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iPod Touch / iPhone
ReMan - 30/11/08 at 10:24 PM

To a complete iVirgin, that's just bought a new Telly with an iPod dock built in.
Given money no object up to £300 and both me and the Mrs have decent Orange phones.
Which if either should we buy?
Any tips or reccomendations?

mookaloid - 30/11/08 at 10:33 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
To a complete iVirgin, that's just bought a new Telly with an iPod dock built in.
Given money no object up to £300 and both me and the Mrs have decent Orange phones.
Which if either should we buy?
Any tips or reccomendations?


I don't know if it's just me - but what is the choice you are giving us here?

Mark G - 30/11/08 at 10:34 PM

Well the new iPod Touch has just come out and does look pretty cool. It does most of what the iPhone does except make calls, You can get the net on it but only if you have wifi access.

If you both have decent phones then there's no reason really to get an iPhone.

Depending on how much music you're likely to store on the iPod you may want to go for the 16Gb one as I feel that 8Gb can be filled without trying too hard.

Mark G - 30/11/08 at 10:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
To a complete iVirgin, that's just bought a new Telly with an iPod dock built in.
Given money no object up to £300 and both me and the Mrs have decent Orange phones.
Which if either should we buy?
Any tips or reccomendations?


I don't know if it's just me - but what is the choice you are giving us here?



I think the question was to get a touch or is it worth getting the phone.

liam.mccaffrey - 30/11/08 at 10:37 PM

i have a touch (and a decent phone) and am really happy with it.

They are cracking bits of kit

ReMan - 30/11/08 at 10:56 PM

I think?
Apart from the obvious phone calls there is little difference, thoug the GPS in the phone is interesting, if it is free?

Or do I buy a 2nd hand iPod and a new Garmin GPS or a baby Netbook pc for LB in bed

mookaloid - 30/11/08 at 10:57 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark G
quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
To a complete iVirgin, that's just bought a new Telly with an iPod dock built in.
Given money no object up to £300 and both me and the Mrs have decent Orange phones.
Which if either should we buy?
Any tips or reccomendations?


I don't know if it's just me - but what is the choice you are giving us here?



I think the question was to get a touch or is it worth getting the phone.


Ho hum must be just me then

Mark G - 30/11/08 at 11:00 PM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I think?
Apart from the obvious phone calls there is little difference, thoug the GPS in the phone is interesting, if it is free?

Or do I buy a 2nd hand iPod and a new Garmin GPS or a baby Netbook pc for LB in bed


Rather than a note book for lb in bed why not buy a wireless router so you can then just use the iPod touch's wifi

[Edited on 30/11/08 by Mark G]

ReMan - 30/11/08 at 11:08 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Mark G
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
I think?
Apart from the obvious phone calls there is little difference, thoug the GPS in the phone is interesting, if it is free?

Or do I buy a 2nd hand iPod and a new Garmin GPS or a baby Netbook pc for LB in bed


Rather than a note book for lb in bed why not buy a wireless router so you can then just use the iPod touch's wifi

[Edited on 30/11/08 by Mark G]

Yes that was the main attraction for me, + the Music thanng fo the Mrs, unless someone says the whole iTouchyphonesys are crap

liam.mccaffrey - 1/12/08 at 12:47 AM

touches are good and browsing and posting on LB over wifi is no bother. i do it all the time

craig1410 - 1/12/08 at 12:48 AM

Hi,
I've had an iPhone since July and it is truly great! It is without a doubt the most useful single device I have ever owned and transforms your ability to access information while out and about. I've had PDA's and other gadgets before but they have always been just to quirky or bulky to really make use of.

To give a recent example, my wife and I were Christmas shopping in Glasgow last weekend and were staying over at a hotel while the kids were at home with Gran and Grandpa. While out my wife spotted a nice jacket for one of our kids. "I wonder if she would like this," she said. No problem, quick photo sent via email from the store to my daughter followed by a text to tell her to check her email. Answer comes back, "Yes, but do they have it in black?". Sorted!

Next thing - my wife wants to go to a particular shop which apparently we went to 20 years ago when we got engaged... "Oh yes, I remember, it's this way," I said, after a quick consultation with my Google maps application which drops pins on the map if you type in a company name. I also found a local subway take-away for lunch on the way.

Next, my wife booked a table at a restaurant but then changed her mind after we got back to the hotel. No problem, I looked up the restaurant using google maps again and using the link to phone number/email/website, I rang and cancelled the reservation. I then used it again to book a table at a closer restaurant after checking out their menu online. Also used it to check what was on at the cinema next door - all from the hotel.

