iPod touch iPod Touch As A PDA

[MadDoc]

I am considering getting an iPod touch (perhaps today )

I will probably get the 16GB (as the 32GB is just a bit too much to explain to the gf!).

Although I will primarily use it for music (maybe films on trains, etc) I would like to know how it functions (or how it might function) as a PDA.

I have a lot of PDF files that I would like to be able to read on the go. I was also wondering if the SDK that is (soon?) to be released is likely to improve the touch's functionality as a PDA as I used to have a Palm Tungsten T5 which I really found useful but hated the UI!

Thanks,

MadDoc

 

[EnTg888]

I'd wait for the SDK, unless you want to email yourself all those pdf's and read them that way... for some reason, Apple made pdf's readable in Safari and Email but provided no way to load them onto the ipod. Otherwise, I use it as a PDA every day, it's awesome for calendar, contacts, notes, email etc--especially web browsing. The keyboard isn't too hard to use and it syncs easily with outlook calendar and contacts (which is what I use). Lacks support for Tasks though.

 

[Beric]

Yeah, my father needs to buy a new PDA some time, I'm just not sure if I should recommend the iPod Touch. He didn't seem attracted before, but with a suitable update, he might become convinced. GPS, especially, would be nice.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

I've had mine for a few weeks now and use it mostly as a PDA (sometimes I don't even carry headphones with me). I love everything about it and highly recommend it for the calendar, email, web, notes, contacts, etc.

The music and video is a great touch, too.

 

[swiftaw]

I've had mine for a few weeks now and use it mostly as a PDA (sometimes I don't even carry headphones with me). I love everything about it and highly recommend it for the calendar, email, web, notes, contacts, etc.

The music and video is a great touch, too.

Me too, although the one glaring omission is the lack of syncing for iCal's To Dos

 

[BrownManUPS]

The touch has the ability to read .doc, .pdf, .ppt, .xls, .txt, and other office task files, but you can't write to them. To put them on, you can use your email client and email them to yourself, effectively having offline storage...

When the SDK comes out, undoubtedly functionality will be released by some third-party to just upload the files through iTunes.

Currently, I couldn't live without it. I am always surfing the web and checking email and using the notepad for something. It is an amazing device.

 

[Star Destroyer]

I have been looking at the Touch for a PDA as well, and i think as soon as the SDK is released and someone creates a program to read (at least read and possible write to) microsoft office files, .doc, .xls, .ppt, .pdf etc, it will no longer be a thought i will just order it.... Because then it will have it all.

That is the only stopping me from buying one, without those i just cant justify spending the money when i already have a 30gb ipod and a macbook.

 

[ansalmo]

I'd hoped that the Touch would make a great PDA, but I've been disappointed by some features.

The main one for me is the pitifully weak alert notifications. I have (far too) many meetings every day, and need to be alerted when they're due (my memory is terrible!). With the Touch in a belt holster I rarely hear the alarms, and there's no vibrate option to fall back to either.

The recurring event options are a little too limited for me, since I have several meetings that occur on e.g. the third Wednesday of every month. These can't be set up on the Touch itself, though they are able to be set up on a Mac and synced across (IIRC).

The other thing I'd have loved to have seen would be Bluetooth - it's very much a nice-to-have, but it would open up the world of headsets for VoIP, external keyboards, BT GPS, over-the-air net access via a separate BT-enabled phone etc, etc.

Don't get me wrong - I think the Touch is amazing, but it just misses out on replacing my existing device. I'll probably wait for the 3G iPhone and see if that gives me what I need.

 

[Renator]

I used Palms for years, probably close to 20. My latest were LifeDrive and Palm T/X. I waited a long time before deciding to move to the Touch. I decided, after the release of the additional apps, to take the plunge. I've shelved my Palm. The Touch syncs seamlessly with Address Book and Calendar.

I agree with some of the "cons" mentioned in above listings. I wish there were a louder alarm, but I check my calendar more often. I put most of my "docs" on Google's "Documents" so am able to access them from anywhere I can connect wirelessly. I think the SDK will, eventually, give rise to other self-contained apps.

However, the Touch (16 gig) permits me to carry around just about all of my audio collection. I don't regret making the move.

