# iPod touch or substitutes for small, portable wi-fi **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 8, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893 "2007-10-08T00:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/1 "2007-10-08T00:45:47Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/2 "2007-10-08T01:36:26Z")
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. So I’ll be watching this thread with interest. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/3 "2007-10-08T01:53:43Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Annie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Annie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/4 "2007-10-08T03:17:37Z")
[There’s this jobbie from Archos.](http://www.archos.com/products/gen_5/archos_605wifi/index.html?country=global&lang=en) ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/5 "2007-10-08T03:33:46Z")
I don’t have first-hand experience, but I’ve been considering something like this as well. I’m leaning towards the [Nokia N800](http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-N800-Internet-Tablet-PC/dp/B000MK4GGM). 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). ---
**Author:** ![groo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecd19e/32.png) [@groo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groo)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/6 "2007-10-08T05:56:46Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2007, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/7 "2007-10-08T20:49:23Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2007, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ipod-touch-or-substitutes-for-small-portable-wi-fi/421893/8 "2007-10-09T13:23:37Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] …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. [/QUOTE] A lot of sites make pages for mobile devices with bigger buttons and fewer links. I use [Gmail](http://www.google.com/intl/en/mobile/mail/index.html) ([http://gmail.com/app](http://gmail.com/app) on your iPhone / iPod touch). It seems as though Yahoo has one too at [http://m.yahoo.com](http://m.yahoo.com).