Tell Me Everything About the iPod Touch

So I decided to bite the bullet and buy my son and iPod for his Junior High to High School promotion. Now, I am computer geek but know next to nothing about Apple products. I have had MP3 players in the past but I assume the iPod Touch is a whole new world.

One question that comes to mind is the release of the new iOS. Has it been released yet? Will be available as a free download to current Touch owners or will I need to wait a few weeks before they start showing up in stores with the new OS?

I also heard there is no charging cable in the box. Is this true? Will I need spend another fortune in accessories before I can even use this thing?

A question regarding the use of iTunes, how bad is it to use? Are there any alternatives to it? My son has two PC’s one at his mom’s and a laptop at my place, will he be able to synch his touch to both machines or is he only limited to one? For example, if he is at my place can he jump on iTunes and install a new app without having to synch all his music?

And last but not least, give me your opinions, positive and negative, on the device itself. What do you like about, not like about. Also, what are the must have accessories for the Touch?

I don’t have one, but I gave my husband one for Christmas a couple of years ago. I don’t think it’s left his side since then. The charging cable is included; the only accessories my husband has bought is a case to protect it from scratching. He loves his iTouch very, very much - he gets free apps or cheap ones, and doesn’t seem to be lacking for any. As wifi hotspots become more common, it’s becoming more and more useful, but even without them, he still loves it. As for syncing, we have Macs at home, so I can’t speak to that.

You might want to also extend (confuse?) the question to include phone-disabled iPhones. With the next iPhone 4 coming out and the iPhone 3GS $99 at WalMart, there are going to be a lot of people upgrading and looking to get rid of their old iPhones - and they’ll work great as Touch substitutes.

According to the Apple web site, iOS4 will be free for Touch users.

He won’t need to use iTunes to install Apps. If he was an Internet connection, he can install them directly on the Touch.

There are lots of other threads around about the Touch if you do a search. I have the 2nd generation 32GB version. I love it and use it for music, video, and games. For me, there were only four accessories I needed:

  1. A second, more portable 120V charger cable for convenience (optional)
  2. An iPod to RCA video out so I can watch video on a TV or other device (optional)
  3. A case so it doesn’t get scratched to hell (required)
  4. Real headphones as the ear buds don’t fit comfortably in my ears and are not noise canceling (optional)

Other than the case, you can realistically get by without everything else, and there are tons of non-Apple vendors that sell all of the above for a fraction of the price Apple does. eBay is definitely your friend here. Depending on your intended uses, you may want to consider the iPad as well, though for me, it is too big for realistic portability.

Video conversion is a pain in the ass on all of them, but there is plenty of freeware to get video content from the Web or DVDs to your iPod. I use DVD Decrypter to go from the DVD to my computer, then use Videora for the conversion to the iPod format. I haven’t tried implementing iTunes on multiple computers so I don’t know how that would work. Hopefully someone smarter than me will pop in to answer that.

Just got one a couple of weeks ago. You can charge it via the included USB cable that connects it to your computer.

If you’ve already got a big collection of MP3’s (whether purchased earlier, or ripped from CD’s), iTunes will recognize them and happily load them into the iPod.

Two immediate accessory recommendations to protect your investment:
-a soft rubber case. The iPod surface is thin and glassy-smooth, making it difficult to grip securely by its edges. A soft rubber case provides more traction, and also provides protection in the event of a drop. $30 from the Apple store, tho you might find cheaper options elsewhere.

-a screen protector. Rather than allowing the glass screen to get scratched up, you can buy a transparent film to apply. In addition to protection the screen, it’s got an anti-glare matte finish, and also reduces fingertip friction. $15 from Apple store. If the film gets scratched/hacked, you can replace it; not so the screen.

I love my iPod Touch. I have the 3rd gen 32GB version.

I bought it for myself last Black Friday, and I have used it every day since then. I check my email from bed with it, keep shopping lists and other notes on it, and I use it to keep track of my weight loss. For my last trip home, I had Dollhouse S1, Up, and some Batman Animated/Superman Animated episodes on it, and for once I actually enjoyed the flight.

As for accessories, I have a hard case (technically a 2nd gen iPhone case) and an AC-to-USB adapter from ThinkGeek.

iTunes: Annoying. But the alternatives to it don’t work reliably. I actually just built a second computer and stuffed iTunes on it. Doesn’t need much horsepower to run if I’m just using it for synching.
He should be able to synch it to both machines, but god knows what’ll happen to existing music.
And if you have Wifi, you can jump on iTunes anywhere and download new apps right onto the device without synching.

I jailbroke mine, it became a lot more useful after.
Let’s see. Screen protector isn’t so useful, but get a nice armor for the body, preferably with a bit of friction in it. The one I got at Target seems to be made by someone named Incase with a leaf logo. Very nice.

The device itself: Very handy. I use it for chord practice, have a nice e-book reader on it, surf the web, read PDFs, check my e-mail at random places (that’s worth it alone: being able to read my e-mail in a pocket sized device when in the middle of nowhere? Checking my shopping list in Target, is good, sure, but I can see if something got shipped home when I’m in a bookstore’s cafe, and I don’t need a huge screen for that.

Plays music pretty decently, too. Only problem is it won’t shuffle albums, it’s either full shuffle or no shuffle.

A piece of advice: DON’T sync the music. Check off “manually manage music and videos” in iTunes on ALL computers the device is going to be hooked up to. That single piece of advice will save you 95% of possible ass pain.

I got a 32G iPod Touch for my birthday just a couple of weeks ago. I actually tried to give it back–I thought it was WAY too much for my friend to spend on me. She wouldn’t hear of it, though, so I’m stuck with it. :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s a neat little toy. It works better on my Wi-fi at home than my laptop does. I don’t download music much, but I imagine I’ll be loading up on episodes of This American Life to listen to while I’m on the road. I like the Tapatalk App for surfing message boards, and iShred is a really fun electric guitar app if you want to rock out.