Don't get me wrong, the iPod Touch is a very good device but having always-on data access while on the move with the iPhone is highly addictive and highly convenient. Google Maps is particularly useful and saved our skin a few times when in France on holiday last summer.

Either device is excellent - just choose iPhone if you need internet/email/GPS on the move or iPod if you don't.

Good luck,
Craig.

[Edited on 1/12/2008 by craig1410]

[Edited on 1/12/2008 by craig1410]

RK - 1/12/08 at 01:44 AM

And the iPhone is only 60$ a month. I guess I don't get out enough, but for me and the people I know, that's too much for a gadget. The iTouch will allow internet access for free if you can find a spot. Starbucks give you 2 hours per day free with one of their cards. Now THAT is a deal.

Mr Whippy - 1/12/08 at 08:29 AM

Had a shot of the new I-phone last night as my dad went and got one. Have to say after being completely unimpressed by the original version and its appalling web performance, this new one is first rate and a real surprise, think I will get one now

DarrenW - 1/12/08 at 10:09 AM

Slightly O/t but ive just got the Nokia N96 and similarly impressed.

Ive got a little ipod nano and love it when out and about due to its compact size. For home audio im wondering about getting a dedicated hard drive type hi-fi that will broadcast the music to any room in the house rather than just use the telly with mp3 player.

If you want gadgets and need new phone then i-phone sounds like it may be useful, but as said you will pay more for the contract so if its just for the music part a dedicated ipod will do the job cheaper then just use a standard phoe for the calls.

Problem is there is just so much out there to choose from.

madmandegge - 1/12/08 at 11:04 AM

I've actually recently purchased an iPod touch (1st generation, 16gb) and am so impressed I'm looking at buying an iPhone and selling the touch.

stevebubs - 1/12/08 at 11:08 AM

iTunes. Spawn of the DRM lock-in devil...

iPod/iPhone...nice interface...pity about the iTunes....

[Edited on 1/12/08 by stevebubs]

BenB - 1/12/08 at 11:11 AM

I've got a 8Mb touch. Not bad. Not the greatest thing for surfing (screen is pretty small) and trying to type long waffling forum posts like this takes a while!!!!
The phone is fatter and personally I don't like it as a phone anyway. I'd rather have a seperate cameraphone.....

BenB - 1/12/08 at 11:55 AM

quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
iTunes. Spawn of the DRM lock-in devil...

iPod/iPhone...nice interface...pity about the iTunes....

[Edited on 1/12/08 by stevebubs]


But if you've got un-DRM'd stuff on your computer it'll still play it. I've installed iTunes on my computer but I haven't done any of the registration cobblers. I have to manually attach album covers to ripped CDs but that isn't exactly hard...

craig1410 - 1/12/08 at 12:35 PM

quote:
Originally posted by stevebubs
iTunes. Spawn of the DRM lock-in devil...

iPod/iPhone...nice interface...pity about the iTunes....

[Edited on 1/12/08 by stevebubs]


I've bought a few tunes through iTunes but most of my iTunes library comes from MP3's that I've ripped from CD's over the years. Some comes from other sources I guess...

iTunes works really well and even if you do have DRM'd files from Apple (non-DRM downloads are an option although they cost a bit more) you can easily work around it.

The thing with Apple is that they make it so easy to buy music and applications legitimately that in most cases that's exactly what you do. It's like £0.79 or something for a music track which you know will be top quality and you don't have to go scratching around on P2P networks looking for a decent bitrate and avoiding all the crap. With the iPhone (and iPod Touch to a lesser extent) you can also download new music while you are out and about.

Cheers,
Craig.

DaveFJ - 1/12/08 at 02:17 PM

OK...

Own a touch 32Gb and love it...

iPhone - wouldnt touch one if it was forced on me!!
too big to carry around as a phone. battery life as a phone is sh*te. camera is pants and get this... you cant send photo messages! wtf!
as for being forced to go O2 on a ridculous tarrif!

if you want a phone there a MUCH better touch type phones out there that completely kick the iPhones arse.....

oh and i forgot to mention..... iTunes is the Devils own bottom gravy but there are alternatives you can use!

<queue the flaming by apple die hards!>

[Edited on 1-12-08 by DaveFJ]

craig1410 - 2/12/08 at 12:40 AM

quote:
Originally posted by DaveFJ
OK...

