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iPod touch The touch mountaineering

S

skidawg007

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 9, 2008
2
0
Hey guys,
So as the title says, I'm into mountaineering (and generally anything outdoors; skiing, hiking, camping, etc...picked mountaineering as title because it's more extreme for this device) and am wondering how this little gadget would fair out there? My favorite player was the iRiver iHp-120 hard drive player, and I never really had any problems with it. Maybe a little at around 12,000ft but it was a good player. Since then I've had the Zune 30GB (which I just sold on eBay) and currently have the Cowon D2 (but am not to happy with it either for a number of small reasons).
Anyway, I've been impressed with the ipod touch from what I've seen...a very well designed player. I'm particularly interested in the WiFi feature, and some of the apps you can put on it...basically how upgradable it is (sorry I guess I'm rambling...sort of tired). Anyway, I've read it can't go much below freezing, doesn't do well with moisture, and won't work above 10,000ft (though most things like this really aren't designed for extremes outside of those). I'm wondering if any of you would still suggest this player for me despite what I want to do with it though. I'd like to have flash now so I don't have to worry about moving parts, good battery life, and 20GB or more of storage. I sure like this thing, but am not sure it would be the best fit for my active outdoor lifestyle.
Thanks in advance for any help
 
I ve noticed that during the winter when it goes down to around -20 celsius (canadian here) or so I feel the screen gets a big laggy and it's not so bright, and if you put it in your pocket it stays warm and there no problem,, buuuut, then if you pull it out to say change the song then you get a lot of condensation on it, and you ll also have to take your gloves off to change the song, the screen won't work with your glove son....hope that helps a bit
 
Juanster,
-20C?...that's definitely much colder than the tech sheet says it can handle. Thanks for the response, that's good news so far.
 
yeah I know, but i thought it would be kinda dumb and not so safe going ice fishing without my phone..lol.. the phone wasn't at -20 the whole time anyways, but i have left my video ipod in the car overnight sometimes and it takes forever to "boot" up, i have to warm it up first and then it fires up right away
 
I have no experience of taking the touch up mountains however, I once destroyed an ipod by taking it with me on a trip up into the mountains in Peru. My companions were all carrying Creative Zens, which coped with no problems even at 5000m. The Ipod decided to give up the ghost at around 3500-4000m. I never got it to work again.
 
skidawg007 said:
Hey guys,
So as the title says, I'm into mountaineering (and generally anything outdoors; skiing, hiking, camping, etc...picked mountaineering as title because it's more extreme for this device) and am wondering how this little gadget would fair out there? My favorite player was the iRiver iHp-120 hard drive player, and I never really had any problems with it. Maybe a little at around 12,000ft but it was a good player. Since then I've had the Zune 30GB (which I just sold on eBay) and currently have the Cowon D2 (but am not to happy with it either for a number of small reasons).
Anyway, I've been impressed with the ipod touch from what I've seen...a very well designed player. I'm particularly interested in the WiFi feature, and some of the apps you can put on it...basically how upgradable it is (sorry I guess I'm rambling...sort of tired). Anyway, I've read it can't go much below freezing, doesn't do well with moisture, and won't work above 10,000ft (though most things like this really aren't designed for extremes outside of those). I'm wondering if any of you would still suggest this player for me despite what I want to do with it though. I'd like to have flash now so I don't have to worry about moving parts, good battery life, and 20GB or more of storage. I sure like this thing, but am not sure it would be the best fit for my active outdoor lifestyle.
Thanks in advance for any help
Click to expand...

I love the iPod touch and iPhone very much, but I don't consider them very "upgradable" they don't have an option to add a memory card or anything like that.
 
i had the d2 as well and sold it quite soon. the touch worked for me too from minus 6 to minus 20 and always outside as i do not have a car. everyday 2 hour walk in that temperature in blizzard conditions. the ipod fared better than i but i cannot really say for responsiveness as i was not up to touching anything out there, i just wanted to get to work
 
generic environmental requirements

It sure looks like Apple copied over their limits from other machines without trying to specify real ones. The altitude limit of 10,000 feet, as I understand it, comes from hard disks -- they need more air pressure than that to maintain the read/write head distance off the platter. But in a solid state device, I can't think of anything else that needs air pressure. And for temperature, heat will damage things, but cold shouldn't do more than shut down the battery.

Any more informed comments?
 
The only concern I'd have for you is that the iPod Touch is less "one handed" than some other players. You can certainly unlock and use it one handed, but if you're planning to change songs on the fly on a mountain that might be tough.

What about getting an iPod touch and a shuffle? The ipod touch could be for downtime, and the shuffle could be clipped to a backback or your shirt and would be nearly indestructable. A silicon cover would protect it from most moisture and dust, and a 1gig is only 50 at retail. An older one or refurbed would be incredibly cheap, and then you get the touch and fun stuff but have your rugged player for the slogs up the mountain.
 
Yeah, I was thinking of getting a Shuffle or Nano for running, even if I have an iPod that has Nike+ on it. I'm not willing to lose the touch, then again, maybe even the Nano. I think the Shuffle would win. The iPod touch is a great device, but probably won't be suitable for hiking. I would, however, still suggest it as a device for home use, etc. Just not for your hiking.
 
Once left my backpack outside over night with my touch in it and it was fine. January and a foot of snow in north west nj
 
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