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iPod touch Validating a new touch

Muncher

Muncher

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Apr 19, 2007
1,465
0
California
Let me start off by saying I discovered a broken m:robe in my backpack the other day at school. The screen was practically blank (the backlight shows it's on) and the body was dented. It refuses to play half of the songs... well, basically, it's a great excuse to get an ipod. I really want a touch, but I can't seem to validate putting down $250 if I can get a functionally equivalent brand-less 8GB mp3 player. I could even get an 8GB nano that would do everything I needed. Whenever I think of spending more money, I remember the $1400 I spent on a new imac just last August. I really don't have that much money.

I think I have a couple options:

a) Close my eyes, press buy, and not think about it.
b) Get a refurb shuffle. Don't see much point in this one, I could get a 4GB player for the same $.
c) Wait for the next rev. while saving my money so I won't feel so bad.
d) Get some random cheapo 4GB player.

How did you guys validate getting a touch?
 
My "excuse" was the SDK. I work as a (Windows) developer, and it'll be interesting to see what I can do with an iPod :)
 
if you have the extra cash, its great.
but if you don't want to spend a whole lot of mula just buy the 8gb ipod nano for 200bucks.
 
Do it.

If you can afford it, do it. My brother is going one in the mail tomorrow hopefully and i'm pretty excited!

There's nothing else quite like it is there?
 
new touch

Had a hard time with that too.

Just bought the 32 GB today. But I've been saving since Sept. 06 for a new iPod (I make decent money, but 30% goes to retirement and kids college savings - in other words, I'm a super cheap bastard).

Do I wait for the next rev? What could it possibly have that I want/need?

GPS? no too big, needs to be an external attachment imho
external speaker and microphone? Damn, really could use an external speaker for the alarm, but there are ways around that.
Bluetooth? Oh damn, I wish that was there. But what, besides a headset, would I, personally, use it for... nothing really.

What really pushed it over the edge for me was the uncrippling (not to start another debate, just my opinion) by putting the apps on, the SDK, plus the 32 GB model.

So, ask yourself... Do I have the money? Will I use all the extra stuff on the Touch vs. (Whatever)

Personally, I'm happy with my purchase (ok, I've only played with it for three hours, but still :D
 
I had been a mac fan since I made the switch in May, but I have been an iPod fan since the 4th generation ones. I had a video one forever and I was very satisified.

But I knew that after 3 years I needed to make a change, and I kept looking and admiring the iPhone, but the data plan bill got to be way too much and EDGE is terrible and 8GB wasn't enough for me (this was, before the 16 GB introduction, which still I would get a touch because of the extra amount on my bill I would have to pay)...

I also knew of the SDK coming, and I had enough money to do it, so I just bit the bullet. I am very poor now but its worth it. I'll get a job and be back on top of it again...and I couldn't go a day without my iTouch.
 

I can understand the issues with school and money. You really should only look at a Touch if you can find a reason beyond playing MP3's. At least for an immediate purchase.

Now I'm assuming you know what features a Touch has that might be useful to a student, that is the internet connectivity. Think hard about the potential need for those features. Also realize that the Touch should integrate right into your iMac. Depending on your course of studies a Touch could even eliminate your future need for a laptop.
I think I have a couple options:

a) Close my eyes, press buy, and not think about it.
Click to expand...
The stupid path of no self control if you ask me. Closing ones eyes and hoping for the best if never good enough.
b) Get a refurb shuffle. Don't see much point in this one, I could get a 4GB player for the same $.
Click to expand...
Nope can't recommend a shuffle at all. Mainly due to the lack of an user interface.
c) Wait for the next rev. while saving my money so I won't feel so bad.
Click to expand...
Saving your money is never a bad idea. As to the Touch I'm very much hoping for an upgrade myself. Mainly Bluetooth.
d) Get some random cheapo 4GB player.
Click to expand...
Not a bad idea but if you convince yourself that the internet features of Touch would come in handy then you likely won't be real happy with most devices.
How did you guys validate getting a touch?
Click to expand...

I think the word is justify. In any event I haven't yet, that due to a combination of things but I'm hoping Apple resolves all soon.

In case you might want to ask sure the wait hurts a bit. You do have options too that you may not have thought about. One would be a Nokia 8** series device.

Dave
 
Personally I think the touch is an expensive device even though I have one. To offset spending 300 on the touch, 25 on a case, and 12 on a charger I sold my trek phone on ebay. I didn't want to carry two large devices. The 32 gig model is way too pricey. I would rather rotate my songs than pay that much for the extra gigs.
 
izzy1290 said:
dude its 299$.

Its not that expensive.
Click to expand...
Spoken like a man with a silver spoon.
Even if you dont have enough right now wait for your paycheck next week and buy it. Asuming you have a job.
Click to expand...
He clearly mentioned that he is a student! Even if he is working I doubt very much that the priorities are such that he can make rash decisions.
And if you dont then you shouldn't even be talking about getting one.
Click to expand...
Well to an extent I do agree with this notion, as it does sound like a luxury purchase. That is he wasn't trying to justify the device based on abilities other than playing MP3's.
But its totally worth it to get it
Click to expand...

