[brentsg]

I picked up 2 4G iPods after work today. I got one 20GB unit, and one 40GB unit.

I opened the 20GB model first only to find a nasty sticky substance all over the front. I tried everything to get it off but I only managed to attach some lint from a cloth to the sticky stuff. There's no way I'm getting this stuff off without tearing something up.

I opened the 40GB unit next. There is no sign of the sticky stuff, but the LCD is so dim that I can barely see it. If I adjust the contrast to the maximum value it helps but it is still dim. By comparison the 20GB units LCD is perfect. It ranges from almost invisible with contrast at the lowest to almost entirely black on the highest contrast.

Needless to say I am very disappointed. I can't imagine the odds of getting 2 bad iPods out of 2. Obviously several people seem to be having much better luck.

If these were the first Apple products I purchased I would probably not be an Apple customer.

I did want to make one observation. The click wheel on the larger model depresses further with more of a "click". I guess they are taking advantage of the extra depth. Edit: upon further review it appears that the stick stuff is under the wheel preventing it from traveling its full distance.

B

[robbie stogs]

Take the sticky one back and complain. Dont ruin the thing trying to clean it off and then mess it up. You paid the money, get what you want! Where did you purchase them from?

[Wiskedjak]

Ipoding.com ordered to 4Gs for their review and both arrived flawed.

Looks like the iPod might be going the way of the iBook.

[brentsg]

I purchased them at Best Buy b/c I wanted the 4 year service plan for $40. Also, the Apple store wouldn't let me handle them AND wouldn't waive the restock fee I didn't buy there. I thought they might waive the fee since they wouldn't even let people see them.

I'll definitely take them both back. The sticky stuff is just nasty. The screen on the other is too dim to see. You're constantly rolling it around in the light to be able to see it.

To me this is a sign of bad things for the new iPod. Hopefully it is isolated.

B

[Too Artificial]

Originally posted by brentsg:
I picked up 2 4G iPods after work today. I got one 20GB unit, and one 40GB unit.

I opened the 20GB model first only to find a nasty sticky substance all over the front. I tried everything to get it off but I only managed to attach some lint from a cloth to the sticky stuff. There's no way I'm getting this stuff off without tearing something up.

I opened the 40GB unit next. There is no sign of the sticky stuff, but the LCD is so dim that I can barely see it. If I adjust the contrast to the maximum value it helps but it is still dim. By comparison the 20GB units LCD is perfect. It ranges from almost invisible with contrast at the lowest to almost entirely black on the highest contrast.

Needless to say I am very disappointed. I can't imagine the odds of getting 2 bad iPods out of 2. Obviously several people seem to be having much better luck.

If these were the first Apple products I purchased I would probably not be an Apple customer.

I did want to make one observation. The click wheel on the larger model depresses further with more of a "click". I guess they are taking advantage of the extra depth. Edit: upon further review it appears that the stick stuff is under the wheel preventing it from traveling its full distance.

B

Apparently you're not the only one.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93914

[hm-one]

my ipod looks flawless, but i'm having major software issues already! i wish i would have 'grabbed' them but there was the one where the finder tells me an unrecognized drive has been mounted and it gave me the option to eject, initialize, or ignore. i clicked on ignore and nothing happened. then there was another error message in itunes that i got the other day which i can't remember.

on top of that the ipod's 'do not disconnect' symbol constanly stays on even if it's on automatic sync mode without the disk useage mode. it's normally supposed unmount while remaining on the source list in itunes. when i eject the ipod from itunes it still says 'do not disconnect'

just weird randomness that i never encountered with my 3g. yeeeouch. apple's Q&A hasn't been up to par lately. or maybe i'm just the only one with these issues?!

[brentsg]

As a quick followup, I replaced both iPods this morning at BB.

40GB model - the new one had some of the sticky residue but a smallish amount that could be cleaned via Apple's instructions. Other than that it is fine, aside from a few scuffs. Why can't Apple get these out the door without scratches and such, or make them more scratch proof?

20GB model - a very tiny amount of the sticky stuff. I might not have noticed if I wasn't tuned into it. This one has a new defect. The click wheel is mounted funny so that the right side (forward track button) is up much higher than the surface of the iPod. The left side (backward track button) is lower than the iPod surface. The end result is that the right button has much more travel than the left. The left is already down almost as far as it can go. It still functions fine, so I don't know if Apple would consider it a defect.

