE

The backing on the 20/40gb etc ones do have a reputation for marking and scratching though.

See i've never heard that. iPod Nano, different story.

The all ipods are made of the same material (apart from the mini). They are all made of hard polycarbonate plastic. This is resistant to cracking, warping, discolouration and other things. However it is not tough - it will scratch.

The difference with the iPod nano is that it is also polycarbonate, but it is thinner, therefore is it more prone to cracking as there is less material there.

The mini's are in a metal shell.

parawolf · 25-10-2005, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicklier

I regret the apple choice as theres quite a bit out there that is better.
I love being able to carry my music everywhere, but should have saved up and got the iriver. I love the look of that brushed look, which style did you go? Did you leave an image on the back, or did you brush the whole lot... I think I might have a go with the brasso and get some sort of lead case to protect it from the hidden hammers and galvanised nails I must be carrying in my pocket!

I got the stock standard 3rd generation 20Gb ipod (last generation with the 4 buttons and click wheel). I love it... I dropped it yesterday on the pavement as it fell out of my pocket. Picked it up, plugged back in my headphones and kept going. No problems and funnily enough, no extra scratches.

Paxton · 25-10-2005, 07:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicklier

Hi all,
I've got a iPod photo 40GB.
It was a bad decision to buy apple, but I'm stuck with it now. :togo:

The point of the post is that although I'm extremely careful with the unit, it seems to have accumulated its more-than-fair share of scratches (especially on the metal-like back casing).

Apparently a great deal can be done with brasso, but does anyone else feel my pain? I think it's pretty crap thet you have to fork out so much for bad design.

Ready to collect 2cents from everyone.

Complain all you like. It is a better product than Creative, and even the new Nano. If you don't like the scratches, use brasso, or Cut and Polish, which will remove the scratches from the front and rear of the iPod.

HLC · 25-10-2005, 08:14 AM

i semi regret buying a 40g 3rd gen ipod.

ive had to reformat the damn thing 3 times within a month because it keeps dying. ive lost many uni assignments. they were backed up, but the new work i did at uni, all lost.

but its still good to jam along with when i practise guitar, im gonna pull the radio out in my car and see if there is an Auxilary in/out plug so i dont need a gay itrip.

parawolf · 25-10-2005, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HLC

i semi regret buying a 40g 3rd gen ipod.

ive had to reformat the damn thing 3 times within a month because it keeps dying. ive lost many uni assignments. they were backed up, but the new work i did at uni, all lost.

but its still good to jam along with when i practise guitar, im gonna pull the radio out in my car and see if there is an Auxilary in/out plug so i dont need a gay itrip.

But having to reformat the thing is not an iPod only problem. I've had USB keys i've had to do that to. I've had IDE hard disks have had to do that to. I think that is a tolerance of manufacturing issue, not an iPod functionality issue. You could have had that with a flash based MP3 player, or a hard disk iPod alternative such as a creative, iriver or many other MP3 players on the market.

I can understand your frustration because i've been there with various storage products - including good ol' floppy disks, cdr's and zip drives.

You could have had that problem with any product apart from an iPod.

Back at uni I learnt the pain of losing documents. So I started emailing them once I finished a session of work so I had redundant copies. Emailed one to my yahoo account, emailed one to my home account (just use cc so you only send one email with the attachment) and had one on my 10Mb uni home directory and I set up a rsync with samba to duplicate my uni home dir space to my login on the unix system (4 times a day). All files would have different revision numbers in the file name and then they were duplicated. That way I would have a minimum of 2 backups (2 at uni, 2 in email). Also the weekly backup of the home directory space would cover that off too.

failing a subject due to not having a backup is a quick and easy lesson to remember.

BJ · 25-10-2005, 02:17 PM

Gee and here i was thinking that the earth quakes and flooding of the world was a bad thing.

**Charliewool** · 25-10-2005, 03:21 PM

What's a iPod?

Venomous · 25-10-2005, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicklier

I regret the apple choice as theres quite a bit out there that is better.
I love being able to carry my music everywhere, but should have saved up and got the iriver. I love the look of that brushed look, which style did you go? Did you leave an image on the back, or did you brush the whole lot... I think I might have a go with the brasso and get some sort of lead case to protect it from the hidden hammers and galvanised nails I must be carrying in my pocket!

I just brushed it all down, didnt do to much, but yea it looks good, on certain angles u can still see all the scratches but most of the time it looks good. I brushed the back and the metal bits on the side. Takes a good hour or so thou. I used like this stuff like that on scourers (Cant remember the name) and some cut back polish.

M14A-Mclaren · 25-10-2005, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawolf

Why was it such a bad idea to buy an Apple product? Just because it has some scratches? Or some other underlying reason?

I think you'll find this is a bit of a anti-apple forum. Their OS atleast.

GreenMachine · 25-10-2005, 04:33 PM

my iPod is maybe 2 months old and looks like it's been towed behind a car. Which it may well be, if I can't find an alternative to using the iTrip in the car. $80 piece of technology that simply does not work!

