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iPod Touch for internet use

Eric S. said:
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.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but you can easily access volume and pausing/play from locked mode simply by double-tapping the home button. That brings up a mini-menu for volume and pausing/play options. Far from four or five separate actions.

.neuro
 
Hmm....I would have to agree with some of the comments above.

The iPod touch is used mainly as a music and video player, more like a PMP - with games, apps and internet.

I don't particularly enjoy using internet on the touch as the keys are small, the battery drains VERY fast, sometimes YouTube is slow (still is...), there is no Flash, and most websites with lots of things (eg pictures) tend to crash consistently.

If you have $400 and don't really NEED a new iPod, then an EEE PC or other Netbooks (hence the name) will let you use the internet freely. I think you can get an iPod Shuffle and an EEE PC (the cheapest model) for $400.

Just wait and see if there's a revision for the iPod touch, they might add some new goodies and the price may drop.
 
neurobound said:
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you, but you can easily access volume and pausing/play from locked mode simply by double-tapping the home button. That brings up a mini-menu for volume and pausing/play options. Far from four or five separate actions.
Click to expand...

Thanks - I wasn't aware of that. So, cut it down to three actions then, instead of just one for either the Classic or Shuffle:

1. Remove from pocket (unnecessary if there's a tactile button or click wheel, because you don't have to look at the display).
2. Double-click the button
3. Pause or set volume.

With the Classic or Shuffle I can reach in my pocket and do this in one quick action.
 
The iPod touch will be upgraded soon with a price drop. If you buy a touch now, pay $9.95 for the 2.0 update and check out Apps Store built in. Many many free apps, AIM chat is free! DO NOT JAILBREAK IT!! NO NEED TO. My new iPod touch is a great Wi-Fi browser, a lot of free networks everywhere!! Pay $299 now or wait? I'd wait.
 
I concur with a previous poster

If you desire something small and versatile, a Netbook (such as a $329, Acer One) makes a much better device than a Touch.
 
I don't know anything about EEEPCs, where is a good place to buy them? Which one do you guys recommend, and I would want to put Windows XP on it, I don't like Linux really.

Have they just been updated? Is now a good time to buy so if I buy one will they get updated in November?
 
The eeePC's aren't that good, in my opinion. The MSI Wind or the Acer Aspire One are much better choices.
 
Eric S. said:
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.
Click to expand...

Pause music:
1) Double-click home button
2) Press Pause

Change volume:
1) Double-click home button
2) Change volume

Am I doing it wrong?
 
Eric S. said:
Already asked and answered. :) It takes three steps for the Touch vs. one for the Classic or Shuffle.
Click to expand...

I grant that its slightly more difficult to pause/change volume, but my message above was to point out your exaggeration.

I, personally, don't find it too much more work (although I don't like that I can't do it without looking as with the classic). Oh, and if you have the hold on its another step for the classic/shuffle, which I seem to think many would have.

:)
 
mobilehaathi said:
I grant that its slightly more difficult to pause/change volume, but my message above was to point out your exaggeration.
Click to expand...

It wasn't an exaggeration, I just didn't know about the double-click shortcut - which I thanked the other poster for pointing out.

But it seems more than slightly more difficult when your boss walks into your office, starts talking to you, and you miss the first two sentences. :eek:

I, personally, don't find it too much more work (although I don't like that I can't do it without looking as with the classic). Oh, and if you have the hold on its another step for the classic/shuffle, which I seem to think many would have.

:)
Click to expand...

Unlike the Touch, I never have to put the the Classic or Shuffle into "hold" mode because they never switch to another function seemingly based on body temperature. :)
 
Won't fit in your pocket and bad battery life.

EEEpc and all those micro notebooks still will not fit in your pocket and have a max battery life of 5 hrs at best.

I want to have something that I can use while exercising that can fit in my pocket that can allow me to quickly check my mail and do some light surfing on the web. On top of that, I also want to be able to sync to my Mac without any hassles.

Sure the iPod touch costs as much if not slightly more (cf. 32GB version) than those micro pcs, but I'm paying for ubiquitous portability. Heck, it's smaller than my Moleskine© notebook!
 
JML42691 said:
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.
Click to expand...

I disagree with that. It is slower than a computer on broadband wifi for sure, but it definitely still feels like a high-speed connection. Try surfing over EDGE if you want to be reminded what it feels like not to have a high-speed connection.

Not only that, but since the OP's main computer is an imac G3, I doubt the touch would feel much slower at all.

Eric S. said:
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.)
Click to expand...

Again, gotta disagree. I find it really easy to use a touch (or iphone) for internet, and I stopped accidentally opening links after a couple of weeks with the thing. I've used my iphone as my only internet source during several trips with no problems at all (except for the aforementioned painful EDGE speeds when no wifi is available).

Maybe some kind of ultra portable PC would be a better choice - I have no real experience with them, so I won't comment on that. But I will say that an ipod touch can be a very competent and effective internet device.
 
Ah, maybe that's it.

I might just go with a cell phone and a 10" asus EEEPC, because the main reason why I wanted a touch was to sell my ipod mini and then replace the ipod with the touch and than download that phone thing on it so i can use it as a normal phone via wifi, but I don't know how to do that.
 
I bought my iPod touch to be mostly an iPod (my first iPod actually), and disregarded the browsing as a gimmick...until I tried it.

This device is SO good for what I do on the internet (checking mail, reading forums, RSS feeds, google searches, etc) that it has become my #1 'checking' resource and has obsoleted me needing to bring a laptop on most personal trips. It is just that good.

I love it.
 
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