 

[thesdx]

I've had mine for a few weeks now and use it mostly as a PDA (sometimes I don't even carry headphones with me). I love everything about it and highly recommend it for the calendar, email, web, notes, contacts, etc.

The music and video is a great touch, too.

Yeah, same with me. I rarely bring headphones with me, as I mainly use it for mobile web browsing, checking emails, etc. I use it like a laptop. Too bad it doesn't have a built-in speaker like the one in the iPhone.

 

[Orng]

I'm in the same boat, I've decided to buy a Touch, more as a PDA/mobile internet device than as an iPod. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to hear that many people use it this way.

I've been waffling on a MacBook Pro lately, I need the power but only at my desk. On the go, the Touch meets all my mobile computing needs, especially with Google docs.

A Touch/iMac combo saves me money and accomplishes exactly what I need. But that's just me, and it helps that I'm surrounded by WiFi everywhere I go.

 

[galstaph]

My touch is used kinda like a pda. I use the calender quite often and enjoy having my music with me as well. I also like the third party apps that are starting to come out (have to jailbreak, but hey, what else can you do?)
Looking forward to further expansion of capabilities when the sdk gets going

 

[macpluslaptop]

I use the Touch as a PDA - contacts are great, but the notepad is the most useful feature for me. I throw everything into it. Even though I live in NYC it's hard to find free Wi-Fi, so the lack of reliable connectivity is disappointing (not enough for me to go to iPhone!). But I find myself checking my e-mail at home from the Touch, and Safari works well too. Someone's just put out a free Wikipedia search app, and that's amazing.

I loved my Tungsten T, but once you get used to the Touch you realize how much easier it is to use.

What I'm really waiting for is a slightly larger Touch that one can read e-books on...

 

[iMpathetic]

To be honest, I use my iPod more as a PDA and second computer than I use it for music. It is still my main iPod but I'm typing form it here. I have almost managed to get my dad to buy one to use for work. I think apple severely underestimated how versatile the iPod is.

 

[James L]

I'd wait for the SDK, unless you want to email yourself all those pdf's and read them that way... for some reason, Apple made pdf's readable in Safari and Email but provided no way to load them onto the ipod. Otherwise, I use it as a PDA every day, it's awesome for calendar, contacts, notes, email etc--especially web browsing. The keyboard isn't too hard to use and it syncs easily with outlook calendar and contacts (which is what I use). Lacks support for Tasks though.

It takes about 30 seconds to load a pdf onto the Touch. You just make it an embedded bookmark in Safari, and the next time you sync your Touch it is loaded on.

Here ya go. Just install it on your Mac, and drag and drop the pdf onto it. It will automatically embed it into Safari for you.

Linkety:

http://www.magnetismstudios.com/MonkeyBusinessLabs/FilemarkMaker

 

[IMCAMOD98X]

James,
Do they make a program like that for a non mac os????

 

[Crossbone]

I use my iPod Touch as a PDA everyday that I'm at school, i take some quick notes, type my homework into, the time (durh lol)

 

[wizard]

To be honest, I use my iPod more as a PDA and second computer than I use it for music. It is still my main iPod but I'm typing form it here. I have almost managed to get my dad to buy one to use for work. I think apple severely underestimated how versatile the iPod is.

I think this is very true and probably has put some steam into Apples Tablet/Newton2 teams. As long as Apple grasps what the average guy wants in his pocketable tablet they could be raking in the dough. Especially considering they screwed up with their long term AT&T contract. If anything AT&T is a negative with respect to Apple's ability to move iPhones.

In my mind, and something that has already been mentioned, Bluetooth is very important and APPle needs to get it in place on a Touch device real soon. Further it has to be full Bluetooth supporting as many profiles as is reasonably possible. Sadly it is not part of the Mobile OS that seems to be getting much attention. I'd also like to see them use an Audio jack that is compatible with iPhones, that is Audio IN & OUT. Those two things and an open SDK would be huge for Touch based devices.

Thanks
Dave

 

[wizard]

I'd hoped that the Touch would make a great PDA, but I've been disappointed by some features.

Hopefully they will be taken care of real soon.

The main one for me is the pitifully weak alert notifications. I have (far too) many meetings every day, and need to be alerted when they're due (my memory is terrible!). With the Touch in a belt holster I rarely hear the alarms, and there's no vibrate option to fall back to either.

