iPod touch iPod Touch for a business person?

[kikedeolivos]

Hi all,

I have a Macbook (switched from Windows on Oct 08) and never looked back, even though I have an XP partition for some apps. not available for Mac.

For my portable Calendar, Contacts and WiFi (not very strong)I use a 5 year old Palm TX that is serving me well. Some third party apps. are installed as well. (Pdf reader, Documents To Go - Word/Excel, Passwords Manager, etc.)

For music purposes, I have an 8 Gb Sony Walkman with noise canceling headphones, which sounds wonderful.

I DON'T play games, watch videos, etc. with my Palm. (No need to)

One of the things I don't like about the Palm is the GUI which I like from the Touch, plus, To Sync Calendar / Contacts, etc. on my Palm, I have to do it with the archaic Palm Desktop or Export a VCal file and import it on iCal.

Bottom line: I would like to go Apple but there's not too much info on Apple's website about the "everyday" apps. that I'm interested in the most: Calendar /Contacts/To Do's/Memos with "reliable" alarms (are they loud?) and how are they synch'd with iCal, Address Book on my Macbook. Also, can I just create (on the road) a Calendar event, assign an alarm to it, etc..(Same goes for a contact)

Can the Touch read Pdf files? How do I put them inside the Touch's memory?
Can the Touch read Word docs?
Does it have a Text Edit or similar to "type" a note, ie, groceries list or whatever?
Does it have Bluetooth?
Does it have a "Note taking" app?

Sorry for so many questions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[davidinva]

Apps for iPod Touch

Suggest looking at apps and reviews of them at the iTunes Store. Also check out some current magazines at a larger bookstore. Many say apps for iPhone but most work on the iPod also. WiFi works well on my Touch.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

I'm interested in the most: Calendar /Contacts/To Do's/Memos with "reliable" alarms (are they loud?)

The alarms are not all that loud. I use my cell phone instead. I do have a mild hearing loss, though, so YMMV.

and how are they synch'd with iCal, Address Book on my Macbook. Also, can I just create (on the road) a Calendar event, assign an alarm to it, etc..(Same goes for a contact)

They're synced through iTunes. Whatever you put in iCal and Address Book will show up on your iPod Touch. Just go into the last tab in iTunes when you're on your Touch and activate both. Same for email

Can the Touch read Pdf files? How do I put them inside the Touch's memory?

There are several ways to do this. I use DropBox, which allows me to sync things between multiple computers, access those files anywhere from the internet, etc. The app for Touch/iPhone lets you save the ones you want by marking them as favorites. You can view any of your favorites whether or not you have internet access (once it's downloaded, of course).

Can the Touch read Word docs?

Same thing with DropBox. You can use it to view, but not edit. Also, Documents to Go (I'm sure you're familiar with that one, I have a TX as well that my wife uses) has an app in the App Store.

Does it have a Text Edit or similar to "type" a note, ie, groceries list or whatever?

I use ShoveBox for that. It has a desktop client as well that allows me to sync them so I don't lose them.

Does it have Bluetooth?

Yes, but honestly I haven't found a use for it yet.

Does it have a "Note taking" app?

There is a Notes and Voice Memo app on the Touch already. You actually can't even delete them, haha. You'll need a 3G Touch (current 32 or 64 GB models) to use the Voice Memo app.

I use my iPod Touch instead of my TX and I couldn't be happier. I can do so much more with it that I don't miss the one or two things I can't.

 

[kikedeolivos]

The alarms are not all that loud. I use my cell phone instead. I do have a mild hearing loss, though, so YMMV.



They're synced through iTunes. Whatever you put in iCal and Address Book will show up on your iPod Touch. Just go into the last tab in iTunes when you're on your Touch and activate both. Same for email



There are several ways to do this. I use DropBox, which allows me to sync things between multiple computers, access those files anywhere from the internet, etc. The app for Touch/iPhone lets you save the ones you want by marking them as favorites. You can view any of your favorites whether or not you have internet access (once it's downloaded, of course).



Same thing with DropBox. You can use it to view, but not edit. Also, Documents to Go (I'm sure you're familiar with that one, I have a TX as well that my wife uses) has an app in the App Store.



I use ShoveBox for that. It has a desktop client as well that allows me to sync them so I don't lose them.



Yes, but honestly I haven't found a use for it yet.



There is a Notes and Voice Memo app on the Touch already. You actually can't even delete them, haha. You'll need a 3G Touch (current 32 or 64 GB models) to use the Voice Memo app.

I use my iPod Touch instead of my TX and I couldn't be happier. I can do so much more with it that I don't miss the one or two things I can't.

Hi and thanks or your answers.

Couple of questions though,

1) I use to create Pdf's on my Mac: can I drop them on the Touch for later viewing on the road? Do they look fine? Zoom function?

2) The "voice memo" thing: do I need to buy the xtra Apple's headphones with mic or (like the iPaq) the Touch has an internal mic and speaker for that? You can't delete voice memos" on the Touch? What's the solution? Reset the Touch to factory settings?

3) Something the TX lacks and maybe useful at home: can the Touch act as a "remote" (IR?) to control iTunes functions (Music, radio stations, volume, etc.) on my Macbook?