Thanks for posting the link to Apple's cleaning instructions. I don't think I could have cleaned up the first 20GB model I had. There was so much stuff on it that the click wheel buttons didn't work right. It was down inside around the wheel if that makes sense.

B

[hm-one]

this thing is starting to piss me off!

here's some more issues going on.

1. I started to toggle with the disk usage to see what would happen and i transferred a test folder with about 20 megs worth of data. Then i tried deleting the folder and the finder refused! So basically I can't delete any transferred files at the moment.

2. I ran the ipod updater to restore the ipod to factory settings and i get a message saying that the ipod is currently in use, so it won't even let me reformat! itunes isn't even launched.

I'll probably go return it for another one when i have some free time next week before my 14 days is up at the apple store. I've never had these issues with my old 3g

[The Mick]

I just swapped out a 3G 40GB model that I bought 2 days before the 4G was introduced. CompUSA let me return the 3G for no restocking fee so I purchased a 4G 40GB model and a case, saving $60+. I don't care about the lack of a remote at all.

My 4G model is practically flawless. There is no sticky residue at all, the click wheel is perfectly flush all around and the screen is noticeably better than the one on my 3G.

Just wanted to make sure the majority who have no problems is represented.

[DanMacMan]

Question, are these problems associated with plain jane, non-engraved iPods? Or is the sticky problems with both plain and engraved models?

[tdvorak]

I purchased my 40gb iPod from the Apple store last night (after recieving an email from Apple saiying mine wouldn't ship until the 28th). So far everything is perfect. No sticky residue, or software troubles.

It's great!

[snct]

Originally posted by DanMacMan:
Question, are these problems associated with plain jane, non-engraved iPods? Or is the sticky problems with both plain and engraved models?

Mine shipped today with engraving, so I'll know the answer to this when it arrives next week.

[MrForgetable]

I hope this is just the 1% minority that tooki says is where most of the problems posted on this site come from.

[Parky]

For Apple to post a Knowledge Base article on how to remove 'Sticky Stuff' it must be a widespread issue.

I think it is quite shocking that you have to clean your iPod in a quite specific and difficult manner, including the purchase for many people of the correct solution.

iPods should not be arriving in this state, and if you get one like this it should be returned, it's the only way Apple will learn to improve quality control.

In the UK this would be a reason for immediate exchange or a refund, as the product it not fit for purpose and is not of merchant-able quality (i.e. if you saw the product before you bought it and you would not have accepted it, then it should be refunded or exchanged)

I'm surprised they think they can get away with this, disgraceful for such an expensive product.

Can you imagine Sony doing that? Nope, they would not let products out of the factory in that condition.

I accept that you may get faulty equipment technically, as these things can't be seen, but there is no excuse for stick residue, scratches or scuffs as a simple Quality Control procedure can spot these.

Maybe Apple is being greedy and just letting any old rubbish out on the market as they can't seem to make them fast enough.

On the other hand if so many have problems, maybe the exchanges are using up a lot of the stock as well.

Ian

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Parky:
For Apple to post a Knowledge Base article on how to remove 'Sticky Stuff' it must be a widespread issue.

I don't follow that logic at all. The existance of a knowledge base articles means it's widespread? You've heard what? Two, three people that have it? As mentioned earlier, the minority are all you hear. Keep in mind that, I believe that anyone with a decent amount of sticky residue (as opposed to the minor amount where brentsg mentioned he probably wouldn't of noticed if he didn't look) should return it for a new iPod. It appears that one's able to do that, in the US no less. If this indeed is a widespread problem, then Apple should take steps to rectify the solution. I'm not apologizing for Apple, rather I'm being realistic based on the few facts we know (two or three reports and a support article). If there is a problem, then Apple needs to deal with it. It simply seems that from the few reports we have, that it isn't a widespread problem as you claim. We'll have to wait for more cases.

As for Sony, do you actually have knowledge of Sony being particularly good with quality control or did you just throw that comment out? The first result of "sony quality control" in Google reveals:

Sony admits some PlayStation 2s �not up to standard�

Sony's desperate pre-Christmas attempt to meet demand for its PlayStation 2 console appears to have angered as many punters as it satisfied.

In its rush to get consoles to buyers, Sony didn't pay sufficient attention to quality control. And, according to today's Sun and a report on the BBC's Weekend Watchdog programme tonight, rather a lot of buyers have ended up with duff machines.