I see that there may be a Netflix app on the way. I think it would be great for watching movies in bed. Oh, and another thing… the iPod Touch is great for surfing the web while you’re in the bathroom! :smiley:

I have one that I love, it’s a constant companion. I’ve never tried to sync it to two different computers, but I’m assuming it would be a nightmare. (That’s why I haven’t tried it.) It has your typical Apple annoyances, basically Steve Jobs thinks he knows what’s best for you, sets it up that way, and you can’t change it. Luckily Steve mostly thinks like I do so the annoyances are minor.

One piece of false advertising that might or might not affect you: It is **NOT **A2DP bluetooth compatible. It will play music through A2DP bluetooth, but you can’t use the track forward/back buttons to go skip through songs. Why they would not include this feature is completely baffling to me, and is a huge frustration for me when listening in the car. In fact, I abandoned bluetooth altogether and started playing it through a tape adapter instead. Maybe that won’t matter to you, but it really pisses me off.

ETA: yes, there is an app you can get that allows you to use bluetooth to skip forward/back, but it sucks. In case anyone was going to bring it up. You have to use Morse-code type multiple hits of the play/pause button; it’s a total pain in the ass and not a good idea when you’re trying to drive.

One things to consider is that the current iPod Touch will be upgraded rather soon (they tend to lag iPhone releases by a couple of months). This site advises against purchasing right now.

If the Touch is upgraded with the same screen as the newly announced iPhone, it will be a major upgrade - making the current model look pretty lame.

OH yeah. This is entirely true. Manually manage the music.

They are great. I bought my first one about a month ago.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=562704&highlight=ipod+touch

I would’ve gotten one years ago if I’d known how handy they are.

Supposedly the 4th generation is coming out soon and will have additions like a 128GB model (the highest the 3rd generation goes to is 64GB) and will supposedly have a camera. However most people don’t use or need 64 or 128GB. And most people have cameras in their cell phones. So a camera or a 128GB model might not really be worth it for most people.

Like others are saying, a used iPhone can be used too.

iTunes is actually really intuitive, but adding music can be a pain because it takes a while to sync. However it is a great program for finding free apps and free podcasts.

my brother uses poddox instead of itunes. I never got it to work, but that is an alternative program.

But I use mine all the time. I keep all my scientific papers and pdf files on there, as well as several ebooks. I have crossword puzzles, sudoku, and various other games. I check the weather and email. Plus more and more places are adding wifi so it comes in handy for that.

The only thing I don’t like is the device feels really vulnerable. It is built sturdy, but it is a $150-350 personal mini computer and I worry about dropping it. I’ve had many MP3 players in the past and I have dropped all of them at least once. However it didn’t affect any of them, but the ipod feels more fragile (there are tons for sale that have cracked screens, so it is obvious they are fragile) and seems like dropping it 2 feet onto concrete will destroy it.

There are leather cases to keep them safe, but they make them 2x more bulky. There are silicon cases too, but those don’t seem like they’d offer enough protection. A silicon case and a screen protector might protect it from moderate damage though.

The accessories are actually pretty cheap. I recently bought a car charger, USB cable and wall plug in charger for $7 combined on ebay. Silicon cases are $3-4.

I just got one. I haven’t really used it yet since I’m in the middle of ripping my CD collection, I need to get a case and I’m trying to figure out what apps I want. The number of apps is overwhelming, there are many apps that do the same things as each other. I don’t like the app store, it doesn’t appear to have a way to search for only free apps. It also doesn’t let you see the user ratings for different apps on the search results page. You have to click on each app to see them.

Some apps I’m looking for good examples of:
-gas mileage calculator
-internet radio
-offline maps & directions

That’s a pet peeve of mine, about the cases and films that the various Ipods seem to always need. It seems to me like a device designed for portable use shouldn’t need one. I’ve carried cheap plastic cellphones in my pockets and dropped them on the ground, and I’ve never had significant problems.

The selection of cases it also overwhelming. I want some case with a basic level of protection without adding much bulk, so I will be be able to fit it in my pocket. Maybe just an anti-scratch film, although those cheapen the feel. I think I’ll also get a leather case for when I want more protection, to hide the Ipod, and to look classy.

I’m puzzled as to why these things don’t have a stylus. There are some aftermarket ones, but they have mixed reviews.

http://www.goincase.com/ipod/

This is what I use. It does not protect the screen. It does not need to, unless you drop it face down on something jagged like rocks. There’s a slight curve to the back that really absorbs damage if you accidentally drop it.

I have a similar cover that looks like this.

What about the Invisi-Shield? Anyone use that? Seems to be the best of both worlds. Thin, clear peel and stick plastic covering that will still allow you to put a case on if desired. At $26 though it’s pricey if it is something I have to replace periodically.

Yeah, but the point being, that works, you don’t need a faceplate cover.

Here’s some non-iTunes iPod managers.

Now, most of these won’t work with the Touch. Poddox won’t. However, some do… provided you have itunes already installed on the computer. CopyTransManager does have a sneaky shortcut around installing itunes.

This might work for the others, too.

I heart my Touch. I do mostly use it for listening to music (I needed to replace my old ancient black-and-white screen one), but it’s come in super handy on trips. The day I discovered that some buses have Wi-Fi installed was marvelous.

He might be a little cranky it’s just a Touch so he can’t phone or text or have a 3g connection, but as long as he’s somewhere that has Wi-Fi he can use Facebook, Twitter and MSN/AIM/other chat apps.