Entertainment For Lively Minds
Should I get an IPod touch?
Posted by BazF on 21 April 2009 - 12:46pm.
Should I get an IPod Touch now or wait for the inevitable upgrade? Oh the anguish these decisions cause... My 30 gb IPod Photo(2005) is always full so the relationship with the Touch will have to be different but that may be a good thing. At the very least I would lose 'Dad, why have you got all this Bob Dylan and Stackridge on here?'. Anybody out there have one and love it and why? Anybody know what will come next and when? Thanks, Barry.
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You could wait forever
There's a new iPhone on the way very very shortly so I expect a new Ipod Touch is just around the corner as well - I doubt if they'll wait until September to update it. That may mean there are bargains around soon.
Product rumours.
All I can see happening is an increase in capacity to 64GB or more, but that might not be until September when the iPod line is usually refreshed. Apple could always silently upgrade the iPod Touch sooner, just keep watching their website.
There will probably be a new version of the iPod Touch software in the near future to match version 3.0 of the iPhone software. Unfortunately due to US accounting regulations Apple have to charge an upgrade fee for this.
Not sure they'll be bigger
I'm not convinced that the capacity will necessarily rise. The higher capacity ipods have, in recent years been the ones that don't sell as well.
There's a chart here to show how different ipods sell.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/01/ipod_shuffle_sales_surge_5...
Wolfson in sheep's etc etc
Which is why they dropped the 160 Gb classic ?
Does somewhat illuminate the possible motive for changing from a Wolfson DAC to a Cirrus-wish they hadn't as my new Classic is audibly inferior to my 8Gb previous gen Nano:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=355301
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/28/technology.apple
etc etc
Won't be taking it back as it has too many pluses-but annoyed to say the least.
"Which is why they dropped the 160 Gb classic?"
I've heard that the bigger hard drives failed a lot on the assembly line so they went with the 120Gb hard drive for future models as it was more reliable.
Apple and DACs
Interesting, would be curious as to what prompted the rather unpopular Cirrus move.
The reason why the 160GB iPod Classic was dropped.
The simple reason is that Toshiba, manufacturers of the hard drives used by the iPod, discontinued the 80GB and 160GB hard drives, replacing them with 120GB and 240GB models.
There's no indication as to why Apple haven't as yet fitted the 240GB drive to an iPod. I suspect its due to some technical problems with interfacing the drive, either due to its power requirements or heat dissipation, but I may be wrong.
A 100gb IPhone....
and that would make my day - as long as it also meant it wasn't tied up to O2, it also connected (without issues) to my wireless network and also roamed abroad without problems. Fear I'll have to wait.
Here's a stupid question for you
It's something £165 for a 8Gb Touch. And it's about £95 for a 8Gb Nano. Is there any reason, apart from having money to burn, why the Touch is worth £70 more. Is the user interface really that great?
Yes
One is a basic music player, the other a pocket computer that includes a music player and can locate the nearest taxi company/Chinese restaurant. They're altogether different products.
I (don't) have the Touch ...
But to get this functionality don't you also pay a running sum of ~30/month to 02 ? Or am I wrong-this # is what I recall as a typical iPhone deal-so presumably the Touch just needs Wi Fi access-for which you pay what ?
What is it about the Touch that people find worth that sort of money ?
(Puzzled owner of a Treo, on a pay as you go deal, so I don't even use all its functionality)
iPod Touch, not iPhone
The iPod Touch doesn't have the phone capability, so there's no subscription, you can use WiFi, but that can be from any source that you have access to - it doesn't use mobile networks.
The cost of living
Re the 2 answers. Appreciated, but my basic point to you both is "how much is the likely monthly cost of convenient WiFi access in the UK if I had a Touch ?"
Whenever I am in a situation when I'd quite like to use such a device, usually on trains, in stations or in airports, the access is pretty much *always* not free.
In my friendly local cybercafe the wireless is free-but the tables are laptop friendly ;-)
And Fraser, how far away was that access point when you were referred to it ?
