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Why should I buy an IPod Touch...?
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Zaphodski
16-02-2010
My soon to be 14 year old daughter is nagging me for one of these (because we told her that an I Phone is a totally out of the question ) and I need to be convinced that it's £140 well spent. Also, can someone confirm that the more expensive models are just for more memory? Finally, has anyone managed to attach a GPS capability to one and can they use MSN? Oh I've just read that it doesn't have an organiser or radio....although I'm sure there's an 'a$p$p' available..... Does it have a camera? Thanks for your help
Zaphodski
16-02-2010
What alternatives are out there that are functionally equal if not better even though they may not have the 'street cred' for the younger generation?
clonmult
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“My soon to be 14 year old daughter is nagging me for one of these (because we told her that an I Phone is a totally out of the question ) and I need to be convinced that it's £140 well spent. Also, can someone confirm that the more expensive models are just for more memory? Finally, has anyone managed to attach a GPS capability to one and can they use MSN? Oh I've just read that it doesn't have an organiser or radio....although I'm sure there's an 'a$p$p' available..... Does it have a camera? Thanks for your help”

No camera on the iPod Touch.

GPS is a no-go, although I'm sure I've heard rumours of someone getting it running.

Radio - not a chance, at least not regular radio. Maybe an app that would do the internet streaming radio, but that'll be useless out and about.

I never used mine as an organiser, but I was sure it had calendar/contacts in there, so the basics of an organiser were available.

Its a good bit of kit for a kid - I let our kids use mine, and it was good for movies, they loved the games
FlatProblem
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“What alternatives are out there that are functionally equal if not better even though they may not have the 'street cred' for the younger generation?”

Nokia 5800 maybe, unless its the phone part you are against? You can stick memory cards in that too so arent fixed with the memory you get with it.
David Tee
16-02-2010
I've got one and I use it all the time. I've put my favourite playlists on there from iTunes, I got a few games as apps (some good ones, too), it's logged into my home Wi-Fi so I check my mail and also browse the web. Some of the apps are really useful - cooking ones, language ones... I even run the Sllngbox app and watch TV over it.

Seriously, since I bought it last autumn I've never stopped using it. I've bought a load of gadgets over the years. This is one that I actually use.

Hope you buy it for her - I love happy endings...
Zaphodski
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by David Tee:
“I've got one and I use it all the time. I've put my favourite playlists on there from iTunes, I got a few games as apps (some good ones, too), it's logged into my home Wi-Fi so I check my mail and also browse the web. Some of the apps are really useful - cooking ones, language ones... I even run the Sllngbox app and watch TV over it.

Seriously, since I bought it last autumn I've never stopped using it. I've bought a load of gadgets over the years. This is one that I actually use.

Hope you buy it for her - I love happy endings...”

Thanks for your comments. However she already has a laptop and a portable cd / radio player. What does it do that these two devices can't do (except, of course, having a picture of an apple with a bite taking out of it on the back)? She also has a DS. Perhaps I'm just getting too old and cynical however for £140 what does she get besides holding it up in front of her laptop webcam and saying 'I've got an IPod'?
Gormond
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“Thanks for your comments. However she already has a laptop and a portable cd / radio player. What does it do that these two devices can't do (except, of course, having a picture of an apple with a bite taking out of it on the back)? She also has a DS. Perhaps I'm just getting too old and cynical however for £140 what does she get besides holding it up in front of her laptop webcam and saying 'I've got an IPod'?”

The best thing is the massive amount of free and cheap apps available from the app store which basically allows the iPod/iPhone to do almost anything, had my iphone for over 18 month and still am downloading apps weekly, Plants vs Zombies is excellent

The best thing about the iphone over the ipod is that it adds a Camera, GPS (with compass) and the internet no matter where you are and ofcoarse standard phone functionality.
Mystic Eddy
16-02-2010
You can get a GPS adapter for the touch; admittedly it isn't cheap and makes it bulky, but it does turn it into a good sat nav (compatible with any GPS software on the App Store).
David Tee
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“Thanks for your comments. However she already has a laptop and a portable cd / radio player. What does it do that these two devices can't do (except, of course, having a picture of an apple with a bite taking out of it on the back)? She also has a DS. Perhaps I'm just getting too old and cynical however for £140 what does she get besides holding it up in front of her laptop webcam and saying 'I've got an IPod'?”

