I just found out about the iPod touch and I’m kind of interested in purchasing one. It’s mainly a case of gadget lust, as I only really care about the touch screen and the wi-fi access. I rather like the idea of having a device that size that I could use to surf the web on wi-fi networks. I don’t care as much about the video or music capabilities. I already have an older fourth gen iPod that I only use at work and in the car.
I got to play with a touch at an Apple store yesterday. I liked the touch screen except for the fact that the way it operates makes it frustratingly hard to use Google Maps because it doesn’t handle click-and-drag well. I was wondering if anyone has had exceptionally good or bad experiences with it, or knows of a different device that may suit me better.
Timely thread. Some friends were just showing us their son’s new iPod Touch today, and though we’re not terribly gadgety (for example, we have pay-as-you go Tracfones with no features, and we only use them to call each other, they’re hardly ever on), we were hooked. The Internet in your pocket – wow!
Same as the OP, we don’t care about video/music. Just wanna check e-mail and maybe be able to Google something while we’re out and about. One question is whether firewall/antivirus/antispyware is a concern. I’m a Windows girl and know nothing about Mac OS X.
I have a Dell Axim Pocket PC. It’s about two years old, and I don’t think they make them anymore, but I’m sure there are plenty of Windows Media-based PDAs out there. I mostly use it for work, but it’s indispensible when I’m traveling.
If I were going for something similar now, I’d probably just go for the iPod Touch, or more likely the iPhone.
I don’t have first-hand experience, but I’ve been considering something like this as well. I’m leaning towards the Nokia N800. It’s somewhat larger than the iPod Touch, but its screen resolution is much higher (800x480 vs. 480x320). It’s Linux based, so it should have better software support than the iPod Touch. I believe max memory is 16 GB (it only has 256MB built in, but it has two SD slots that accept 8GB cards).
I’ve been going back and forth between the iPhone and the iPod Touch, and I think I’m landing on the side of the iPhone. I currently have a Palm T|X, which has Wi-Fi and a rudimentary web browser, and the reason I don’t use it to surf the web all that much is that I have trouble finding Wi-Fi hotspots. Okay; there are many, but I’m not always guaranteed to have a connection. With the (admittedly slower) EDGE connection, the iPhone would have access from pretty much anywhere.
Given the weird issues with the Touch/iPhone SDK, it looks like most of the cool apps will be web-based (at least, until Apple comes to its senses), and that means that web access will be critical.
Or so my reasoning goes; mainly, I’m jonesing for an iPhone in the worst way, but its lack of a simple flat-file database (like Jfile on the Palm) is holding me back. I’m also a little spoiled because I use Datebk5 (Palm), which is the best integrated calendar/to-do list I’ve come across. In all likelihood, I’ll just buy an iPhone sometime this week in a moment of weakness, and I’ll convince myself that the web-based apps are acceptable.
My husband was given an iPod Touch as a gift, and I’ve been able to play with it. It’s fantastic and if they ever get under $200.00, I want one. It’s very thin and light, and if there’s WiFi, you can read any web page (that isn’t Flash-only). If there’s no WiFi nearby though, forget it. It’s only nice for music and video then, though with the fraction of the storage he had on his old iPod (which I now own). Video sure is nice on it though.
I don’t know anything about the EDGE connection. He didn’t mention it. He’s got a Treo phone with Internet access, and when we were out and about this last week, he’d try to hit a web page with the iPhone, and when he couldn’t get a WiFi connection he’d then try it on the Treo, and that usually worked.
Regarding looking at a web page with the iPod Touch, since you use your fingers to scroll, and the links are touch-sensitive, it’s hard to scroll pages that have lots of links. Checking my email on Yahoo was a harrowing experience. I loved that I could do it, but there are so many links on the page that I had to be careful where I was touching to scroll. I was constantly using the back button because I’d accidentally touch a link.