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- Your Mac's Specs
- Lenovo Z560 Hackintosh -:- '06 iMac -:- iPod Touch 2ndGen
The steel back of the new iPods is a scratch magnet, and I managed to leave a slight mark on my Classic just by staring at it, so I bought the Invisibe Shield for it. In case anyones thinking about getting one, I'll post my thoughts on it.
If you get one, get the right one - there are separate 80Gb and 160Gb Classic ones as well as the Nano one. UK people can get the from Amazon for around £15. The shield is apparently the stuff they use on the leading edge of helicopter blades - it feels very slightly soft to the touch, as well as pretty tough, and a quick experiment to try and scratch it with my fingernail produced nothing at all.
There are a number of parts to it - one for the back which wraps around the top, bottom and sides; one for the front (with the click wheel and center button cut out separately) and four little bits to fill in the corners left by the back piece. The touch-sensitive clickwheel still operates perfectly even with the shield on it.
Putting them on is easy enough - you get a couple of little bottles of stuff which you spary onto each piece before you put it on, which reduces the stickiness - but it can be tricky lining them up. You can slide them around a bit to position them, then use the supplied squeegy thing to push the fluid out, leaving the cover stuck to the iPod. One thing - follow their advice and spray your fingers with the stuff before handling each piece, it makes it MUCH easier.
The precision isn't perfect - the back piece is okay, and the cut-outs for earphones, hold button and dock connector line up perfectly; the front isn't quite big enough, and I have a 1mm gap along the top-front edge and it doesn't quite meet up with the click-wheel (bear in mind the stuff can stretch very slightly hen it's on, so you might have more luck than me at lining it up). The click-wheel piece has a slight gap around the outer and inner edges, and the button piece is also slightly small.
The worst part was fitting the little corner pieces, which go on the rounded corners of the back plate. They are tear-drop shaped and incredibly fiddly to put on. It can be done, but it's hard to get them to stop sticking to your thumb. You'll need to hold them in place, preferably with a lint-free cloth, until they've stuck enough not to peel up. Take your time with each one, as I kept finding them peeling again a few minutes after fitting. Also make sure they're not overlapping the back piece.
The guide says to leave the cover for 24 hours to bed in properly - I would add that, fo the first hour or so, check it regaulrly to make sure no edges or corners are peeling - I had to revisit with the squeegy thing a few times, particularly on the sides, top and bottom where the air bubbles were difficult to remove.
In all though it's a great purchase, and well worth it. The iPod seems to feel sturdier with this on, although with the front edges around the anodized section not completely protected, I'm still going to get a case to carry it in. But the Invisible Shield is perfect for avoiding the kind of scratches and marks it's likely to get lying on a table or in your pocket.
If you get one, get the right one - there are separate 80Gb and 160Gb Classic ones as well as the Nano one. UK people can get the from Amazon for around £15. The shield is apparently the stuff they use on the leading edge of helicopter blades - it feels very slightly soft to the touch, as well as pretty tough, and a quick experiment to try and scratch it with my fingernail produced nothing at all.
There are a number of parts to it - one for the back which wraps around the top, bottom and sides; one for the front (with the click wheel and center button cut out separately) and four little bits to fill in the corners left by the back piece. The touch-sensitive clickwheel still operates perfectly even with the shield on it.
Putting them on is easy enough - you get a couple of little bottles of stuff which you spary onto each piece before you put it on, which reduces the stickiness - but it can be tricky lining them up. You can slide them around a bit to position them, then use the supplied squeegy thing to push the fluid out, leaving the cover stuck to the iPod. One thing - follow their advice and spray your fingers with the stuff before handling each piece, it makes it MUCH easier.
The precision isn't perfect - the back piece is okay, and the cut-outs for earphones, hold button and dock connector line up perfectly; the front isn't quite big enough, and I have a 1mm gap along the top-front edge and it doesn't quite meet up with the click-wheel (bear in mind the stuff can stretch very slightly hen it's on, so you might have more luck than me at lining it up). The click-wheel piece has a slight gap around the outer and inner edges, and the button piece is also slightly small.
The worst part was fitting the little corner pieces, which go on the rounded corners of the back plate. They are tear-drop shaped and incredibly fiddly to put on. It can be done, but it's hard to get them to stop sticking to your thumb. You'll need to hold them in place, preferably with a lint-free cloth, until they've stuck enough not to peel up. Take your time with each one, as I kept finding them peeling again a few minutes after fitting. Also make sure they're not overlapping the back piece.
The guide says to leave the cover for 24 hours to bed in properly - I would add that, fo the first hour or so, check it regaulrly to make sure no edges or corners are peeling - I had to revisit with the squeegy thing a few times, particularly on the sides, top and bottom where the air bubbles were difficult to remove.
In all though it's a great purchase, and well worth it. The iPod seems to feel sturdier with this on, although with the front edges around the anodized section not completely protected, I'm still going to get a case to carry it in. But the Invisible Shield is perfect for avoiding the kind of scratches and marks it's likely to get lying on a table or in your pocket.