"how much is the likely monthly cost of convenient WiFi access"
Depends how often and how much you use it, and where. I've not yet had to pay for Wi-Fi access with mine - if I'm out and about and looking for a hotspot, the app I use allows you to filter between paid-for and free access points. If there are none that are convenient, you can access the web over the 3G network (free for the first year, £10 per month after). It's slower than wireless, but good enough (of course this isn't an option with the iTouch, 'cause it's not a phone).
If you're at an airport then you're likely to have to pay, but that cost isn't device specific: it's the same whether you're using an iTouch or a laptop. In the example I refer to below, the access point was about 300 yards from where I was.
So yours is in fact an iPhone ...
... and you pay how much pcm for it ? (may I ask)
Cost
It's pay-as-you-go. All I pay for are my call charges, which are about £8-10 per month. Including the initial price of the phone, it works out a bit cheaper than my previous contract phone over the course of a year.
Thanks
Thanks-that sounds more reasonable. What's the original one-off cost and was is it w/ O2 ?
£340
And yes, it's still O2-only.
Bargain ...
So £460 in the first year ... and 120 thereafter ...
One wonders why they don't put it like that in the ads ;-)
Seriously though, thanks for the info-will revisit if/when my employer decides to fund one or I consider springing for access for the Treo or its successor.
Correction
I obviously realise that my mileage could/would vary ... I am just still somewhat reluctant to pay that sort of personal money out for comms/IT kit ... and yet of course was perfectly happy to buy a Classic and a Squeezebox, so I guess it's all down to needs and priorities as ever
No
With the iTouch it's a one-off payment, AFAIK. Because it's not a phone, there's no network contract involved. With the iPhone, you can either get the O2 contract and pay monthly, or buy outright and pay-as-you-go.
As for the features, I guess it's up to you how much use you make of the various apps and features. To give you an example of what's possible, I was in Portugal last weekend and got a text from a friend wanting a copy of a video I have. I used my iPhone to locate a nearby wireless hotspot (it gave me a map and directions), then used an app to log into my PC at home and upload a copy of the video from my hard drive to a web server, then e-mailed my friend with the details of how to download it. All without incurring any roaming charges, or indeed any kind of charges at all.
Hotspot finder
I've been looking for a decent hotspot finder for my iPod Touch, There's a promising looking one on the app store called "Spots" but with only two reviews; one says it's great, the other that it's crap, so no help at all. Fraser may I ask what you are using?
I've tried a few
Currently I'm using the cleverly-named "Wi-Fi Finder". It's not bad, but I'm sure there are better (paid-for) apps.
The image quality alone
is worth £70, add to that the fact that the touch screen works so well as does the acelerom..... er, tilt function - and you have something that everyone else is failing to copy to anywhere near the same effect.
In answer to the initial question though, I don't think the touch on it's own is worth it. The iPhone is a revolutionary all in one gadget, but the touch seems an expensive bit of kit if all you want is a new MP3 player.
Photos? Chinese restaurants? Phone?
I want to play some songs. Bring on the 240, bring it on. I'm only 52, I've filled a 20 and an 80 in the last few years, an extra 20 wo't last for long enough. at the rate I fill 'em, even with filleting, it's about 5k tracks a year. (Since I began podding, clearly, given the space-time continuum.)
As the great Debbie Harry once sang
... "get a pocket computer
try to do what you used to
oh yeah" ...
(or something like that-need to rip their greatest hits ...)
I have one, and love it.
When I replaced my creaking old iPod Mini last year, I had to make the choice between the cheaper iPod Nano and the iPod Touch (both 8Gb capacity, but the touch was £70 more expensive).
I'm very glad I opted for the Touch. I fell in love with it as soon as I picked one up in the shop and started to use it, but then it was probably just my unreasonable lust for gadgets influencing my decision.
"Who'd ever want to watch a video on that tiny screen?" I said to myself before I bought it... it turns out, *I* do. The picture quality's great, and there are tons of video podcasts available from the iTunes store.
The other really great thing about it is the App Store - you can find an application for just about anything. Hence, I can use my iPod to check my email, as a touchscreen remote control for my music server (or iTunes), as an electronic newspaper, a portable online recipe book, or even a talking German phrasebook.
