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macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 8, 2008
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I live in a rural area that doesn't have much public WiFi. I probably wouldn't use it even if it was available.

Does anyone here not use WiFi and still feel that the Touch is useful?
 
I live in a rural area that doesn't have much public WiFi. I probably wouldn't use it even if it was available.

Does anyone here not use WiFi and still feel that the Touch is useful?

Just as useful as any other ipods, albeit the extra functionalities. Remember that the ipod is originally a portable music player, not a portable computer ;)
 
Remember that the ipod is originally a portable music player, not a portable computer ;)
In that case I find it difficult to justify paying $150 more than a Nano just to play music with a touch screen.
 
Agree with the poster above, without WiFi, it's a great media player, especially for videos. Most of the games apps work great on the Touch, too. It's a top-notch portable entertainment center with limited PDA capabilities.
 
I sold my iPod Classic after I got my iPod Touch and I don't regret it, except for the smaller hard drive capacity of the Touch.
In Germany we hardly have any free wifi hotspots. So I use the wifi feature mostly at home. It's more comfortable sitting on the couch emailing, surfing the weg etc with my Touch then with my Macbook.
And the AppStore gives you the chance to "upgrade" your Touch with some missing pda software.
 
Wifi isn't the only reason, it just makes it nicer.

The reason to buy it include:
Editable Calendar
Touch Screen
Bigger Screen for Movies
App Store

You should think about buying a router for your home though. It would let you use the youtube, mail and safari apps.

If I lived in an area without much wifi, I think I'd still enjoy using my touch. I like the touch screen and being able to edit my contacts and calendars on the go.
 
In that case I find it difficult to justify paying $150 more than a Nano just to play music with a touch screen.

If you are looking for mainly a music player, then an iPod touch is not for you. An iPod would be a better solution. I had an iPod 3rd Gen which didn't even have a color screen. It's still a great product for playing music, viewing calendar, contacts.
 
I wouldn't own a Touch if it hadn't come with wifi and the subsequent apps that take advantage of it. What you're left with is something you could find for less on better sounding, more versatile media players. Even the Apps, which you could put onto your Touch via iTunes if you didn't have wifi, are often wanting web info which they won't find if you don't have wifi.

- Safari
- Email
- Youtube
- Stocks
- Maps
- Weather
- iTunes store
- Apps store

All the above don't work without wifi. That's half the default apps that come with the Touch.
 
Wifi was the big selling point for me. I see my iPod Touch more as a pocket computing platform than a media player. I like being able to check my email, check the web, and such without having to subscribe to an expensive smartphone plan.

I might have gotten it anyways though. The interface is very slick and a few of the apps are quite good--although some of my favorites involve varying levels of net connectivity.

Without wifi---I would at least consider the alternatives. But for me it was the only option, so I never really thought about anything else.
 
Like others have said, I like the convenience of wifi, the ability to check mail, look at my calendars, play a game, watch a movie, listen to a song(s), etc. Best purchase I have made in a long time.
 
The thing is, when the Touch first came out, I read the list of its features and said to myself, "Nah, most of those features are useless without wifi," and since at the time I didn't have a wifi router at home, I decided to stick with the nano. Then someone bought me the Touch as a gift, and I haven't put it down since. Even without wifi, it was such a pleasurable media player to use. Of course now that I do have a wifi router at home and the app store has come out, it's a hundred times more useful than before, but even without wifi, it's the best ipod I've ever used. Whether or not that's worth the extra $150 is up to individual perception/opinion, I suppose.
 
If you don't need the wifi apps, and just want a great touchscreen media player, have a look at the Samsung P2. Most reviews online are out of date, as the P2 has had four major firmware updates since it came out a year ago. For $220ish you can get an 8gb P2, then update it for free to version 5.08 firmware, which gives you:

Music
Videos (16x9)
Photos
Contacts (sync with your Phone)
FM radio, RDS, and FM recording as MP3
Voice recording as MP3
Several games, including some that you can play 1:1 with other Samsung device owners.
Custom screen graphics including icons free to share and download.
World clock
Alarm
Sleep function
File browser with delete
Datacast (podcast) payback speed control
Simple calculator
And subway maps of major cities.

Bluetooth on the P2 supports 2 headsets at a time, file transfer, Mobile phone pairing, and can even be used as a wireless headset for VOIP on your PC. If your bluetooth enable cell phone is within 30 feet you can make and take calls on your P2.