[brentsg]

Well, the 20GB unit is definitely going to go back.

The 40GB unit wouldn't sync with iTunes. It told me that iTunes couldn't sync with the iPod and that the iPod needed to be reformatted. I was surprised that this was necessary right out of the box.

I reformatted and all seems to be well. I loaded all my songs last night.

I wonder if the stick stuff doesn't affect batches or something. If I can buy 4 and have 3 of them have the sticky stuff that's not good. Of course it's a small enough statistical sample it doesn't say much about the overall picture.

I do agree though that Apple has seen a good number of complaints to issue the cleaning instructions.

B

[DanMacMan]

Anybody care to post pictures before and after the "sticky stuff" has been removed?

[brentsg]

Even with the really bad one I had it would be extremely difficult to get good pictures. Of course I'm a bad photographer. Basically you'd be trying to catch the difference in shine of the surface.

Now, after I got fuzz from my towel attached to the sticky stuff that might have photographed ok.

B

[timmerk]

I got a 20 GB one with 2 big dents on the back. :-(

[Parky]

Originally posted by Synotic:
I don't follow that logic at all. The existance of a knowledge base articles means it's widespread? You've heard what? Two, three people that have it? As mentioned earlier, the minority are all you hear. Keep in mind that, I believe that anyone with a decent amount of sticky residue (as opposed to the minor amount where brentsg mentioned he probably wouldn't of noticed if he didn't look) should return it for a new iPod. It appears that one's able to do that, in the US no less. If this indeed is a widespread problem, then Apple should take steps to rectify the solution. I'm not apologizing for Apple, rather I'm being realistic based on the few facts we know (two or three reports and a support article). If there is a problem, then Apple needs to deal with it. It simply seems that from the few reports we have, that it isn't a widespread problem as you claim. We'll have to wait for more cases.

As for Sony, do you actually have knowledge of Sony being particularly good with quality control or did you just throw that comment out? The first result of "sony quality control" in Google reveals:

Sony admits some PlayStation 2s �not up to standard�

Simply that Apple has had to write up and produce photos for the cleaning off of the residue means that quite a number of people have contacted them about it.

They only do KB articles when they have a significant number of contacts wanting the information.

I meant that Sony would not let the physical appearance of shipped goods be below quality. As I said it is hard to know if a device is going to work until it is used, but you can see what it looks like before you put it in the box.

There is no excuse for visually damaged or sticky iPods to be shipped at all.

Ian

[Sod Off Sadr]

How about some pics?

Or are you jokers just laying the groundwork for another stupid class action lawsuit?

[brentsg]

Originally posted by Sod Off Sadr:
How about some pics?

Or are you jokers just laying the groundwork for another stupid class action lawsuit?

Nothing I hate more than someone who pops into a thread and suggests for some reason or another that maybe the problems don't exist. I stated in an earlier post (if you bothered to read them all) that I didn't think it would be too easy to get pics of the sticky stuff. Visually there are just spots where there's no shine on the iPod. Of course from a tactile perspective it's very noticeable. It's like glue.

And why are we jokers, btw? Because we had some quality problems? I don't know anything about any lawsuits. I've only owned Apple products since May 04 and have had no problems prior to these iPods.

B

[jorgem4]

Got my 20 GB on friady on the mail...no problems here at all!

The only thing that did not come with the iPod were the two small white plastic pieces to cover the firewire connection anyone got those on their iPod? Cause I am using the ones from my 3G.

[b00tang]

I just want to know why these flaws are happening? I have my 20gig on the way and have no idea how it will show up. But what are people doing in production that is causing sticky stuff, scratches, and dents? I abused my 2g 10gig as much as the average user i would imagine and never had dents or deep scratches. It really does seem strange

[kcmac]

Just received our 4 - 20g iPods. All engraved. All in perfect condition aesthetically. No cleaning necessary.

Charging underway.

[videian28]

the engraved iPod mini I got for the wife showed up with the sticky stuff, I worked it out, kinda dissapointing to get the nice new toy and have flaws out of the box...definatly a bad show Apple

[Hydra]

I ordered a 4G 40GB model for a friend, he lives outside the US, and it came completely wrapped in a clear plastic protective shield. It was smooth as silk underneath and it seemed to be functioning perfectly. Did these sticky iPods have the same shield on them? Not just over the screen like many products do but wrapped all over the entire iPod front and back?

-Jerry C.

