Capella
2007-12-26, 21:35
Hi guys! I got $325 for Christmas and I'm considering an iPod Touch, but I'm not 100% positive yet, so I thought I would ask my good friends at AppleNova whether the Touch is REALLY the right product for me. I thought I would lay out what I'm (likely) going to be doing with it and see what you guys think.
I already own an iPod. Actually, I own two, but only one works. It's a 20GB 4G iPod- not color, doesn't play videos, but plays music, and that's all I need. I have videos on my computer, but none of them are iPod formatted. I don't even know how to format videos to be used on an iPod, probably because I don't have one that can use them. Also, I don't plan to be looking at photos on it, either. So the video and photo features won't be used, but the music feature will be.
I like the fact that the Touch can surf the web. But I'm on a college campus 90% of my time that has wireless in all the public areas, and I almost always have my laptop with me everywhere unless I'm only going to eat, and I never check my email then. So the fact that it can check email and surf the web might be occasionally convenient (i.e. check Rutgers' NextBus website to see how long before the next bus to another campus comes), but will likely almost never be used, because I have a laptop to do that with.
I do, however, have a large amount of text files that I like to read. Most are novels, courtesy of things like Project Gutenburg and the Baen Free Library. Others are fanfiction or the like that I really enjoy and have saved to read over and over again. Most of these are in .txt and .rtf files, while a few are .html or .pdf, but those are the minority. Until November, I was reading them on an old PocketPC, but the battery has given out and the stupid thing doesn't have a replaceable battery. Now I just read them on my laptop. This laptop reading is fine for general use. On the other hand, I fly home a few times a year, and my laptop isn't going to last an hour ride to the airport, wait time there plus a two hour flight, plus a two hour car ride home from the airport in Florida. The PocketPC did manage to last that long for reading. I'm hoping the iPod Touch would do the same- considering book reading wouldn't take much battery (I imagine, since I'd have wi-fi off and I wouldn't be listening to music at the same time), I imagine it should last that long. On the other hand, I would have to jailbreak it and find an app to read these files, and I don't know how to do that; I'm sure someone here could tell me how easy that is and/or point me to the right places though.
It comes down to this: I may not need a Touch, as beautiful and covetable as it is, to do what I want to do. If all I'm going to do is listen to music and read text files/eBooks, I could theoretically keep my current iPod and buy something like a Palm Z22. (Which is also a lot cheaper than an iPod Touch!) It would be less convenient to use 2 devices, rather than just have 1 that does both, but I really don't know if I would ever use the Internet surfing feature or if I would ever watch videos, which means the Touch's advantage may not be worth it. So, what would you recommend?
EDIT: And, if you recommend against the Touch, idea for a Palm-like replacement? The Z22 is cute and tempting but lacks an SD slot and the next up model is $100 more :(
I already own an iPod. Actually, I own two, but only one works. It's a 20GB 4G iPod- not color, doesn't play videos, but plays music, and that's all I need. I have videos on my computer, but none of them are iPod formatted. I don't even know how to format videos to be used on an iPod, probably because I don't have one that can use them. Also, I don't plan to be looking at photos on it, either. So the video and photo features won't be used, but the music feature will be.
I like the fact that the Touch can surf the web. But I'm on a college campus 90% of my time that has wireless in all the public areas, and I almost always have my laptop with me everywhere unless I'm only going to eat, and I never check my email then. So the fact that it can check email and surf the web might be occasionally convenient (i.e. check Rutgers' NextBus website to see how long before the next bus to another campus comes), but will likely almost never be used, because I have a laptop to do that with.
I do, however, have a large amount of text files that I like to read. Most are novels, courtesy of things like Project Gutenburg and the Baen Free Library. Others are fanfiction or the like that I really enjoy and have saved to read over and over again. Most of these are in .txt and .rtf files, while a few are .html or .pdf, but those are the minority. Until November, I was reading them on an old PocketPC, but the battery has given out and the stupid thing doesn't have a replaceable battery. Now I just read them on my laptop. This laptop reading is fine for general use. On the other hand, I fly home a few times a year, and my laptop isn't going to last an hour ride to the airport, wait time there plus a two hour flight, plus a two hour car ride home from the airport in Florida. The PocketPC did manage to last that long for reading. I'm hoping the iPod Touch would do the same- considering book reading wouldn't take much battery (I imagine, since I'd have wi-fi off and I wouldn't be listening to music at the same time), I imagine it should last that long. On the other hand, I would have to jailbreak it and find an app to read these files, and I don't know how to do that; I'm sure someone here could tell me how easy that is and/or point me to the right places though.
It comes down to this: I may not need a Touch, as beautiful and covetable as it is, to do what I want to do. If all I'm going to do is listen to music and read text files/eBooks, I could theoretically keep my current iPod and buy something like a Palm Z22. (Which is also a lot cheaper than an iPod Touch!) It would be less convenient to use 2 devices, rather than just have 1 that does both, but I really don't know if I would ever use the Internet surfing feature or if I would ever watch videos, which means the Touch's advantage may not be worth it. So, what would you recommend?
EDIT: And, if you recommend against the Touch, idea for a Palm-like replacement? The Z22 is cute and tempting but lacks an SD slot and the next up model is $100 more :(