Considering Returning my iPod touch. Alternatives?

I'd consider buying it from somewhere with a no-restocking fee return policy (I know costco has a 90-day policy, Best Buy has 30 days but I'm not sure of a fee). Then wait for the hacking to finally work.

you'll get everything you listed below (with the probable exception of h.264 video, but you can convert on your computer) if hacking actually works, or if Apple has a change of mind (hah).

In the mean-time, the touch does things so well its not worth getting rid of it for calendar and notes support alone, for nothing that does those is comparable in many other areas.

For notes, however, someone mentioned on this board, and it works, that you can create notes as contacts, add a name for the title and only add a notes entry so it pops up first. If you make all of the names start with the letter z (i.e. z-shopping list) then all of your notes will be at the bottom and your notes and contacts will be effectively seperated.

For calendar in the here and now, you can 1.) do it on your computer and make notes to change (I know, not a great workaround) 2.) If you have internet, use google calendar (works great on computers, not so great on ipod touch but does work), or something else or 3.) use pen and paper.

 

Not as glamorous, but works well and for some things works better than iPhone.

Get a Treo. I use a 700p on Sprint. Fast 3G web, better email than iPhone, exchange compatible mail (for work), good notes/to do, good mp3 player, good video streaming including live tv (mobi tv) apps, plays movies including avi, wmv, mpg- so no more conversion to Apple formats, and mini SD cards are nice - get several - i used a 2Gb, but you can get 4Gb.

Oh yeah, built in keyboard, phone, bluetooth, VIDEO camera are nice.
And you can stream radio stations including XM for free.

There is a benefit to having third party apps.... listen up Apple!

That being said, I just returned my iPod Touch today, for an 8Gb iPhone (won't be used as a phone- just for pda-ish features). Prob a waste, but I am itching to get one.

 

Keep the touch (or downgrade to the 8gig) and get the Sprint Centro coming out in about 13 days. It's a new Treo that's smaller, a bit more minimalist, and the screen has a higher pixel density (and they got rid of the stupid 2 pixel white border around the screen), among other things. Best part is, it comes in metallic black OR metallic candy apple red, and it's only $99. Otherwise the 755p is out NOW if you're desperate, but they're roughly the same thing and there's about a $200 price difference (plus the 755p is kinda dated-looking IMNSHO).

Otherwise there's always the Razr 2, it's actually really slick and the software is quite advanced. It's on like four networks. Bluetooth and mini-USB cable sync with iSync/iCal/etc.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
have you no soul?
you NNEEEEDD that touch!

 

If you want a PDA then buy a freaking PDA. The iPod is, um, an iPod.

 

like somebody mentioned above, get a palm centro smartphone in two weeks, it has all the stuff you need. office, micro SD card slot. Video of every format. Opera mini4 will be out soon, its not mobile safari, but 80% there.

sure, if you want a big screen, palm TX is probably on sales somewhere now.

 

perhaps the cowon x7 (if it is not vapourware)

the cowon x7 if ever it makes it off the forums and into people's hands. the only problem is that it seems to run windowx mobile meaning it might be a bit of a beast for hardware and have some sound quality shortcomings as a result.

i am waiting for this - as i use osx for my machines for actual stuff, but find ipod as wonderful as it is to lack a few things i would really like to have. naturally the sound can be tailored and tinkered to be better than any other portable source (lod, amp etc).

anyway, i am waiting, waiting waiting

 

If the music and movies are more important, no PDA can really match the Touch in terms of user experience.

IF PDA functionality is more important, then get a PDA. Or return the Touch before your return period ends, and wait for the Touch to get hacked.

If they can hack the Touch, then there will be some good basic PDA functionality in terms of the functions you described.

Also, they have found a way to revert a 1.1.1 iPhone to 1.0.2. I'm not sure if new iPhones with 1.1.1 installed can use this though.

 

What I do as a workaround for the lack of Calendar add functionality and notes is I just type stuff into a "notes" contact in the address book and calendar stuff in a "calendar" contact, and then when I get back to my Mac I just update iCal and sync it. Sure it doesn't beat a dedicated app, but it gets the job done.

 

Yeah, it's surprisingly usable for a workaround hack, mainly because you can create some groups on your Mac and then use them on the Touch to organize your notes/events/etc.

I just wish you didn't have to select 'New Field' to access the Notes field. It's a minor thing, but adds a couple of extra taps to the process.

 

I don't know too much about it but you could possibly try the Archos 605 WiFi.

 

Music and Video are two different issue:

As far as musics are concerned,Touch's advantage includes the visual effect: cover flow, UI, animation, and the music organization. its very good at handling large amount of musics. (obviously have to be less than its capacity)

palm PDA's music function is indeed very basic, the way it organizes music and playlist is not as good as iPod, however, Palm Centro can play DRMed WMA music. The other good feature of palm PDA is that It's browser will allow you to download podcasts from website.

On the video side, its a different story. Touch's video function is basic, very basic. and only play one codec. While Palm PDA can play all kinds of videos.

 

(EDIT- just elaborating on clevin's post)

The iPod advantage also extends to music management- iTunes, and if you bring up WMA DRM then iPods are compatible with the biggest seller of DRM music- iTMS. I understand some people don't like iTunes, but think about the experience of navigating hundreds of songs on an iPod (dead simple) vs. doing the same thing on a Palm PDA. For non power users the iPod wins hands down (actually I would include other dedicated players too, such as Creative, iRiver, etc.)

Palm PDA's do have TCPMP (or whatever it's called now), but you will have to re-encode movies anyway at a lower resolution (especially with that lower-powered Centro.) So if you're going to need to do that anyway, I prefer the H.264 (and MPEG4) on the iPods (but is basically a wash IMO.) The iPods also have way better music and video battery life than any Palm PDA.

