I only noticed this for the first time after having watching ANH countless times. Perhaps Mr. Lucas should amend it in the next version of the SW movies.

It was after I finished watching the original version of ANH on DVD (about 20 minutes ago). I then popped in the vastly superior 2004 version to do some comparisons, and that's when I noticed it. Right after Darth Vader fries Artoo with his laser, Artoo seems to be perfectly alright. I mean, there's like nary a scratch on him. Nary a scratch. Pause the DVD if you have to, after the smoke clears, it's like nothing happened to him.

Maybe Artoo has some some built-in shields, or maybe it was the shielding from the X-wing. But, later when Artoo gets lifted out of the ship, you see that he is not in the same condition he was right after he was fried by Vader. I mean, he's all banged up. What he looks like now is more or less what he should have looked like back then.

So, there you go. Continuity error. (Scratches head and wonders how many of the millions of fans who watch the SW movies too many times have noticed that before)

Afternote: Is there like some kind of geeky movie website where they keep track of movie errors, where anyone can contribute to it? Will google for this when I have the time to.