I have both the Touch and the P2, and prefer the P2 for music. Video on the touch is bigger, but the P2 has better control options for video. P2's Music has a 7 band equalizer, Samsung's DNSe sound profiles, 3 user settings for sound parameters, and the ability to link a custom setting to a playlist. Photos have the same 4x zoom, although the Touch has a smoother zoom transition using two finger spread. There is a great text viewer app, and also a Text-To-Speech option within the PC application. If you're using a mac, you can put the P2 in UMS mode and simply drag/drop files onto it.
 
In that case I find it difficult to justify paying $150 more than a Nano just to play music with a touch screen.


umm.. nano has a tiny screen, and the ratio is 1.33:1 while it's 16:9 on the touch I think. Also, I got mine for $200, which is the same price as the 8GB nano. Mine is refurb, but still. You also get the App Store, which nanoes cant use. Much more functionality than "just to play music with a touch screen". It's got games for starters with accelerometer. But, space wise, nano is cheaper. Functionality wise, the iPod touch totally pwns the nano. But function is the main reason ppl buy the touch. I don't buy computers looking for hardware, I go for function. That's why I choose a Mac about 3-4 years ago. Genius..
 
I have a wifi router but don't understand why I would want to access the web thru the Touch at home when I can use a much larger screen instead.
 
Browse around the App Store and look at all the junk you can put on an iPod Touch. Most of the apps work on it, but a few are iPhone-only. That's the huge difference, as well as the interface is MUCH better than the click wheel. You can easily shuffle/repeat songs and switch between albums, songs, etc. If you play video, the screen is a good bit larger.

If ALL you want to do is play about 2GB of music, then get a Nano or Shuffle. But I would always recommend the Touch (or iPhone) above everything else.
 
Agree with the poster above, without WiFi, it's a great media player, especially for videos. Most of the games apps work great on the Touch, too. It's a top-notch portable entertainment center with limited PDA capabilities.

What, exactly, do you find to be limited about it's PDA capabilities? It is a full-featured PDA for my purposes. It kicks the butt of the Palm TX I replaced with it.

Aside from that I agree. It is a fantastic portable media device, particularly for video. I also use mine as an eBook reader with Stanza.
 
I really enjoy playing games, it helps when you have some time to blow while waiting in line or taking a break. Wifi is just the icing on the cake. But once you get used to wifi you become addicted. :)
 
Well for me Wifi was the selling point. I had a 30 GB Zune (haha don't laugh) before and the extra 2 GB was kinda like a mini bump (flash drive is nice though).
It all depends, even if you won't use wifi, if you like to have a nice big screen, the app store, or just don't need ALL your music with you at all times then you should get the iPod Touch. Size isn't that big and you can just slip it into your pocket. If you don't need those features you should decide on another mp3 player. No point in paying the premium price for features you won't use.
 
I probably would get a nano if Touch did not have WiFi. Where i live it's hard not to find a hot spot. Everywhere you go there are random not protected wifi connections.
 
I wouldn't go with an iPod touch unless you really like watching movies and videos on a bigger widescreen. Otherwise, go with a nano or classic depending on how big your library is.
 
What, exactly, do you find to be limited about it's PDA capabilities?

Mainly that there is no sync with my desktop. I use Windows, but not Outlook, so the only thing that syncs is contacts. Calendar, ToDo, Notes, all don't sync. And unfortunately I haven't yet found a third-party app that meets my needs -- most of them are too complex, I just want something simple that I can sync with and edit from my desktop as well as my Touch! So I guess I'm a bit grumpy that Apple didn't build in better syncing functionality into the Touch. I'd probably be happy if Apple came out with an iTunes-like program for Windows to manage the Touch's PDA functions from my desktop. And no, I don't plan to get a Mac, I'm the kind of person that loved DOS, and prefer to do everything from the keyboard with minimalistic use of the mouse. The one thing I find frustrating about iTunes is that a lot of keyboard commands I'm used to in Windows doesn't work, I shudder to think what a Mac OS would do to me! *g*
 
Probably only 20% Of my time on my Touch (7 Months) Has been not used on Safari, Email or Apps.

I absolutely love using it to surf the web, and i really think Apple should introduce an iPod Touch which cant play music, or videos, more of a PDA device, based on the touch.
 
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