new iPod nano - need advice

tsmvengy

Got a new ipod nano 2gig for christmas. I'm looking for a case/protector and some cool podcasts. I've looked at iSkin and something called the InvisibleSHIELD. Anyone have experience with those? The 2nd looks like it could be a PITA to put on. Any other case recommendations?

As for podcasts, I have NPR's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me and some political opinion stuff, but I'm looking for others in any genre.

Also, any suggestions on earbuds/headphones? The ones that came with it don't sound that good unless I hold them into my ears with my fingers. Any ideas for alternatives (preferably under $50)?[/url]

powerss

Twit. This week in tech.

Diggnation.

Infected, by Martin Sargent.

Those are great podcasts.

Congrads on your gift, welcome to the iPod generation!

fforde

I have used both the iSkin and the InvisibleShield and they are both excellent. I like the Invis. Shield much better because it is so thin. It doesn't hide your iPod, it just protects it. Your device will also still fit in an iPod dock just fine. The iSkin is great too, but it is about 1/4 - 1/8 an inch thick and your iPod wont fit in your dock with it on. However it does have a belt clip (at least mine did)... it depends on what you want.

For podcasts I would check out the following (in addition to the ones mentioned above, those are all great too):

Extra Life Radio - Kind of a geeky pop culture podcast. Everything from video games to transformers is covered. Very funny stuff.

The Instance - A WoW podcast by the same guys that do Extra Life radio. If you play WoW, this is the podcast to listen to in my opinion.

EscapePod - A short fiction podcast. Each week they read an aproximately half hour long short story. Usually science fiction, fantasy or speculative fiction. If you like to read I would recomend this. The stories are pretty good too, they have been around for a while and actually pay authors a decent price for each story.

Poot

iSkin is always an excellent choice, but I picked up an Agent 18 Nanoshock Kit for mine because I like the hard cases better and it comes with a belt clip and arm band attachment. Dont confuse this with the Nanoshield kit though; that one only comes with the case.

DeathPrawn

I use a bestskinsever (www.bestskinsever.com). It's basically the same as an InvisibleShield, but a heck of a lot cheaper. It's a minor pain to put on (the biggest issue being that you're not supposed to use it for 24 hours), but if you follow the fairly straight-forward instructions you'll be fine. I couldn't be happier with it.

fforde

DeathPrawn wrote:

I use a bestskinsever (www.bestskinsever.com). It's basically the same as an InvisibleShield, but a heck of a lot cheaper. It's a minor pain to put on (the biggest issue being that you're not supposed to use it for 24 hours), but if you follow the fairly straight-forward instructions you'll be fine. I couldn't be happier with it.

Thats actually what I used instead of the InvisibleShield. Basically identical. I couldn't remember what it was called.

tsmvengy

fforde wrote:

DeathPrawn wrote:

I use a bestskinsever (www.bestskinsever.com). It's basically the same as an InvisibleShield, but a heck of a lot cheaper. It's a minor pain to put on (the biggest issue being that you're not supposed to use it for 24 hours), but if you follow the fairly straight-forward instructions you'll be fine. I couldn't be happier with it.

Thats actually what I used instead of the InvisibleShield. Basically identical. I couldn't remember what it was called.

Which version do you have? The 1-piece or the 3-piece (separate pieces for the wheel & button)? Does it hurt the functionality of the click wheel at all?

Everywhereasign

My friend has InvisibleSHIELD for every one of his portable electronics and they look fantastic. He says they take a bit of patience to get on, but it isn't that hard.

fforde

tsmvengy wrote:

fforde wrote:

DeathPrawn wrote:

I use a bestskinsever (www.bestskinsever.com). It's basically the same as an InvisibleShield, but a heck of a lot cheaper. It's a minor pain to put on (the biggest issue being that you're not supposed to use it for 24 hours), but if you follow the fairly straight-forward instructions you'll be fine. I couldn't be happier with it.

Thats actually what I used instead of the InvisibleShield. Basically identical. I couldn't remember what it was called.

Which version do you have? The 1-piece or the 3-piece (separate pieces for the wheel & button)? Does it hurt the functionality of the click wheel at all?

I have the three piece. The click wheel is just as functional and sensitive as always.

For what it's worth the iSkin has a cover for the click wheel as well and it works just fine. No problems what so ever.

DeathPrawn

I have a three-piece as well. No worries with scroll wheel functionality. The only difference I've noticed (whether you consider it a positive or negative) is that on my black iPod, the scroll wheel is the same color as the rest of the device instead of the normal slightly-lighter shade of gray. I personally think it looks cool.

fforde

DeathPrawn wrote:

I have a three-piece as well. No worries with scroll wheel functionality. The only difference I've noticed (whether you consider it a positive or negative) is that on my black iPod, the scroll wheel is the same color as the rest of the device instead of the normal slightly-lighter shade of gray. I personally think it looks cool.

I noticed the same thing, and actually ended up removing my scroll wheel cover. It isn't really needed; removing it created a nice visual contrast and made it easier to find the scroll wheel while my iPod was still in my pocket.

Raere

This American Life is excellent. It's real life interesting stories retold by some guys. It might sound boring, but it's really amazing. They post one ep a week, and they have the entire backlog (like 200 eps) for like $1 a pop on Audible.

tsmvengy

OK, so I got the skin from bestskinsever.com. Any tips on putting it on? It's for the new Nano, so it's one piece that wraps around the whole thing and then it has two pieces, one for the click wheel and one for the center button. The instructions online seem ok - but don't really go into detail on the skins that are one piece that wrap around. I've also done some googling and people suggest using Windex instead of the soap mixture. Anyone try this? Whatever you guys got, just post!

fforde

I dunno about the one piece / three piece differences, but as far as the soapy water, it worked fine for me. I would be careful about Windex, I am not sure what it would do to the finish but some types of plastics it f's up. If other people had success with it, go for it I guess, but like I said, soapy water worked just fine for me.

Just follow the directions and when it says let it dry overnight, let it dry over night. It really does take some time for the skin to set.

tsmvengy

Yeah, I was just wondering if anyone had experience with the 2G nano skin. The instructions point out what it looks like for the 1G nano, but I'm not sure how it will go with the wrapping around.

My plan so far is to make the solution, dip (do you plunge the whole skin in or what?) the skin in the solution, and apply it to the front first (to line up the hole for the click wheel. Then I'll let it set for a few minutes and wrap it around.

Beck

I can totally recommend this headset a friend was letting me use a couple days ago: Clicky I haven't found anything better for under $125. I'll be picking myself up a pair, too.

Edit: There's quite a bit of sound-leak, though. Something to keep in mind if you're with friends and you don't want them to know you're listening to Allanis morisette.