Do As I Say, Not As I Did Part 1

Protect your iPod with some kind of protective case.

That's what I say. Here's what I did.

My third iPod is an 8GB second generation Nano. You've seen it in some of the pictures here at The Prog Report. I purchased it online from Colorware. They specialize in custom painting. They paint iPods, Apple computers, game consoles, and some PC's. You can send them your existing device, or you can buy a new one from them. My Nano is dark green with a lighter shade for the click wheel. The shades of green are called Alpine and Jade respectively.

I didn't buy a protective case for it because, it didn't have a hard drive. No moving parts means less likelihood of damage. I also didn't get an extended warranty for this reason. Well there actually were moving parts I didn't take into account. The dock connector has a locking mechanism contained in it. The main problem with the dock connector on the Nano is that it's right on the edge. I accidentally dropped it on concrete, and it looks like the impact point was the corner with the dock connector. At first, it looked like no big deal. It would be two days before I notice what the problem was. It was time to change the contents of that Nano, but the dock connector of the USB cable wouldn't dock.

Now my dilemma is how do I keep this Nano useful by being able to change the contents. I've tried all my accessories to if any would dock with my Nano. Two of my accessories, were successfully docked. The first was an external battery that uses AA's. Unfortunately that's not very useful, considering the Nano's battery life. And I needed something that connects to my PowerBook using USB. That external battery did not have an Apple-supplied dock connector, therefore did not have the locking mechanism. My local Fry's Electronics store has several brands of those wind-up dock connector to USB cables. I bought one with a non-Apple-supplied dock connector. Unfortunately, it did have a compatible locking mechanism.

My second accessory to successfully dock with my Nano was my iPod Hi Fi. That meant it didn't have the locking mechanism. Maybe the dock for my iPod Mini is the solution. It took me quite a few hours to find where I left that dock. To my disappointment I found that it did have that unwanted locking mechanism. So what I need is a dock without a locking mechanism. I'm going to do some research before making such a purchase. They're not as cheap as that wind up USB cable.

So kids learn from my mistake, get a protective case for your iPod. I personally recommend hard plastic ones. I've bought a MicroShield from XtremeMac for that new Nano I ordered from Colorware.

In the meantime, my current Nano can provide me hours of pleasurable listening to Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One, Ayreon and Vitalij Kuprij.

Monday, May 7, 2007

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