Hello people..Here's a short review of GadgetShieldz Full-Body scratch protection skins purchased from www.GadgetShieldz.com for my Ipod Touch 2G (2nd Generation)
Introduction: First of all why am i writing this review? Well..I am completely bowled over by the whole approach this product has taken to protect our lovely devices..I have traditionally used only a screen protector or scratch-guard for protecting the screen. But when I bought my Ipod touch, the steel finished back looked like its waiting to get scratched. And I was not ready to hide my cutie ipod baby into some leather case or thick rubbery skin.So I googled a bit and found a few products like the invisibleshield and GadgetShieldz.These companies provide seperate transparent skins both for the front and back and is cut out perfectly for the ipod Touch 2G.They do have skins for other electronic devices also.
While the invisibleshield was 25$ (1250 Rs) shipped, Gadgetshieldz was only 6.99$ (350 Rs) shipped. Almost 1/4th of the cost of an invisibleshield.So went for GadgetShieldz.
[BREAK=Shopping experience and Package Contents]
Online Shopping Experience : Went ahead and placed my order on GadgetShieldz online store thru my credit card (processed thru paypal, so i wasn't really worried abt the CC fraud).The site is pretty much straight forward and was neatly laid out.I was able to find my product right on the front page since its their bestseller.I was surprised when I saw this product being shipped right out of India.ok enough of blah blah..
Packaging : The skins arrived the next day in an envelope !!! Yes..a normal business envelope with their logo on it..Hang on..I was expecting some fancy packing and stuff like that..Woo hoo..Another surprise (although they had informed me before in their shipping email about this which I didn't bother to read).At this point I thought this might be some cheap quality product..So nothing much to talk about the packaging.
Contents : Opened the envelope and found 2 sets of Gadgetshieldz (yes I ordered 2 just in case I mess one) which were on a off white paper backing and also a small square piece of film. All these covered by a packing list printed on an A4 sheet. Each set contained a separate skin for the front and back portion.I think atleast there should have been a print out for installation instructions. It could have hardly cost them a rupee i think.Above is a picture of the left over set of skins that I still have.
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation : Fired my firefox browser and checked their installation instructions and video.Got hang of a few things and also got some valuable tips from this lovely forum and a few other forums I must say.
Followed their instructions. Washed my hands, made up a solution of water and 5-6 drops of Jhonsons baby shampoo (I had one handy, thanks to my 2 year old niece). Now the thing that I did differently was that I dipped the skins into the solution (that's what I was advised on other forums also) and took out.Removed out the excess solution and then applied the skins.
For the front screen Skin, I used the holes for the HOME Button on my ipod touch to align the skin with the edges.
Back was not as easy as the front.In the first try I wasn't able to align it well.So got them fully wet again and this time I first aligned the skin to the power button and the volume button holes and then with a few more adjustements aligned the rest of the holes in the skin (the earphone jack and the USB cable port). You might be thinking what holes I am talking about. Actually these are cut out portions in the GadgetShieldz skins that are left open for the volume,power,earphone and the USB cable on the Ipod Touch so that the skins dont cover up these.
The edges on the back skin weren't staying down since i got it more wet than the front skin. So waited nearly 15 minutes and then started to press down the edges again and this time most of them got stuck perfectly on the device except a few for which I pressed them with a little more pressure continously for 40-45 seconds.My installation wasn't all that perfect.. I did mess up a few spots on the top side which will be slightly visible in the close-up shots. But I think I did a good job considering it was my first attempt.
They provided a small skin for the home button also which I didn't bother to apply.
[BREAK=Installation Results : Front]
After the installation was finished I noticed 3-4 bubbles both on the front skin and back skin. I thought I have messed up the application and was doomed. Left the device open overnight to let itself dry.And woke up next morning to a big surprise. All the bubbles were gone!!! Not one remained. That was a total relief. And now the device looked perfect (for a second I thought somebody might have removed the skin, it really was kind of invisible on the device). And I read that these skins improve in look further after 2-3 days although my ipod touch was looking perfect the next day. I started using the device only in the afternoon so that I was nearly close to the the set-up time period of 24 Hrs they had advised.
Switched ON the device and was amazed at the crstal clear screen.No bubbles or moisture at all.The skin has a slight tacky,rubbery kind of feeling when the device is held in the hand (thats why they had mentioned on the site that it improves the grip).Although I couldn't find any hindrance in the way I operated the touch screen.
[BREAK=Installation Results : Back]
The back was absolutely amazing. Check out the pics.
