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Product: Scuff/scratch protection for 5G iPod

Minimum Requirements: 30 or 60GB 5G iPod

Retail Price: $24.95

Availability: Out now

When I review an iPod case, I always look at three elements: protection, functionality and aesthetics. A perfect iPod case would balance the three, but many focus on just one or two. Those can still work quite well, it's just a matter of what you want from an iPod case.

With the invisibleSHIELD, however, I'm abandoning that approach. I have to, because there's no pretense of aesthetics or functionality implied here. There is no design to the invisibleSHIELD. It's meant to be invisible, as you've hopefully figured out. The result of using this device is that your iPod looks like your iPod, albeit a bit duller. There's no functionality of which to speak, because your iPod works like your iPod did before you applied the invisibleSHIELD. No ports are blocked, no controls are covered.

So, that leaves protection. Even there, the invisibleSHIELD isn't the best choice on its own. If you drop your iPod, the invisibleSHIELD will do little to prevent damage. There's no padding here, and there are no attachments to prevent such a drop from happening. Why even bother with an invisibleSHIELD, then? You ask a nano owner.

The sole function of the invisibleSHIELD is to keep your iPod looking shiny and new. Apply this, and your iPod will be forever free of dust and greasy fingerprints that show up after just a few minutes of use. More importantly, the invisibleSHIELD offers incredibly strong and reliable protection from scratches and scuffs, which is a much more common problem with iPods than are drops.

The invisibleSHIELD itself is made of material "...originally designed for the military to protect the leading edges of helicopter blades from sand, dirt, weather and other corrosive materials at hundreds of miles an hour." I can see why I'd want the same material on my iPod, as I frequently find myself whipping it around by the headphone chord as if I'm Roger Daltry with a microphone...in the desert.

Okay, I'm making light of the invisibleSHIELD's capabilities, but yeah, why not apply that much power to my iPod? Sure, I'll never need to worry about sand damage at hundreds of miles an hour, but if it can protect against that, it can protect against key and coin scratches. Why not just use a regular case? I do. Because the invisibleSHIELD is so thin (.008 inches, or 8 mil), you can use it with most standard iPod cases (it still fits into that summer camp wallet Apple ships with the 5G iPod, but not as smoothly). Still, you can't always keep your iPod in a case, and you know what happens then...fingerprints.

I doubt I'm the only one who believes fingerprints are more annoying on the iPod than are scratches, if only because the iPod is more likely to get smudged than it is to get scratched. I prefer the type of cases that show off the iPod's design (such as the Crystal See-Thru), which means my fingerprints also get full attention. Should I ever commit a crime, I hope I don't accidentally leave my iPod behind. That's all I have to say about that.

With the invisibleSHIELD, there are no finger prints, or at least none that are readily noticeable. If you're eating KFC while selecting songs, yeah, you're going to leave some gunk, but regular use will leave your iPod presentable to family and friends.

The price of all this is...well...the most annoying application process in iPod history. It's no more difficult than it has to be, I suppose, but it's not quite the same as slipping the iPod into a Radtech Sleevz for iPod. There's a painstaking process involving soapy water, a credit card, lens cleaner and a lot of trial and error. Luckily, the invisibleSHIELD does allow you to repeat the application until you get it right. If you find it's off center, carefully pull it off, rub a little more soapy water on it, and try again. As with model kit decals, you can slide the Shield around a bit to get it right, then use the credit card to slide away the excess moisture. I had some trouble getting the sides to stick down, but a minute or so of pressure took care of that. I had no problems with air bubbles (and you shouldn't either if you follow the instructions), but keeping the corners down over the curve of the back was a different story. In the end, I had to make some concessions at the risk of losing my sanity. The developers must have recognized the problem with keeping the sides down, as the invisibleSHIELD is now available without frontal flaps. Ironically, it was the back flaps that gave me trouble.

After application, the only trouble I noticed was that my click wheel seemed to require more force to use. This is odd, because although you can apply the invisibleSHIELD over the click wheel and the center button, I elected to do neither. Still, hitting the menu button requires a heavier push, perhaps because the invisibleSHIELD overlaps that part of the click wheel by about a 32nd of an inch.

Truth be known, when I saw all that was involved with the application of the invisibleSHIELD, I didn't want to do this review. Now that it's on and generally looking pretty good, I'm happy I did it. The iPod is a tad duller than before and the edges appear a bit uneven, but there will be no scratches. There will be no fingerprints. Should I ever decide to sell or give away this iPod, I can simply remove the invisibleSHIELD (yes, it can be removed, and although I haven't yet tried it to see how well that goes, the manufacturers claim that no sticky residue will remain) and it will hopefully look as good as new. It's a bit of a chore to get it installed even with the printable instructions and the application video, but it's also easy to start over again, so it's relatively stress free. And when you're done, you'll be rewarded with stress free iPod use, and that makes it all worth it.