[johnzoidberg]

When I had my iBook 500, I used to be concerned all the time that the machine would get scratched up because it was moved around a lot. When I got my iMac G5, I thought this would not be a worry anymore because the computer sit stationary. I was really surprised the other day, then, to find my iMac G5 had all these hairline scratches all over the chin when I shone a really bright light on it. There are times that I really wish Apple would not use acrylic anymore because it's such a soft material.

How do your iMacs look?

[cleanup]

There are hairline scratches visible all over mine when I look at it from an angle with a light shining on it.

But they aren't visible normally.

We did not make these scratches. Apple did. They are there when you take your machine out of the box.

I also wish Apple would stop using acrylic. It's too easy to scratch. Adonized aluminum is the way to go, yes, for everything. My old 3rd-gen iPod scratched ALL the time no matter how much I protected it. It's back, it's front, the screen. My current iPod mini doesn't have a single scratch on it, not even on the screen. Albeit, I take a bit better care of it, but I've dropped it, slid it across hard surfaces. Adonized aluminum is much tougher than acrylic.

Come on, how would you like to have an aluminum iBook?

Also, the aluminum doesn't have to be silver. Apple could just colour an aluminum iBook white the same way they colour iPod minis.

[johnzoidberg]

I'm not sure if the scratches were there out of the box, but i think the acrylic just collects scratches even when you just breathe on it.

[Eriamjh]

Actually, the stuff they made the original iMac out of is the best. Polycarbonate, I think. I have some really abused iMac 233s and they look like new once cleaned. Nothing really significant.

[johnzoidberg]

The material the iMac G5 case is made out of is polycarbonate plastic, also. It's just that the finish is so smooth and pristine that any physical contact with another material will scratch it.