Perana · 25-10-2005, 04:38 PM

I've had my iPod mini for 6 months now and my gf has had one for about 4 months...... not a scratch on either of them all (and they get used daily), and havent had any problems with either of them at all...

Mike Gayner · 25-10-2005, 04:58 PM

My mate has an iPod with a really nice looking and very effective rubber cover thingy. Looks good and no scratches.

parawolf · 25-10-2005, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenMachine

my iPod is maybe 2 months old and looks like it's been towed behind a car. Which it may well be, if I can't find an alternative to using the iTrip in the car. $80 piece of technology that simply does not work!

I hope you don't blame Apple or the iPod for the fact that you cannot get the iTrip to work as it is not made by Apple but by a company called Griffin Technologies.

And if it does not work (notice your complete negative statement - not "partially works" or whatever) why haven't you returned it to get your valuable $80 back - as it obviously does not function as advertised or suggested.

GreenMachine · 25-10-2005, 05:39 PM

Sadly, the iTrip DOES partially work, or I could've kicked it to the curb long ago... It's current state of functionality is actually more frustrating than it not working at all... 5 mins of crystal clear sound, a burst of static resulting in brown underwear, 11 seconds of crystal clear music, 15 minutes of low quality, low volume music, turn the stereo right up, BANG, it's working again... repeat.

It was a gift, so I am unable to return it. Personally, I blame Bill Gates for the whole debacle - he should've invented something bigger, with a prettier screen, that even neanderthals like myself can use.

parawolf · 25-10-2005, 05:46 PM

Certainly sounds like it is faulty... shame no receipt. :(

Perana · 25-10-2005, 07:00 PM

Ive got the belkin car adaptor... plugs into the dock connector at the bottom instead of the stereo connector and charges at the same time! Works great.. doesnt come close as far as sound quality to my Pioneer adaptor though...

GreenMachine · 26-10-2005, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawolf

Certainly sounds like it is faulty... shame no receipt. :(

No, they all seem to be like that. Probably has something to do with trying to send a decent quality radio signal from something the size of a cigarette, powered by a 9v battery.

Pioneer adaptor for me!

parawolf · 26-10-2005, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenMachine

No, they all seem to be like that. Probably has something to do with trying to send a decent quality radio signal from something the size of a cigarette, powered by a 9v battery.

Pioneer adaptor for me!

Mine works a treat though. Use the iTrip and connect the cig lighter power adapter. and drive to Sydney! I certainly know that volume output that the iPod is set to makes a huge difference. Around 50% gives the most reliable quality output.

XR Martin · 26-10-2005, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quicklier

Hi all,
I've got a iPod photo 40GB.
It was a bad decision to buy apple, but I'm stuck with it now. :togo:

The point of the post is that although I'm extremely careful with the unit, it seems to have accumulated its more-than-fair share of scratches (especially on the metal-like back casing).

Apparently a great deal can be done with brasso, but does anyone else feel my pain? I think it's pretty crap thet you have to fork out so much for bad design.

Ready to collect 2cents from everyone.

Its actually a design fault, theres a law suit about to happen against Apple at the moment.
Do a search on the net.

Mike Gayner · 26-10-2005, 12:28 PM

That lawsuit is just typical American BS, and only applies to the iPod Nano. Have a look at this article

Quote:

Originally Posted by Podcasting

Apple Faces Lawsuit over iPod nano Scratches
October 21, 2005

iPod nano owners angry about what they say is the iPod nano screen’s tendency to scratch easily have filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple Computer, saying they want their money back plus a share of the company’s profits on the music player’s sales.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of nano owner Jason Tomczak and others who have purchased the device. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Tomczak rubbed a paper towel on his nano’s face and "that alone left significant scratches."

The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California in San Jose.

The lawsuit charges that nano screens "scratch excessively during normal usage, rendering the screen on the Nanos' unreadable, and violating state consumer protection statutes… and causing Plaintiff class members to incur loss of use and monetary damages."

Bunch of whingers.

Rodp · 26-10-2005, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenMachine

my iPod is maybe 2 months old and looks like it's been towed behind a car. Which it may well be, if I can't find an alternative to using the iTrip in the car. $80 piece of technology that simply does not work!

Indeed. I bought iTrip with my Ipod but it was absolutely useless. If I found an FM band that was free, by the time I drove down the street I was getting buttloads of crosstalk.

I have a bluetooth carkit which I thought was taking up the AUX port in my BA. I walked into the office with my Ipod and iTrip when one of the guys asked why I bought that heap of junk for.. he then showed me my free AUX port. Thankfully Hardly Normal was sympathetic when I returned the iTrip.

Kapn_Kiwi · 26-10-2005, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paxtonandrew

It is a better product than Creative

Free leather carry case and mine has no scratches at all. Only problem is the unit itself is quite large.
If you're worried about LCDs getting scratches there are plenty of stores that sell clear plastic to cover LCDs for Gameboys/PSPs that you can apply.