If you absolutely know that all you want to do with it is play music, then one of the classic models would probably be better value for money, but I'd wholly recommend a Touch.
Imitation the sincerest form etc etc
Was also interested in this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meizu_M8
and its users forum:
http://www.meizume.com/minione-m8/7490-iphone-3g-vs-m8-inside-story.html
Interesting
It uses Flash memory, which is something I wish the iPhone used. On the downside, it'll probably have less apps built for it. Another bad thing about the iPhone: the camera is basically crap.
true
strong rumours of a better camera in the new iPhone - expected this summer - still only 300mp though - I think.
The iPhone
does use flash memory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphone#Specifications
Heh
Shows what I know. Thanks.
Guess that's ultimate virtue of it in a way ...
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"-ACC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke's_three_laws
(and thinking of the great man, a colleague sent me a cartoon a while ago, shows 3 monkeys and a black monolith.
Left monkey: "Hey, is that the new monolith 2007".
Middle one: "Yup. Gets 5 million channels *and* it controls my brain".
Right one: "Sweet" ... )
You could just not bother being an Apple whore
..and look elsewhere. (It's cheaper and the battery life is longer.)
Touch and go
I have a Touch and an old Nano.
There is no doubt in my mind the sound quality on the Nano is much better than the Touch.
But the Touch has other advantages. Videos - even those snagged from You Tube - are great, though the conversion can be slow.
I love the touch /iphone app Instapaper which lets me save internet pages for reading on the Touch when, say, I am on the train and away from wifi hot spots. When you set up this software, you just click on a read later button and the content is transferred to the Touch when you connect it to the mac and update it. The games are good, as is the email feature, but the real star of the show for me is the Remote app which lets me control my music on my Airport Express connected stereo systems.
Last year I bought a refurbished Apple TV and now thanks to a recent update it not only has a copy of all my music, it can also send that stream to my airport express connected stereo systems. And I can control it from my Remote app on the Touch. You can even use Touch to change the volume settings and set which speakers you want on.
I still have iTunes on my Mac and I keep newly added music on my hard drive and all my podcasts. But the main collection is on a separate drive.
This means I can play all my music with just the Touch on to control it and the Apple TV. It saves wear and tear on the Mac laptop and also the TV - though if I do turn it on I can see the odd video that I can include in my playlists.
Sorry to sound like a Mac 'fanboy' but this technology is reasonably priced (110 euro each for the Airport expresses and about 270 euro for the 160 gig refurbished apple tv) works well and lets me enjoy my music - which is the point - in a way that would be hard to imagine just a few years ago.
I too have a Touch and an old nano
and the Touch sounds great to me. You don't have Sound Check on do you?
I LOVE MY IPOD TOUCH
Bought an 8gb one 2 months ago to replace an old tired ipod mini and haven't looked back... get one!!!
Love the interface, love the slickness, love the interactivity, love the apps store, love the videos, love the games.. man i've never used a handheld device so much before!!
Got it all set up with wireless imac at home, and now use the itunes remote to play music from the imac too, its feckin' brilliant!
And found loads of free wireless hotspots too - MacDonalds are free, just register when in there online and hey presto, free web and nice milkshake to boot!
It'll just get better, so hold out for the new generation versions later this year and then go for it!
Thank You Massive
I am ready to buy one now - roll on the new generation Touch. Can it be sooner than September please Apple! Thank you to everyone who gave up their time to reply. The Word never disappoints...
Sony
I'm a Mac user. I love Macs. But I have to say that if sound quality is in anyway important to you, then it HAS to be Sony. I have the NWZ-818 (catchy, eh?) Walkman and the sound quality is far superior to the 2nd generation ipod that I also own.
Sony will be releasing the new X series soon, which is seen as an iPod competitor:
Sony demo
Ooooh... just found a nice demo:
Potential game-changer
Skype for iPhone also runs on the Touch: ...http://preview.tinyurl.com/cg57cf
Somewhat sharpens my q about costs or roaming versus average cost of wifi access pcm, though actually Fraser's £1000 over 5 yrs is actually about £4/week when I do the maths ...