iPod Touch for internet use

[TSE]

Hey guys I was thinking since I have $400 to spend about the iPod Touch. The reason why I want it is because - my iPod Mini gets pretty bad battery life and don't feel like putting money into it right now and the iMac that is in my sig is in the middle of the family room so my whole family can see what I am doing which is really annoying when I am chatting on facebook to a girl and they are peeking over.

I have an apple wireless UFO model thingy and I was just wondering, is the iPod touch a good option for chatting on facebook, myspace, youtube, etc.? I will of course also use it as an iPod too. Does the iPod touch support AIM Express or does it support the chatting feature on facebook?

What can't the iPod touch do on the internet browser?

What do you guys think?

 

[nick9191]

The iPod Touch does pretty much all that.

However for the same price, you might as well get a new computer

http://cgi.ebay.com/Apple-iBook-G4-...yZ111422QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[TSE]

I need a new iPod anyways, so I might just go with the touch because I already had a laptop and it was overkill for me, I just want some basic internet capabilities.

Any second opinions? Does the iPod touch support flash?

 

[ColinEC]

The iPod touch does not support flash, unfortunately.

If I were you I'd wait until the next generation of the iPod touch is released (I heard it should be coming around September).

 

[TSE]

Do you think the next iPod touch will support flash?

What does jailbreak mean too, I hear that you can hack the touch somehow?

 

[JML42691]

The Safari app does not support Facebook chat through the website, but you can chat on Facebook through Facebook's application for the iPhone/iPod touch, it is a free download from the App Store. And in means of other chat clients, AIM has an application on the App Store, and there are other applications that can handle other chat clients.

 

[TSE]

Ok excellent, thank you so much for the help so far guys.

What does it mean to jailbreak or unlock the iPod Touch?

 

[JML42691]

Ok excellent, thank you so much for the help so far guys.

What does it mean to jailbreak or unlock the iPod Touch?

It means that you can install other apps on it that are not supported by Apple, and most are free, but doing so voids your warranty with Apple, it is all done via software changes, no physical changes to your device.

 

[TSE]

Is it recommended? Can it break your iTouch?

 

[JML42691]

Is it recommended? Can it break your iTouch?

I personally would not recommend it, just because you are voiding your warranty and are trying to get around certain ways, but it is honestly up to you. As to breaking your iPod touch (not an iTouch, a big pet peeve of mine), it is very difficult to break it if you follow the directions and ways that your jailbreak method tells you to do it, but if you are careless then it is easy to break your iPod. But for your needs here, there is not a whole lot to be gained by jailbreaking your iPod touch, because as far as I know, there is no way to add flash support to the iPod by means of jailbreaking.

 

[TSE]

Ok, are the speeds generally acceptable?

 

[JML42691]

Ok, are the speeds generally acceptable?

On what, the Safari app? If so, then it is slower than your speeds on a regular computer connecting by wifi, slow enough for you to almost forget that you are on a high-speed connection. But with other apps that do not involve loading complete web-pages (Facebook, AIM, NYTimes), it loads pretty quickly.

 

[TSE]

Ok I think I am going for it when the new ones come out in September! Thanks guys!

Any last things I should know that are bad about the iPod Touch?

 

[JML42691]

All I can suggest is getting a screen protector to prevent scratches and to make the screen easier to clean.

 

[alphaod]

For the same price you could get a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet and that supports flash and everything else too.

 

[TSE]

For the same price you could get a Nokia N810 Internet Tablet and that supports flash and everything else too.

My dad will probably not let me buy that, he is an Apple fanatic.

 

[Clyde099]

I would def. wait for the next iPod touch update. Good luck!

 

[Clyde099]

Oh, you could also consider one of those Asus EEE laptops.
I think they go anywhere from $250-500

 

[alphaod]

My dad will probably not let me buy that, he is an Apple fanatic.

Who's paying?

 

[techlover828]

My dad will probably not let me buy that, he is an Apple fanatic.

that's close minded but ok, definitely wait until September (probably the 9th)

 

[TSE]

My dad is a control freak he works for IT and is really close minded if you guys watch the show King of the Hill he is just like Hank Hill, he even looks like him I always tease him about it.

 

[Eric S.]

I consider the Touch pretty much a toy for surfing the web. It can do basic stuff, but it's frustrating and painful to try to do any real work on it. (For one thing, it is very hard to scroll web pages without accidently opening a link you didn't intend to touch.)

The music interface is very clumsy. It plays fine, but if it's in locked mode and you want to do something simple like pause or change the volume, it can require four or five separate actions.

And if you leave wifi enabled all the time, the battery drains pretty rapidly.

All in all Apple has built an amazing range of capabilities into it, but due to the small form factor it has real limitations.

 

[TSE]

I have a couple more questions:

Can it play Hulu.com?

I heard of a way to use it as a phone over the internet for free so I can call other people's houses and stuff, is this true? And how?

 

[winninganthem]

Jailbreaking your iPod Touch does not harm your device in any way.

At the very worst, if something goes wrong, you can restore the iPod back to factory settings and it will work with no problems.

And I would say that for the price you're paying for an iPod Touch I would buy an eeePC instead. The Touch is a high priced item and if it didn't come with my computer I wouldn't ever buy it with my own money.

 

[J&JPolangin]

I've got a iPod Touch and they are a cool "toy", they do many things fairly well...I looked at the Sony Milo and the Nokia 810 but reviews of those didn't fair any better and with the iPod, I knew I was getting an "Apple" device that would work.

All in all, they are expensive for what you get but its all about convenience in your shirt pocket.