i use my ipod the way it was designed by apple, by itself. and so far it has no scratches/damages of any kind. i dont see the need for $20+ cases that are just heaps of plastic or silicon. it's an overpriced market.
If you don't want to spend $20, I bought both a crystal plastic case, and two sylicone cases from eforcity.com for less than $20. They also have aluminum cases, and most cases come in a choice of colors.
Docks are my main accessory purchases. Griffin Evolves, and the Philips BTM-630 along with a couple iHome alarm clock docks.
The Philips dock is pretty amazing. CD player, CDRs with MP3s, USB media players or thumb drives with music on them, SD card with music, and AUX input, and also bluetooth 2.0. It has a mic, and can serve as a speaker phone when paired with your cell phone. It also sounds great.
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