iPod Touch 4: Most Fragile Device Ever?

May 10, 2011 - PRLog -- Jet City Device Repair has repaired thousands of hand held devices since their inception in 2007 and it has given them a lot of knowledge about which devices are durable and which ones are fragile. Their most recent conclusion on the subject: The 4th generation iPod Touch is the most fragile device on the market right now.

"Within a week Christmas we had received quite a few calls from customers asking if we could fix the iPod Touch 4 they bought for their child as a Christmas gift," comments Matt McCormick, owner of Jet City Device Repair. "The thing is, we weren't even fixing it at that time. We had no advertising or even a page on our website dedicated to a iPod Touch 4 repairs. Yet the demand for the repair outstripped every other device we fixed except the iPhone."

They have now been fixing the iPod Touch 4 since February and Mr. McCormick says he knows the reason for all the phone calls from upset parents: "The device is unbelievably fragile, easily dropped, and the #1 owners are kids under the age of 15. Those three factors make this device, while beautiful and powerful, very prone to damage."

One of the big reasons for this fragility is the construction of the iPod Touch 4. It is extremely thin, slippery, has a large glass surface, and the steel frame that holds the glass in place is not very strong. That weak steel frame is particularly troublesome. It's quite common for the metal frame around the glass to actually be bent and deformed from a 3 foot fall. This bending almost always results in a cracked glass screen.

With the 8GB model costing $229 and the 64GB model listing for $399, this "small" fall can have a big financial cost. So the question is, what do you do?

First, if you decide to buy an iPod Touch 4, get a good case for it. One of the best options is the Speck Pixelskin for the iPod Touch 4. It costs $25, is constructed from rubber (which is a great shock absorber), is reinforced in the corners (where most devices break), and it has a small lip all the way around the glass screen (so when it falls face down it lands on the rubber and not the glass). All of these features lead to great protection for your iPod Touch.

Secondly, Apple offers a non-warranty repair service on their iPods. The service starts at $99 for the 8GB version and goes up to $199 for the 64GB version. The one thing that's not clear in their non-warranty repair description is the following line: "Service may not be available if your iPod has been damaged due to accident or abuse." Since the phone was damaged due to an accident it appears that Apple might say they can't fix it once they receive it. In addition, they are not likely to send you back your iPod Touch but a different one. Again from the Apple site: "Replacement iPods may be new, used or refurbished." This means that any data you had on your iPod Touch would be lost (so make sure to back up your data if you go this route).

Lastly, if your iPod Touch 4 has been dropped and the glass cracked, you can get it repaired by a third party. A quick Google search will reveal a number of companies that do this work. Jet City Device Repair is one of those companies (http://www.jcdrepair.com). Their iPod Touch 4 screen replacement costs $109 at the moment (regardless of how much storage it has). However, they expect that price to come down in the near future as the prices on the replacement parts continue to fall.
Bottom line: The 4th generation of the iPod Touch is a great device but it is extremely fragile. If you're going to drop a few hundred dollars on one, spend the extra $25 and get a case for it. And if something does happen to it, don't fret, there are repair options that can save you a lot of money over buying a new one.

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Jet City Device repair is a Seattle based cell phone repair company offering repairs for the iPhone, Android Phones, and more. In-person repairs available in Seattle. Mail-in services nationwide. For details see: http://www.jcdrepair.com