Me too. Plus other ipods, desktops, stereos, mobile phones etc. However, with the exception of my laptop which I use for work, the ipod touch is now my second most used device.

Gormonds point is right - the apps make a huge difference. They're either free or very cheap and there's nothing about them that's comparable to a laptop. They're fun - and that pretty much sums up the device for me too.
PrinceGaz
16-02-2010
The biggest selling point of the iPod touch has to be the apps. I've had mine for about a year now and I continue to refine the selection I have installed to make it better do everything I want it to do. The sheer range of apps is unmatched on any other mobile device (except of course the iPhone which uses the same AppStore).

The £140 iTouch would be the 8GB model which will be quite limiting if it is intended for use with things like a large music library and (especially) videos, as the 7GB of space available to the user will be used up quickly by those. The OP really needs to find out what his daughter expects to use an iTouch for. The more expensive 32GB and 64GB iTouch 3rd gen models also have a faster processor and other upgraded hardware compared with the 8GB model, but that is unlikely to matter to her, though the additional storage space for a large collection of music and videos could.

The iPod touch is a great device, probably second only to the iPhone as something to be seen with, but it has its limitations, especially the 8GB version unless you only want it for the apps.
john176bramley
16-02-2010
I agree with the above poster the 8GB model probably won't have enough storage for most people. I managed to pick up a used 16GB model for £85 and I love it. You can do almost anything on it and the whole is certainly greater than the sum of it's parts.
Gormond
16-02-2010
I have a 16GB iPhone and TBH I could happily cram everything I use into the 8GB and think I wanted money on the extra space. All I need is about 1GB for apps, 4GB for music and 2GB for videos.
Zaphodski
16-02-2010
It's the apps she's after (after street cred') and she's mentioned I Tunes however as I don't believe she owns a CD or likes parting with money she won't be loading it with much. I see her using it as an internet portal for Facebook and MSN (it does support these doesn't it ) which she more or less does with her laptop now. However I thought the 8GB version was also 3rd gen though I was also going to ask if the memory is easily upgraded or fixed. Thanks for all the advice
PrinceGaz
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Gormond:
“I have a 16GB iPhone and TBH I could happily cram everything I use into the 8GB and think I wanted money on the extra space. All I need is about 1GB for apps, 4GB for music and 2GB for videos.”

Which would mean that with an 8GB model, you would have absolutely no space left on it as only 7GB is available for user storage, and once space starts running low you may be asked to remove stuff when trying to add other content.

If you go mad with apps, you can fill 7GB pretty quickly. But music can fill it even quicker (well unless you're like me and compress it to as close as possible to ruining it, as I convert it to 64kbps AAC HE), and videos could fill 7GB in no time (an old TV series of 24 episodes of 23 minutes each, for a total of about nine hours took about 2.3GB even at the highest quality most time-consuming conversion options on my PC despite my using the lowest final file bitrate offered).

The thing with the iPod touch (or the iPhone) is you cannot add extra storage to it as it has no memory-card slot; you are stuck with what you opt for originally. It is critical that you choose a model with enough storage for your likely needs (and if you haven't owned one before, you may need more space than you think).
john176bramley
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“It's the apps she's after (after street cred') and she's mentioned I Tunes however as I don't believe she owns a CD or likes parting with money she won't be loading it with much. I see her using it as an internet portal for Facebook and MSN (it does support these doesn't it ) which she more or less does with her laptop now. However I thought the 8GB version was also 3rd gen though I was also going to ask if the memory is easily upgraded or fixed. Thanks for all the advice ”

Yes you can get apps for MSN mobile messenger and Facebook. There is no such thing as a 3rd gen 8GB touch, it is exactly the same as the 2nd gen, only the 32Gb and 64GB models are 3rd gen. You can't upgrade the storage on an ipod touch.
Zaphodski
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by john176bramley:
“Yes you can get apps for MSN mobile messenger and Facebook. There is no such thing as a 3rd gen 8GB touch, it is exactly the same as the 2nd gen, only the 32Gb and 64GB models are 3rd gen. You can't upgrade the storage on an ipod touch.”