Own a touch 32Gb and love it...

iPhone - wouldnt touch one if it was forced on me!!
too big to carry around as a phone. battery life as a phone is sh*te. camera is pants and get this... you cant send photo messages! wtf!
as for being forced to go O2 on a ridculous tarrif!

if you want a phone there a MUCH better touch type phones out there that completely kick the iPhones arse.....

oh and i forgot to mention..... iTunes is the Devils own bottom gravy but there are alternatives you can use!

<queue the flaming by apple die hards!>

[Edited on 1-12-08 by DaveFJ]


I always love it how people who don't own a product can be so passionately critical of it. It is particularly odd in this case because an iPod Touch is just an iPhone without the phone or GPS!

A couple of observations to try to balance out the above:

Too big - well I carry mine on my shirt pocket and I hardly notice it is there until it buzzes for an incoming email/SMS/phone call.

Battery life is $hite - I charge mine every couple of days and I never go below 50% charged despite using it regularly throughout the day for home and work email access, music, calls, SMS, camera, internet browsing etc etc. Seems like a good balance between battery life and size/weight to me - what's the point in having a device which can last a whole week when I sit next to a mains outlet for most of my day anyway and sleep next to one every night?

Camera = pants - The camera is what it is (ie a 2 megapix camera with no flash or zoom lens). Any phone I have seen which had a good camera was about an inch thick! Now that certainly wouldn't fit in my shirt pocket! Besides, to me a phone camera is just for incidental shots while out and about not for a professional photo-shoot or taking landscape or panoramic shots. I think we get carried away with megapixels these days. Look at it another way - the screen is 480 x 320 pixels ( 1/3rd of a megapixel) and even a high-def TV at 1920 x 1200 pixels is just about 2mp so unless you are planning to print all your photo's out then why do we need 5, 8 or even 10 mp's? Yes the iPhone camera is not brilliant but it's good enough.

Photo messages (MMS) - I use email myself - much easier to use and with unlimited data usage they are completely free so no usage allowances to worry about. I never used MMS even on my last phone which supported them so I'm not going to miss them now.

Ridiculous O2 tariff - I pay £35 pm for 600 minutes and 500 texts which isn't the best but is by no means the worst around. I paid £25 pm for my last phone Samsung D500 and I never got anything like that number of mins/texts. The unlimited data usage is really good value as it would cost me over £100 a month otherwise.

Other touch phones - nothing yet available can claim to kick the iPhone's ar$e according to independent and objective reviews. The competition is catching up in some areas and has exceeded the iPhone for things like camera and MMS but nothing and I mean nothing comes close when it comes to user experience and satisfaction.

iTunes = bottom gravy - not sure what to say...it just works! What's not to like?

Me = apple die hard - Actually I've been using PC's since 1981 and have used DOS, Windows, OS/2, Linux and more recently Mac OS X. I only converted to the Mac last year when I bought an iMac. Best machine I've ever owned simple as that! I still use Windows in my job as an IT consultant and have no axe to grind either way but I simply choose to use what works best and that for me is an iMac.

That's my 2p worth - enjoy!

ReMan - 2/12/08 at 07:53 AM

Thanks for the info guys.
I think the GPS / 3g? would be nice, as we spend time ouit and about but as said we alredy have decent phones for work and home on good tarrif, I don't think I could justify the swap to o2 for the additional cost, so I think the Touch is the way to go.
And I already have a wireless connection as do many others round here

Am I right in thinking that everything has to be iTuned to get it to play. I already have an MP3 collection, could these just be wi-fi'd from a share on my main PC to play them?

And the mention of the DRM's, does this mean it's not that easy and that the MP3's I have already created as erm Back ups will not work?
I still havent managed to Un -DRM a bloomin BBCi videro yet!!!

I'm quite struck on one still and have the cash to spend via Amazon vouchers that need using, but don't want to end up with the equivelant of a (non) mp3 player that I could buy from tesco for £10

craig1410 - 2/12/08 at 08:48 AM

Hi,

DRM is not a problem for any of your own content, it is just how the record companies protect the stuff you buy via iTunes. Just load your MP3's into iTunes, create playlists as you see fit, download the free album art and sync to your iPod - simple!

If you still fancy an iPhone in a year or so then there will be plenty of second hand iPhones which will have run through their contract period and will be turning up on ebay...

You won't regret getting either a Touch or iPhone - they are fantastic bits of kit!

Cheers,
Craig.