[brentsg]

Yep, the sticky iPods do come wrapped in the clear plastic all around. The sticky stuff is underneath that.

B

[snct]

First of all... I'm truly sorry for all of you who had gotten defective iPods. I was really bracing myself because I'd ordered mine from the online store before reading about these troubled units, so it was a crap shoot as to what condition mine would arrive in.

Now that I have it in hand however, I'll report that I've had no problems with the packaging adhesive, or with the build quality of it. It's charging as I'm typing this, so I've got to wait a bit longer to see if there are any problems with sound quality/static.

Now for the gushing... Oh - My - GOSH! I haven't seen, nor touched another iPod since I'd gotten my old 1st gen model almost 3 years ago. The improvements are subtle, but very, very nice . I don't have to get used to the click wheel, as my old model had the same orientation, but the non-rotating 'touch' wheel is amazing. The matte finish on the new wheel is top notch. One flaw that got on my nerves before was that the center button would rotate along with the whole wheel (causing a button mis-fire, if you didn't hit the button dead center, without also rotating it ) . The new one doesn't do that. The new iPod is about as heavy as my old one, but we're talking 40GB vs. 5GB, so I'm not complaining about it. The backlight no longer abruptly goes out, but fades out when shutting off... Such a sweet and classy touch. This is the best iPod yet. Now clean up your Q.C. act Apple. The competition will catch up and spank you if you don't get on the ball.

[power142]

I bought a 40G 4G iPod at the weekend only to get it home and find scuffs _and_ the sticky stuff

Needless to say I returned it the following day and they replaced it immediately, telling me that it was in an unacceptable condition before I'd gotten a chance to speak.

So, while it probably shouldn't have got into a customer's hand in the first place, my local Apple store handled it gracefully yet quickly.

[Too Artificial]

Originally posted by DanMacMan:
Question, are these problems associated with plain jane, non-engraved iPods? Or is the sticky problems with both plain and engraved models?

Just received my engraved 20GB iPod today from FedEx. No problems at all!

[Grrr]

For the record, and to shed some more good light on the matter.. I picked up a 40gig 4G iPod in London today, and its all good. No sticky crap at all, perfect click wheel, and no scratches or dents. Screen seems fine, and so far, no software gremilns either.
Oh, and mine came with a Dock too.. Wasn't sure if they were supposed to come with one or not..

[m2bored]

no sticky stuff on my 20gb but i did have a weird issue earlier...
I tried to move 15GB worth of files at one time to the ipod and half way through it gave me an "unknown error" then it crashed and I had to do a restore.

I then moved all the songs over but only 400 at a time with no problems whatsoever.

[snct]

Originally posted by m2bored:
no sticky stuff on my 20gb but i did have a weird issue earlier...
I tried to move 15GB worth of files at one time to the ipod and half way through it gave me an "unknown error" then it crashed and I had to do a restore.

I then moved all the songs over but only 400 at a time with no problems whatsoever.

Don't know if yours was fully charged, but the directions said that might happen to one that isn't charged enough. Evidently, the iPod doesn't get any charge during the actual file transfer process.

[catJesus]

just to keep accurate representation.. my 4g arrived today and is thusfar flawless.

[bradbissell]

Just adding my experience to the list...

My 40gb has scratches on both the screen area and aluminium back. I wrote [email protected] about it. Figured those who read Steve's e-mail might want to know about the quality control issues.

[gorickey]

Originally posted by bradbissell:
I wrote [email protected] about it. Figured those who read Steve's e-mail might want to know about the quality control issues.

Thanks, I got it!

Sincerely,
Sean Jobs

[yally04]

I had a little bit of sticky stuff on the earbuds but I barely noticed it and took the 30 seconds to clean it off. The iPod (20 GB) itself is flawless. But I'm annoyed because I put it in my pocket while I was exercizing, forgetting that the pocket had a zipper around the opening. This of course scratched up the back and the screen when I took the iPod out to switch songs. I'm now looking for a good and simple case:

who makes a simple 4g iPod case?

This could work:

Belkin Neoprene Sport Case with Draw String

[schuey100]

Originally posted by gorickey:
Thanks, I got it!

Sincerely,
Sean Jobs

LOL

[DanMacMan]

For the record I received my 20GB 4G iPod sans engraving, ordered from Apple.com, and it is in impeccable form. No scratches and no sticky goo. My first iPod and loving it!