Have Amazon got this wrong then? See the technical details....
john176bramley
16-02-2010
Originally Posted by Zaphodski:
“Have Amazon got this wrong then? See the technical details.... ”

Physically it is identical to the 2nd gen, the only difference is it has the iPhone OS 3.1 Software installed, I don't think it would make any difference. The 3rd gen 32gb and 64gb have faster processors which in theory will allow them to run more power hungry games.

For me a used 16gb 2nd gen represents the best bang for buck at the moment, you can get twice the storage for under £100. I understand buying used stuff isn't for everyone but I've bought 2 used 16 gb 2nd ipod touches for under £90 and they've both been excellent.
PrinceGaz
16-02-2010
I would concur that a second-hand 2nd gen iPod touch 16GB or 32GB is probably the best thing to get these days, unless you know you need the higher performance hardware of the 3rd gen 32GB and 64GB models which will cost considerably more (most people don't and never will need it). You won't get it in the original packaging but I guess it all depends on how important the packaging versus the product inside is.
clonmult
17-02-2010
Originally Posted by David Tee:
“Me too. Plus other ipods, desktops, stereos, mobile phones etc. However, with the exception of my laptop which I use for work, the ipod touch is now my second most used device.

Gormonds point is right - the apps make a huge difference. They're either free or very cheap and there's nothing about them that's comparable to a laptop. They're fun - and that pretty much sums up the device for me too.”

You do realise that someone who already has a laptop already has access to a large amount of free software working on a screen thats considerably more usable.

An iPod touch is a nice gadget, but there is no way that its a must have. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Sure, there are some nice apps, but nothing thats "killer", especially for someone of that age.

I did like the Touch while it was working, but I'm finding as much in the way of truly useful functionality via the new and ludicrously cheap Nokia 5230. Even the Ovi store isn't that bad at all.
David Tee
17-02-2010
Originally Posted by clonmult:
“You do realise that someone who already has a laptop already has access to a large amount of free software working on a screen thats considerably more usable.”

Just how thick do you think I am?

Originally Posted by clonmult:
“An iPod touch is a nice gadget, but there is no way that its a must have. Not by any stretch of the imagination.”

Agreed. Which is why I called it a fun device. TBH I don't think an Ipod, nevermind an Ipod Touch is a must have. If we're entering that debate, my folks have successfully managed without any PC's for years so they'd argue that none of what we're talking about here are "must-haves". It's a nice-to-have.

Originally Posted by clonmult:
“Sure, there are some nice apps, but nothing thats "killer", especially for someone of that age.”

In my experience, kids of that age tend to make their own minds up regarding what is "killer" or not. My nephew is 15 and he's permanently downloading apps - and sharing them / discussing them with his mates.
TheBilly
19-02-2010
I bought a new ipod touch this week. It's pretty good except for no flash on safari.
Gormond
21-02-2010
Originally Posted by TheBilly:
“I bought a new ipod touch this week. It's pretty good except for no flash on safari.”

Flash on mobile devices is so lame that it's not a massive loss.
alanwarwic
22-02-2010
You forget that the new Flash is hardware enabled to run faster that on many PC's.
It should be standard on Android shortly.
Nexus One and thr Droid get it this week I think.

Not the greatest invention in the world but it is a very large part of the web.

Easier to get Adobe to update Flash than the 10's of thousands of web sites to rewrite because Jobs said so.
john_locke
22-02-2010
Originally Posted by alanwarwic:
“You forget that the new Flash is hardware enabled to run faster that on many PC's.
It should be standard on Android shortly.
Nexus One and thr Droid get it this week I think.

Not the greatest invention in the world but it is a very large part of the web.

Easier to get Adobe to update Flash than the 10's of thousands of web sites to rewrite because Jobs said so.”

Sadly, every time Adobe updates flash it just gets worse.
alanwarwic
22-02-2010
Originally Posted by john_locke:
“Sadly, every time Adobe updates flash it just gets worse.”

Not sure how flash with low CPU overhead is worse.
Is also very useful for BBC HD on netbooks.
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