[BREAK=How Invisible is GadgetShieldz after application? ]
Now they claim that the GadgetShielz looks almost invisible after application on the device.They were right on this to a large extent.Check out these pics taken from different distances from the Ipod Touch.Note that these distances are approx and not measured exactly.No rocket science here.
[BREAK=Drawbacks and Installation Tips]
Gadgetshieldz is not without its drawbacks.
The skin does catch quite a few finger prints.But without the skin, those would have been on my Ipod touch.
Also one can see a bit of texture or waviness in the skin if looked from close-up at certain angels.Nothing that I can't live with but I know its there.
Initially I was a bit worried about all the moisture that I had to deal with during the installation but I think people all over the world are installing these kind of skins using the same procedure without any complaints and now I am just one of them.
A few tips that I would like to share on the installation :
1) Make sure you do the installation with a plain paper sheet below so that you can rest the front part on it when you do the back and vice versa. Otherwise you might scratch the back even before you put the GadgetShieldz on.
2) Be patient with the installation. I wasn't when I gave my first try on the back skin.
3) In case you mess up the alignment, get the skins wet again so that you can slide them.
I could have shown a few pictures of how I aligned the back skin during installation, but I never thought I would be writing a review at first place. So forgive me for that.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
I can't yet comment on the long term value of GadgetShieldz as its only been a day since I hv applied the skins. But as of now, by all appearances the GadgetShieldz scratch protection skins are indeed of the highest quality and quite invisible.The screen appears crystal clear and so does the back part.The average onlooker would be hard pressed to notice anything installed on the ipod touch at all and this is where this product has won me over.I am handling my Ipod touch now with a whole lot of confidence and not afraid to put it on my desk or any surface.I know its there on my ipod touch protecting it from scratches.
I give my 2 thumbs up to the GadgetShieldz scratch-protection skins. It really works and does what it says. I think I will be hooked up with GadgetShieldz for all my future devices including my Blackberry storm which I am planning to buy next.
So If you wanna protect your device from scratches and still enjoy your device to the fullest GadgetShieldz fits the bill perfectly. At 6.99 US$,its a steal.
Here's the link to the product : http://www.gadgetshieldz.com/ipod-touch-2g-scratch-proof-skins-screen-protectors-cases-covers.html
Purchase price : 6.99 US$ (with free shipping)
My Ipod Touch 2G installed with GadgetShieldz Invisible skins.
Introduction: First of all why am i writing this review? Well..I am completely bowled over by the whole approach this product has taken to protect our lovely devices..I have traditionally used only a screen protector or scratch-guard for protecting the screen. But when I bought my Ipod touch, the steel finished back looked like its waiting to get scratched. And I was not ready to hide my cutie ipod baby into some leather case or thick rubbery skin.So I googled a bit and found a few products like the invisibleshield and GadgetShieldz.These companies provide seperate transparent skins both for the front and back and is cut out perfectly for the ipod Touch 2G.They do have skins for other electronic devices also.
While the invisibleshield was 25$ (1250 Rs) shipped, Gadgetshieldz was only 6.99$ (350 Rs) shipped. Almost 1/4th of the cost of an invisibleshield.So went for GadgetShieldz.
[BREAK=Shopping experience and Package Contents]
Online Shopping Experience : Went ahead and placed my order on GadgetShieldz online store thru my credit card (processed thru paypal, so i wasn't really worried abt the CC fraud).The site is pretty much straight forward and was neatly laid out.I was able to find my product right on the front page since its their bestseller.I was surprised when I saw this product being shipped right out of India.ok enough of blah blah..
Packaging : The skins arrived the next day in an envelope !!! Yes..a normal business envelope with their logo on it..Hang on..I was expecting some fancy packing and stuff like that..Woo hoo..Another surprise (although they had informed me before in their shipping email about this which I didn't bother to read).At this point I thought this might be some cheap quality product..So nothing much to talk about the packaging.
Contents : Opened the envelope and found 2 sets of Gadgetshieldz (yes I ordered 2 just in case I mess one) which were on a off white paper backing and also a small square piece of film. All these covered by a packing list printed on an A4 sheet. Each set contained a separate skin for the front and back portion.I think atleast there should have been a print out for installation instructions. It could have hardly cost them a rupee i think.Above is a picture of the left over set of skins that I still have.
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation : Fired my firefox browser and checked their installation instructions and video.Got hang of a few things and also got some valuable tips from this lovely forum and a few other forums I must say.
Followed their instructions. Washed my hands, made up a solution of water and 5-6 drops of Jhonsons baby shampoo (I had one handy, thanks to my 2 year old niece). Now the thing that I did differently was that I dipped the skins into the solution (that's what I was advised on other forums also) and took out.Removed out the excess solution and then applied the skins.
