Ok, heres a bot of background information for you:

I?m very, very stingy and tight fisted when it comes to spending money. Buying my 15GB Ipod was a massive decision, and now I?ve got it I don?t want to spend any more money on it, so I dint have an Iskin or anything like that and I don?t have the money to spend getting one, though I would like one :-). So when I saw the opportunity to get a free Ishade, as part of a test-drive scheme, to replace the sticky-back-plastic that was currently protecting my screen I leapt on it. Well, this is the review I promised I would write?

First of all, don?t expect any miracles from the packaging, you wont be jumping up and down in excitement while unwrapping it like we all were with our Ipods. It?s simple and boring. So I just opened the case and had a look at the Ishade.

My immediate thought was that the manufacturers must be having a laugh. It?s a bit of plastic, and I really couldn?t imagine a bit of plastic sticking with any real cling to my Ipod screen. So I pressed it on, expecting it to fall off straight away. For some bizarre reason it didn?t. The Ishade clings to the screen very snugly indeed, and I don?t have a clue why or how. It doesn?t budge when I slide the pod in or out of the case that came with the Ipod, and the only way to get it off is to slide my fingernail under the side. I was very impressed indeed.

Then the backlight went off, and the text on the screen just about disappeared.

I have the light indigo Ishade, and my Ipod has the white/grey coloured backlight (not the blue one). The colouring on the Ishade means that without the Ipod?s backlight on, it becomes very hard to read the onscreen text. If you have the white/grey backlight and wished you had the blue one (unlike me) then I would say this is the perfect thing to go for. However, in retrospect I should have gone for the clear Ishade, as it would allow me to see the text without the backlight, and I personally prefer the white backlight colour. That said, I imagine a blue Ishade would look awesome with a blue or contrasting Iskin. As long as you put the Ishade on properly (ie. Press it down on the edges only) there won?t be any bubbles or pockets of air on the screen, which I considered quite important.

So, all in all, the Iskin is a great product even if you don?t have an Iskin. It offers good protection for the screen, and can change the colour of the backlight if you get the right colour. Its fairly hard to find any faults, as long as you don?t expect to be able to read the screen with a coloured Ishade and the backlight off. This isn?t a problem for me, as I always have the backlight on when I?m navigating. Would I have bought one if it hadn?t been free? Probably, but only now I?ve actually tried it. I still don?t have enough money for an Iskin though :-(

Oh, you can buy Ishades and Iskins from www.iskinworld.com