Well again it might be. It really depends on usage and personality. Not everyone needs an Apple MP3 player in their life. An MP3 player that is also a tablet PC / PDA might be another thing altogether. That is why the suggest that justification for the purchase be made on the units other abilities.

The problem is are those other capabilities significant -- for the intended user. Will they actually be used and possibly more importantly will the current version of Touch software work on his schools WiFI network.

So if these conditions are positive with respect to the original poster then yeah the Touch is worth it. Otherwise it is an expensive MP3 player. As to paying for it, the best deal might be to suffer through a part time job of short duration. Put in the hours to pay cash for the Touch and then quite and refocus on school.

Dave
 
Do you need the extra things that the touch can do? If you're mostly going to listen to music on it, I think a regular iPod is better. You need to take the iPt out of your pocket/bag and touch the screen when you want to change the volume or pause. With a regular iPod you can just use the clickwheel without looking at it. If you don't need more than 4/8GB a nano sounds perfect. You're more likely to have it on your person than a touch that you might have to leave in a bag and it'll be much more secure.

Tell us what you decide!
 
Thanks for your input guys. I think I'm gonna wait until June; I don't need one right now, and my b-day is in June. That gives me time to save up enough money to not feel bad about it.

Technically I could do with any random mp3 player, but then, I could also have a mac mini or a dell and get by. I want a touch because of the big screen (for an mp3 player) and because of the wifi, the one thing I really miss about my laptop (which I sold last April).
 
I took advantage of folks on the Marketplace that wanted to sell their 8G iPod Touch to leverage the money to buy a larger capacity one. I got an 8G model that is practically new, in the box with all the goodies for $225 shipped.

Sure, I could have popped for the difference and bought a new one, but my motivation wasn't so much for the iPod, but to get familiar with the interface and WiFi apps to see if I can justify an iPhone this summer when my current Verizon contract expires.

With the WiFi features, I think it goes far beyond being just a music/video player, so you really can't compare it to a "generic" mp3 player, IMHO.

Go for it. You won't be disappointed.

MacDan
 
i say spend a little and get a touch. it is pretty much a pda/mini computer. its great!
 
I just bought one to have one. I have an 80gb iPod Video that is almost full, but I wanted a touch too
 
8 vs 16?

I plan on (hopefully) getting a Touch to replace my palm pda. Mainly for PDA functions with itunes as an added bonus. Should 8 gb meet my needs? anyone have an opinion?

thanks
 
I think it all boils down to what you use your iPod for.

If it was my teenager, they would need a much larger one, as they are using a lot of music and video.

If it was me, an 8G is fine, as I can pick and choose plenty of music and my daily podcasts out of a library of about 30G and still be happy.

Since my storage demands aren't that big, I see it as a plus, giving me all the functions of a PDA and internet/e-mail access as well (as long as I have a WiFi connection, of course.)

MacDann
 
Kinda what I figured. I'm a grownup and have used my Palm Tungsten E/E2s for several years. I'm looking for a good excuse to buy the Touch as a replacement PDA (hmm... doesn't sound that grown up!!). I'm sure I'll use it for podcasts (like UC Berkeley podcasts to see what my daughter is learning) and/or music but mainly calendar & contacts plus documents to go when they make something like that available. Plan to sync with outlook on my windows pc at work - hoping I can sync with iTunes on my iMac G5 at home but hear that may not be possible so may need to use work pc for that too.

So it sounds like the 8 GB will meet my needs... and save me a few bucks.

Thanks for your input.
 
my boyfriend told me on the highway that i had to make a decision soon, got off the exit at south coast plaza and asked, "well, do you want to go to tiffany's or apple?" i chose apple and got a touch :D

then i went to tiffany's two days later and bought myself a treat :p
 
I justified my 8GB Ipod Touch purchase two ways:

First, I can afford it. It's the truth, so no apologies.

Second, my beloved Palm OS PDA's are no longer innovative. All of Palm's offerings are same-old, same-old. After seeing the capabilities of the iPod Touch, it became clear to me that this is destined to be a killer PDA.

If you see the iPod Touch as just a fancy 8GB MP3/video player, then you are missing the forest for the trees. Don't overlook its excellently implemented WiFi, Web browsing, modest PIM functions, and extendability (either through Apple's upgrades or by Jailbreaking.)

And what sealed the deal for me was that after I jailbroke my IPT, I found the Wikipedia.app application that provides an offline, searchable snapshot of almost all text content of Wikipedia. Having over 2GB of compressed text articles from Wikipedia available at my fingertips anywhere, any time, offline makes it worth every penny I paid for it.
 
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