Speck Products SkinTight Mini iPod Skin 3 Pack (IM-ST1T)

• Trio of flexible iPod skin covers designed for iPod mini
• Protects iPod mini from dust, scratches, and bumps
• Made of shock-absorbing, odor-free Dynaflex plastic
• Multiple cutouts offer access to headphone, FireWire port, and hold switch

Amazon.com Product Description:
Speck Products' Mini SkinTight iPod skins protect your iPod mini from scratches and bumps, so you can enjoy your favorite music on the move without damaging your music player. iPod skins are made of odor-free Dynaflex, a strong, soft, rubbery polymer that feels comfortable and secure in the hand. In addition, the skin preserves the mini's most notable feature--its diminutive size--unlike much of the clunky competition. To apply, simply stretch one of the skins over your iPod mini from the skin's bottom opening. Listeners can easily access the headphone jack, FireWire port, and hold switch thanks to the skin's multiple cutouts. This triple pack of iPod mini skins comes with a trio of different-colored skins: one clear, one pink, and one blue. The pack also includes a single removable lanyard (strap) so you can easily wear your iPod mini around your neck. What's in the Box One clear skin, one pink skin, one blue skin, lanyard, data sheet.

Shouldn't it protect your screen?:
I almost bought this product because it sounded ideal -- I agree that having a bulky case for an iPod mini completely defeats the purpose of getting a mini. By the time you wrap it in a nice, big leather case, it's almost as big as a regular iPod. So this seemed perfect. Until I heard that it doesn't actually protect your screen -- just the metal body of the iPod. The body of my iPod will be fine with a few scratches: It doesn't scratch that easily, it can be polished to look new, and having scratches doesn't interfere with functionality. However, the screen is kinda easily scuffed -- to the point that after a lot of wear and tear it can be hard to see through (quite aggravating and not as easy to polish as the metal body). So what's the point of a cover that doesn't cover the most important part? Most of these "skins" -- often just glorified stickers or colorforms, but in the case of the Speck Products SkinTight Mini iPod Skin at least it is a strong "case" or body-wrap or sleeve, as these things are called -- just ignore the screen. Worst of all, the product descriptions never mention the lack of screen protection. However, you can buy separate screen protectors.... so combine a screen protector or glare-reducer with an iPod mini skin or sleeve and you'll have full protection. Or you can try something like the TrendyGeek Pod Shield Mini or the GSM Pod Shield Mini ("iPod Invisible Scratch Protection")... colorform-type pieces of plastic that protect the screen and back of the iPod but not much else. I might get the latter, since the screen is my primary concern and I'm cheap (well, if you consider dropping around ten bucks for a clear sticker-type-thing cheap; we'll see which one comes with free Amazon shipping). Also, iSkin Mini ("Ghost"-colored glow-in-the-dark Apple iPod Mini Protector) protects your entire iPod (although it'll cover up your iPod mini's cool colored-metal design) and the Agent 18 Mini Shield (iPod mini cover) looks quite promising as it offers full protection (both of these cost a bit more than the simpler skins and screen protectors). Regrettably, not many Amazon customer reviews have been written for all of these products (at the time of this writing), so making a site-unseen Internet purchase will involve a little risk. Actually, it's a real shame that Apple didn't make the iPods more scratch-resistant to begin with. Or include a cover. Forcing people to pay ten to fifty bucks for an iPod cover after shelling out hundreds for an iPod is cruel to the customer and will not engender long-term loyalty. But the iPod is so scratch prone that it can't survive for a long time without a scratch protector.

No Screen Protection:
First off, the picture on Amazon doesn't match the actual colors you will get! So be careful. You DO NOT get the green colored skin that is in the picture. Also, you cannot have the skin on and be able to use you ipod belt clip. How stupid is it have a strap that attaches to the skin? Am I going to hang my ipod around my neck??? Not all of us ipod users are teenagers in highschool. The skin does not have a screen protector either. Great! So now, all I have is an ipod with a skin, in the wrong color, that is now too bulky, cannot be attached to my jeans or running shorts ( but I can wear it around my neck!!!) , and will still have a screen that gets scratched. Don't buy it. Try something else.

Don't buy this.:
These are not skin tight. They add almost 1/2 an inch to the size of the iPod in all directions. They do not protect the screen. They are too grippy, so if you pull it out of your pocket, your keys, papers, and everything else comes with it. The only color that looks any good is the color that matches your iPod. It's not worth $20. Only buy these if you have a bad habbit of dropping you iPod mini on hard floors, otherwise, don't!