[Siskomac]

FedEx just delivered my 40 GB 4G and it was flawless, no sticky stuff, no abrasions of any kind. It was not engraved.

[schk]

just got my 4g 40gb iPod and was dismayed to see the sticky crap (i expected it actually since i always have bad luck with products i buy) on the bottom of the scroll wheel, back of metal casing as well as some sort of liquid residue on the front face which wasn't coming off. luckily i got it from amazon which has really good return policy, so i'll be getting it exchanged.

i didn't bother loading any songs to test for the static interference some people are reporting on ipodlounge, macfixit, etc. but i did notice my earphones were sitting completely flush with the casing whereas my 3G had a few mm of space. a lot of people think that the earphones coming into contact with the metal casing is introducing static during harddrive seeks due to some grounding issue. the joys of being early adopters

[PookJP]

Originally posted by DanMacMan:
Anybody care to post pictures before and after the "sticky stuff" has been removed?

With unwanted stuff:


Without unwanted stuff:


Sorry, couldn't resist, I just find your signature so comical.

On subject, my friend's 4G iPod arrived flawless, and he had no problems loading his music collection onto it. Let me rephrase that... I had no problem loading his music collection onto it.

[PookJP]

Anyone who is interested in the perspecitves of non-computer people can look here:

http://www.ateaseweb.com/mb/index.ph...0&#entry345370


Nice and casual.

[brentsg]

Well, I'm pretty disappointed but I definitely have the audio problems with my 4G 40GB. I was sure I didn't when I only had the Apple headphones but when I got my new ones today I can definitely hear the hard drive access through the earphones.

It's relatively faint and it doesn't appear to scale with volume. Obviously then, it's pretty easy to detect with the volume cranked down. And yes, I'm sure that it's coming through the headphones. The new ones seal nicely enough that I can be sure.

It's almost faint enough to not bother returning, but I paid too much to live with defects like that.

Oh, also I verified that no metal from the headphone jack is touching metal on the iPod. I can see the white plastic all around.

B

[mrtew]

I had a little bit of sticky stuff on my 3G 40gig pod that I got today for $299 (yay) and I believe it is the glue that holds the protective plastic cover onto the ipod during shipping. I rubbed it off in about 2 seconds with my finger, and then came home and found this thread. Unless you guys have something very different from me you are really being babies! It's no big deal. :-]

[brentsg]

Originally posted by mrtew:
I had a little bit of sticky stuff on my 3G 40gig pod that I got today for $299 (yay) and I believe it is the glue that holds the protective plastic cover onto the ipod during shipping. I rubbed it off in about 2 seconds with my finger, and then came home and found this thread. Unless you guys have something very different from me you are really being babies! It's no big deal. :-]

Well the sticky stuff I had on my 40G would not have come off with your finger. In fact, when I took it back it was partially orange because it had part of my t-shirt attached to the front. I might have gotten it off with nail polish remover or something like that but it also might have ruined the iPod. It was so thick the click wheel didn't even work. You could clearly see it through the plastic sleeve the iPod ships in.

B

[schk]

Originally posted by mrtew:
I had a little bit of sticky stuff on my 3G 40gig pod that I got today for $299 (yay) and I believe it is the glue that holds the protective plastic cover onto the ipod during shipping. I rubbed it off in about 2 seconds with my finger, and then came home and found this thread. Unless you guys have something very different from me you are really being babies! It's no big deal. :-]

the adhesive i had all over my ipod looked like the same one that was holding the clear sleeve together, so it could be removed with patience although there was a huge chunk of it on the scroll wheel which was difficult to remove like the previous posted mentioned. in addition, there was what looked like some milky residue all over the front of the ipod that could not be rubbed off. it seemed to have been trapped iunderneath the front face. paying 400 bucks for an ipod which looked like that is not acceptable at all in addition to the whole unit being covered in adhesive.

my second 40gb was adhesive free and had no strange staining. it did have some faint scratches on the front of the ipod, but i didn't care about that although others might. it also had a large speck of dust under the lcd. but the reason this one is going back is because it has the dreaded static/squeal noise coming through the headphones while the iPod buffer loads. I didn't notice it at first, but it seems to have gotten worse over the two days I've been using it. I'm just gonna return this and wait a month or so before buying the new 4G hoping they will have resolved these problems. After the static problems with the minis, i assumed apple would have done some more thorough testing with the new 4G to not introduce new problems, but it seems they didn't.