And who the heck wants to watch a movie on the Centro? The screen is smaller than even regular Palm PDA's. The screens on most Palm PDA's are not so great for movies (I've owned a few PDA's), watching movies on the Touch is a much better experience.

These are the reasons why I say if you are looking for a music/video player first (but would like PDA abilities), then go with an iPod (or a Creative or whatever), and maybe get something like a Zire 22 along with it, or use your phone, etc. But if PDA functionality is of prime importance, then get your PDA and you will also have some decent music and video options with it.

 

there is difference between coding videos to H.264 and divx/xvid. the former need double or triple time to do the coding... while on such a small screen, coding to H.264 really has little advantages.

And, there is always possibility that you don't need to transcode some videos.

There are also advantages that affect video play, altho not an intrinsic video play issue. such as, You can actually use Palm's device as a external HDD through various ways. While with Touch, You have to drag the video into iTunes before it can be transfered. Also there is issue about "two way transfer" vs. "one way transfer"...

 

Yes, but the iPod is also fine with MPEG4, which is pretty much equivalent to Divx/Xvid in quality and encoding time.

It is possible you won't need to transcode, depending on your personal collection.

True, but those are easily defeated with freeware on both Mac and Win. Also, the actual utility of using a Palm as HD is debatable, as they typically don't have as much memory as even an iPod Touch, much less a HD-based iPod. And you can actually watch iPod-stored videos on your computer, you can play those back the same as videos stored on your computer in iTunes.

(Of course, I'm not disagreeing/arguing with you in general, we're just elaborating on some of the various points whatever platform you choose-)

 

there is no problem as long as the problem is getting clarified. lol

yes, when I mentioned about external HDD, I meant primarily the SD card, not palm itself. TX officially support up to 2G SD cards, while some brands of 4G is ok too, Centro officially supports 4G microSD.

about Touch can be hacked to do external HDD... There is a bad attitude towards hacks by apple, which isn't very nice for end-users. Im not saying its impossible to do it, Im just saying there is a difference between officially supported and officially against (including updates that trys to break it)

also, Im not sure about the way you think about MPEG4, I think MPEG4 is not a codec, and Im not sure if you can equal it to divx/xvid.

 

SD cards are getting up there, I do agree if you are a file system guy then you have more versatility with Palm than with iPod.

I wasn't completely clear about MPEG4. But for example, you can encode via HandBrake with both H.264 and Xvid for playback on an iPod. Xvid is commonly used now as well, although normally it's in an avi wrapper. Regardless, with both Palm and iPod I would say transcoding is generally required. There are some higher-end Windows Mobile devices with VGA screens that can do full-sized avi files IIRC.

 

lol did you not even research what you were buying? Its not a PDA Its an IPOD...you know, plays music n ****? Best touch screen device in the world probably..?! Buy a paper pad and write things down in that

Dont get why everyone keeps going on about Calender etc, dont think il ever use it for that, I simply want a device that is very slim (not the iphone then!) has a huge screen, a brilliant touch screen, can watch vids and the biggie...play music omgomg!

 

Has anyone looked at the nokia n800??

http://www.nseries.com/products/n800/#l=products,n800

I too am will to get off the touch bandwagon, especially after what apple is doing with the updates on the iphone.

perhaps jobbs is doing this because he is actually going to release a pda soon and he is making sure there is no overlap LOL

Has anyone used one of these nokias?

 

Its hard to imagine an apple PDA can survive, all apple's newest gadget, iPhone, iTouch, *iPDA/iNewton* share same core OS, once its hacked, they will be just like each other except the restrains of Hardwares. SJ can dream all he wants, the fact is apple isn't technologically strong enough, heck, every M$'s products got hacked almost 100% of the time, and apple's codes are mostly copied from OOpen Source communities...

anyway, if apple thinks users would carry that many of its similar products, I would have to say SJ is insane. I have no problem selling the iTouch and get an iNewTon if necessary. But iNewton probably will just kill iphone and iTouch, so I am very much in doubt about apple will do such a thing.

About Nokia n800, indeed, its a lively community with its OS being open and supported by open source community, there are many free 3rd party apps for it, have both opera dna firefox browsers, its indeed a great product. I actually checked it out after I returned my first iTouch, its just little bit too expensive, and I have a palm T|X already.

 

If you want to spend at least $600, go look for a PDA. You won't find the media options that the iPod Touch has, but you'll find everything else. Good luck on the search.

 

LOL what i did was i went and bought a refurbed macbook and that i snow my ipod/pda! haha

it does everything i could want except .... fit in my pocket. However i turned a nice leather notepad binder into a case for it and paired it with an airport express and it works quite nicely. I just wish i could could have those same features in a smaller version. Maybe one of those subcompacts will be a good alternative depending on the price if/when they come around.

The n800 looks pretty neat, but at that price point ( sd cards and taxes still extra ) you are looking at a laptop, its just too much money. I will be interested to see what apple does for the subcompact notebook.

 

please do some search first yourself. and respect the fact.

there is a PDA resource website www.brighthand.com

Take a look at market leader and latest products:

Palm T|X costs $299, with discount everywhere, you can get it for $260
Nokia n800 costs $359-$400.
HP iPAQ 210 enterprise costs $450

where is that

from?

SD card is pretty cheap now, I got my 2G for $15. www.newegg.com has 4G for $32. Im sure 8G's price will go down very soon (now @$64). also, as a PDA, 2G/4G is quite enough.

are you suggesting apple's subcompact notebook will fit in people's pocket?