For the front screen Skin, I used the holes for the HOME Button on my ipod touch to align the skin with the edges.
Back was not as easy as the front.In the first try I wasn't able to align it well.So got them fully wet again and this time I first aligned the skin to the power button and the volume button holes and then with a few more adjustements aligned the rest of the holes in the skin (the earphone jack and the USB cable port). You might be thinking what holes I am talking about. Actually these are cut out portions in the GadgetShieldz skins that are left open for the volume,power,earphone and the USB cable on the Ipod Touch so that the skins dont cover up these.
The edges on the back skin weren't staying down since i got it more wet than the front skin. So waited nearly 15 minutes and then started to press down the edges again and this time most of them got stuck perfectly on the device except a few for which I pressed them with a little more pressure continously for 40-45 seconds.My installation wasn't all that perfect.. I did mess up a few spots on the top side which will be slightly visible in the close-up shots. But I think I did a good job considering it was my first attempt.
They provided a small skin for the home button also which I didn't bother to apply.
[BREAK=Installation Results : Front]
After the installation was finished I noticed 3-4 bubbles both on the front skin and back skin. I thought I have messed up the application and was doomed. Left the device open overnight to let itself dry.And woke up next morning to a big surprise. All the bubbles were gone!!! Not one remained. That was a total relief. And now the device looked perfect (for a second I thought somebody might have removed the skin, it really was kind of invisible on the device). And I read that these skins improve in look further after 2-3 days although my ipod touch was looking perfect the next day. I started using the device only in the afternoon so that I was nearly close to the the set-up time period of 24 Hrs they had advised.
Switched ON the device and was amazed at the crstal clear screen.No bubbles or moisture at all.The skin has a slight tacky,rubbery kind of feeling when the device is held in the hand (thats why they had mentioned on the site that it improves the grip).Although I couldn't find any hindrance in the way I operated the touch screen.
The screen looked crystal clear
[BREAK=Installation Results : Back]
The back was absolutely amazing. Check out the pics.
[BREAK=How Invisible is GadgetShieldz after application? ]
Now they claim that the GadgetShielz looks almost invisible after application on the device.They were right on this to a large extent.Check out these pics taken from different distances from the Ipod Touch.Note that these distances are approx and not measured exactly.No rocket science here.
Picture taken from 12 inches away.
Picture taken from 6 inches away.
Picture taken from 2 inches away.
Picture taken from 6 inches away.
Picture taken from 2 inches away.
[BREAK=Drawbacks and Installation Tips]
Gadgetshieldz is not without its drawbacks.
The skin does catch quite a few finger prints.But without the skin, those would have been on my Ipod touch.
Also one can see a bit of texture or waviness in the skin if looked from close-up at certain angels.Nothing that I can't live with but I know its there.
Initially I was a bit worried about all the moisture that I had to deal with during the installation but I think people all over the world are installing these kind of skins using the same procedure without any complaints and now I am just one of them.
A few tips that I would like to share on the installation :
1) Make sure you do the installation with a plain paper sheet below so that you can rest the front part on it when you do the back and vice versa. Otherwise you might scratch the back even before you put the GadgetShieldz on.
2) Be patient with the installation. I wasn't when I gave my first try on the back skin.
3) In case you mess up the alignment, get the skins wet again so that you can slide them.
I could have shown a few pictures of how I aligned the back skin during installation, but I never thought I would be writing a review at first place. So forgive me for that.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
I can't yet comment on the long term value of GadgetShieldz as its only been a day since I hv applied the skins. But as of now, by all appearances the GadgetShieldz scratch protection skins are indeed of the highest quality and quite invisible.The screen appears crystal clear and so does the back part.The average onlooker would be hard pressed to notice anything installed on the ipod touch at all and this is where this product has won me over.I am handling my Ipod touch now with a whole lot of confidence and not afraid to put it on my desk or any surface.I know its there on my ipod touch protecting it from scratches.
I give my 2 thumbs up to the GadgetShieldz scratch-protection skins. It really works and does what it says. I think I will be hooked up with GadgetShieldz for all my future devices including my Blackberry storm which I am planning to buy next.
So If you wanna protect your device from scratches and still enjoy your device to the fullest GadgetShieldz fits the bill perfectly. At 6.99 US$,its a steal.
Here's the link to the product : http://www.gadgetshieldz.com/ipod-touch-2g-scratch-proof-skins-screen-protectors-cases-covers.html
Purchase price : 6.99 US$ (with free shipping)