So, for my needs (no music / video/games) which model do you suggest? I have a 1Gb SD card on my TX and that's plenty for my use.

Thanks again.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

1) I use to create Pdf's on my Mac: can I drop them on the Touch for later viewing on the road? Do they look fine? Zoom function?

If you went the DropBox route, you'd put them in your DropBox folder on your Mac, which would then upload to your remote DropBox. Once that's done, you'd mark it as a favorite on you iPod so it'd download it. Pinch in/out is zoom and works fine.

2) The "voice memo" thing: do I need to buy the xtra Apple's headphones with mic or (like the iPaq) the Touch has an internal mic and speaker for that? You can't delete voice memos" on the Touch? What's the solution? Reset the Touch to factory settings?

If you get a 32/64 GB model, it will come with headphones that have a mic. There's no internal mic on the Touch. I just did a test and you can, of course, delete memos back off the Touch. There's a big red delete button.

What I meant was you can't delete the apps themselves if you wanted to. That goes for all the apps that come on the Touch. Sorry for the confusion. You can delete voice memos and notes, just not the apps (there are some apps I'd love to get rid of, but can't).

3) Something the TX lacks and maybe useful at home: can the Touch act as a "remote" (IR?) to control iTunes functions (Music, radio stations, volume, etc.) on my Macbook?

The Touch lacks IR, but Apple makes an app called Remote that allows you to control iTunes through WiFi. No discernable lag and, of course, since it's through WiFi you don't even have to be in the same room to use it.

So, for my needs (no music / video/games) which model do you suggest? I have a 1Gb SD card on my TX and that's plenty for my use.

Well... if you truly don't want to put any music on it, the 8 GB should be fine. However, the 8 GB lacks the Voice Memo function and is quite a bit slower than the 32/64 GB models. It's still lots faster than your TX, but if you want the microphone in (Voice Memos, Skype, etc) you'll need the 32/64 GB model. Plus, it's a great music player and if you have an MP3 player right now, you can consolidate two devices into one by using a bigger Touch.

 

[kikedeolivos]

If you went the DropBox route, you'd put them in your DropBox folder on your Mac, which would then upload to your remote DropBox. Once that's done, you'd mark it as a favorite on you iPod so it'd download it. Pinch in/out is zoom and works fine.



If you get a 32/64 GB model, it will come with headphones that have a mic. There's no internal mic on the Touch. I just did a test and you can, of course, delete memos back off the Touch. There's a big red delete button.

What I meant was you can't delete the apps themselves if you wanted to. That goes for all the apps that come on the Touch. Sorry for the confusion. You can delete voice memos and notes, just not the apps (there are some apps I'd love to get rid of, but can't).



The Touch lacks IR, but Apple makes an app called Remote that allows you to control iTunes through WiFi. No discernable lag and, of course, since it's through WiFi you don't even have to be in the same room to use it.



Well... if you truly don't want to put any music on it, the 8 GB should be fine. However, the 8 GB lacks the Voice Memo function and is quite a bit slower than the 32/64 GB models. It's still lots faster than your TX, but if you want the microphone in (Voice Memos, Skype, etc) you'll need the 32/64 GB model. Plus, it's a great music player and if you have an MP3 player right now, you can consolidate two devices into one by using a bigger Touch.

Thanks.

So the processor on the 8 Gb model is slower than the one on the 32/64g Gb versions? Didn't know that...

One disagreement though: a year ago, I went to an Apple store to check the Touch's music Audio quality and it doesn't hold a candle compared to the Sony Walkman Noise cancelling and Audio features; just the buds that comes with it are enough justification to go to the Sony's route. I will agree with you on the "consolidate" devices route but I don't carry the Walkman 24x7.

Thanks again.

 

[iThinkergoiMac]

So the processor on the 8 Gb model is slower than the one on the 32/64g Gb versions? Didn't know that...

The 8 GB Touch has the same hardware as the iPhone 3G and the 32/64GB Touch the same hardware as the iPhone 3GS (sans phone, camera, and GPS of course...).

One disagreement though: a year ago, I went to an Apple store to check the Touch's music Audio quality and it doesn't hold a candle compared to the Sony Walkman Noise cancelling and Audio features; just the buds that comes with it are enough justification to go to the Sony's route. I will agree with you on the "consolidate" devices route but I don't carry the Walkman 24x7.

I assume the noise-cancellation requires the Walkman as well as the earbuds? Otherwise, couldn't you simply put the buds on the Touch? Just curious... The Apple earbuds are crap.

 

[kikedeolivos]

The 8 GB Touch has the same hardware as the iPhone 3G and the 32/64GB Touch the same hardware as the iPhone 3GS (sans phone, camera, and GPS of course...).



I assume the noise-cancellation requires the Walkman as well as the earbuds? Otherwise, couldn't you simply put the buds on the Touch? Just curious... The Apple earbuds are crap.

Your assumption is correct; it's a combination of both and sadly can't be used on other devices(because of a physical -on purpose designed by the bad boys at Sony- limitation on the miniplug, like a metal guide).