iVue Crystal Cases "mod"

well, at least it's scratch-proof.

interesting nonetheless

The best part is that it is not white, so it may not get as much attention by thieves!

That naked iPod is inflaming my raging libido. Somebody put it's clothes back on.

I'm getting all hot under the collar at the sight of that.. Man I am such a geek. At least with this mod you can become the king-of-geeks for a few months until someone else gets a ps3..

I want to get my hands on a kit from rapidrepair, but they don't seem to like replying to emails......

Is there anywhere I can get one without paying a ridiculous amount for it? The main reason I contacted rapidrepair is because they want to charge me $24USD for shipping via FedEx, which is complete overkill.

You can purchase something else in addition to clearvue, it should not significantly affect the shipping cost.

BTW, i've purchased that clearvue (for ipod video), but its screw holes positions were slightly different from an original case, so it was impossible to install (and while trying to upgrade, i've destroyed my video's motherboard). Rapidrepair resent me that clearvue, but i haven't tried it since that first unsuccessful time.

However, there is a cheap alternative: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/313wraps...34Q2ec0Q2em322 ; there you can purchase three "skins" for just $11 shipped worldwide; some of the skins are just awesome. In contrast with RapidRepair's "ThinSkin", that skins are also protecting your ipod from scratches (unfortunately, except for the screen); instead of being firm like ThinSkin (that began to de-attach on the same day i've installed it just because i've occasionaly catched it while taking my ipod out of the pocket; and it falled off completely after about couple of weeks), they're flexible so they're "connected" to ipod very well, i've installed my first one about a three months ago and there is still no sign that it could de-attach someway, it covers ipod as firmly as just after the installation. So the only advantages of ClearVue and ThinSkin i can see is that there is a screen protection... but $11 shipped for three sets of awesome skins with easy installation is a lot better imho. And the filling of this material is also very nice, much better than ipod's plastic/polished aluminium (or thinskin's plastic)

Hmm, but I rather like the "see-through" look...

Unfortunately, this ebay seller doesn't offer a "like ipod entrails" skin :grin:
Really, from distance above 10cm nobody will tell for sure is this entrails just printed on the case or is the case really transparent. And IMHO replacing only the front panel is not as fun as replacing the entire case; rapidrepair should have offered a "true" clearvue with both front and back panels.

I bought a ClearVue from RapidRepair along with a replacement Hard Drive for my 80GB iPod Video. I found installation pretty straightforward. The only "hairy" step is replacement of the clickwheel facing. The clickwheel sensor circuit is glued (with some sort of rubbery cement) into the original facing. You've got to pull the circuit free and clean it of residual adhesive (do this by rubbing with clean fingers). Then you use a die-cut piece of transparent 3M adhesive "tape" to adhere the sensor circuit to its new, clear clickwheel facing. If you don't do this perfectly, you get bubbles between the facing and the orange clickwheel circuit -- or you end up with permanently-visible fingerprints under the facing. (The bubbles are apparent even in the images on the RapidRepair website).

The installation videos on the RapidRepair site are pretty good, but they do gloss over some nuances -- like making sure the two ground connections for the clickwheel are correctly positioned during reassembly. I'm new at tinkering with iPods, so I had to take a "learn as you go" approach -- took me about an hour and multiple assembly/disassembly cycles before I got it right. If I were to do it again today, it would be a 20-minute job :-) QAnd it does look good when you're done :-)

Cheers!

I'm just slightly annoyed that rapidreapir isn't answering my emails. How have other peoples' dealings with them gone?

I had no problems, but all I did was submit an order -- never had occasion to send them an email....

I was hoping they'd be able to lower the shipping price.

$24USD Fedex for a $10 ipod face set seems awfully expensive and ridiculous.

They're not using USPS and, as i understand, they will not use not trackable shipping method. As i have said earlier, you can get something in addition to clearvue, shipping is $24 for all relatively small packages.
BTW, ebay seller i've mentioned ships with plain mail, like plain paper letter; however, in case of "letter" loss he resents the item.

Hmm, don't really have anything to get for the 80GB Video.

Maybe a 160GB HD? :P

But anyway, I really don't have the cash to buy anything else right now, so it sucks.