I can see where this would be a serious issue for some. Unfortunately I think you are stuck with what the current models offer up. Even if somebody made a clip on noise maker/vibrator it would not be a suitable substitute for a properly built machine.

The recurring event options are a little too limited for me, since I have several meetings that occur on e.g. the third Wednesday of every month. These can't be set up on the Touch itself, though they are able to be set up on a Mac and synced across (IIRC).

This is something that needs to be highlighted to Apple as much as possible. They do respond, eventually, to consumer demand / wants especially software ones. Even so the bigger issue is that you can't hear the coming meetings so this generation device is out of the question.

The other thing I'd have loved to have seen would be Bluetooth - it's very much a nice-to-have, but it would open up the world of headsets for VoIP, external keyboards, BT GPS, over-the-air net access via a separate BT-enabled phone etc, etc.

A USB Host port would have been a "nice-to-have" but Bluetooth is a must have! That Bluetooth needs to be open too. The thing with Bluettoh is that this is exactly the type of device where it would shine.

Don't get me wrong - I think the Touch is amazing, but it just misses out on replacing my existing device. I'll probably wait for the 3G iPhone and see if that gives me what I need.

I'm waiting my self but it is more for finding out what the SDK delivers to us. If the SDK is without a lot of limitations then the value to me of the Touch based devices goes up tremendously. The other thing is that I really want a Touch device that like you is a littel more capable as a PC rather than just a music player.

One thing I would also hope for is some sort of Scripting environment coming to the Touch devices via the SDK. Being able to program in your own high level environment would allows scripts that lead to work a rounds for the above problems. For example a simple script that takes an Alarm "signal" from a calendaring App and simply drops into a loop where it tries to get you attention. Nothing fancy here.


Dave

 

[phooi]

I am thinking about getting a 16gb iPT to replace my ipod and my palm Vx. I've done a number of searches on this topic but would like to have more feedback.

I am looking to primarily have the capabilities to

1. Wireless access (iPT yes)
2. Contacts. How easy is it to move my contacts from a Palm to the iPT?
3. Calendar. How easy is it to migrate the calendar from Palm to the iPT? Can it also sync with outlook and Google calendars? I keep a number of calendars on different platforms. I would love to consolidate to one but I think I will need to keep 2 (business & personal).
4. To do lists. Looks like iPT does not sync to anything yet. Where do the notes get stored on the iPT when you connect it to a computer (I have a MBP).
5. Email. How many email clients can it support? Can it provide access to separate accounts? I want to have access to my work and personal email but don't want them lump into one single view. I'd like the ability to view all my personal emails on one and my work on another view. Is this possible?
6. Apps. With the SDK coming, looks like that problem is solved since I don't plan on jailbreaking the device.

I'd love to hear people's feedback on these features and other things people are doing with the Touch as a PDA device. My needs are pretty basic right now but would love to hear how people are doing more with it.

I also plan on going to the Apple Store to really check it out.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ctt1wbw]

I just got my 32gig Touch last night. I've been holding out for a few years for a thing like this. No hard drive! I love it. It seems to be very capable in the pda realm, but what I'd like to see is someone make available the handwriting recognition that was in the Newton Messagepad. That would be such a sweet thing.

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

Wirelessly posted (iPod Touch: Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

That may come with the SDK having been released, but keep in mind you'd be writing with your finger as a stylus wouldn't work with the touch.

 

[ctt1wbw]

Wirelessly posted (iPod Touch: Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

That may come with the SDK having been released, but keep in mind you'd be writing with your finger as a stylus wouldn't work with the touch.

That might be true, but a new release of the Touch could have a screen made for a stylus...

 

[IgnatiusTheKing]

That might be true, but a new release of the Touch could have a screen made for a stylus...

I just don't see them adding a stylus; it just doesn't fit.

It wouldn't be in keeping with what Apple is doing with the touch interface on the other products (iPhone, MBA, MPB, etc.) and it also would represent a step backwards in the evolution of the technology.

 

[ctt1wbw]

The Newton is anything but a step backwards. Imagine what Apple could do with the Newton with today's technology. The Messagepad 2100 was amazing, and that's 10 or so years old.