The Pda Is Back..!

[WinnieTheKhwai]

PDA's used to be all the rage in the business world before just about every Phone gained PDA features, and every PDA gained phone features.

There is however a killer PDA out there that is truly excellent for web browsing, (Exchange) e-mail, note taking, etc, etc.. It's the iPod Touch running the iPhone 3.0 software.

Compared to the iPhone you don't get a phone, camera and GPS. You do get everything else, in a thinner package with better battery life. It really is the first small mobile device on which it is a joy to browse the web and do e-mail.. The keyboard typo-correction has improved, so much so that when you just hit the general area where a key is, the software will figure out the word.. You can type on it as fast as a real physical keyboard a la Blackberry or Nokia E71. And then there's games, viewing pictures, watching videos and of course listening to music.. (I almost never use my iPod to listen to music, it's almost strictly a internet / PDA device! )

Oh yes, you do need a WiFi connection of course to connect to the Internet.. I have a Nokia E51 phone though, on which you can install the free JoikuSpot app that turns the thing into a mobile WiFi access point: problem solved. It's almost uncanny how the iPod is everything the E51 isn't, and the other way around.

E51 has a really good phone, camera, long battery life, non-crippled Bluetooth so you can swap files/music/pictures with other people, and can multi-task applications so you can stay online on Skype when doing other things.

iPod does not have multi tasking (Booo! this is my main gripe), no phone, battery lasts about a day when doing internet stuff, and no camera, but it has that glorious touch screen and super slick user interface..

The perfect combo. iPod touch costs just 8000 baht. A steal, just keep your old phone to use as a phone.

[nikster]

Yeah the iTouch is great indeed - very cheap when you consider what it can do.

Also, most app store apps work on the iPod touch too - you get an app store with 50,000 apps, that's more than any PDA ever had.

I know many people who keep their old Nokia dumbphone plus an iPod touch instead of getting an iPhone. The phone part of the iPhone is really one of the weaker points on the iPhone so this makes a lot of sense.

The main advantage of the iPhone over the iPod touch is network access when there's no WiFi. I find that there isn't WiFi available many times, and it's fantastic to have internet on the go even at slow EDGE speeds, especially on a device as powerful as the iPhone. I upload pictures from the camera to my web gallery directly, I twitter on the go, I browse ThaiVisa etc etc - EDGE is everywhere. WiFi, pretty rare.

PS: New iPods are coming on 9/9/09, and the iTouch is going to get a camera. So you might want to wait before buying....

[grin]

I recently visited San Francisco and bought an iPod Touch 2G from an ad on craigslist for only $100. The guy was selling it due to it only having 8 Gig of RAM and he needed more for music and video. I only use my home entertainment system to listen to music and watch video so 8 Gig is more space than I will ever need.

I spent $10 to upgrade to the 3.0 OS and have been very happy with it. The only problem I have had is I cannot get it to pair with a bluetooth headset. I have tried to pair up several headsets including a decent Nokia headset. The iPod pairs with my MacBook so the bluetooth hardware seems fine.

I have downloaded and tried over 200 free apps. You can only see 180 on the springboard so now I have to delete an app before downloading a new one. I have yet to buy the paid version of an app as most of them are garbage. I've found quite a few that hang or crash but in general the user interfaces of most of them are poorly designed making them not very useful. However, that being said, I have about 5 free apps that I use on a daily basis and maybe 20 that I use once a week.

The app I use the most is Skype. It sure beats hauling my MacBook around. Skype works quite well with a set of ear pods with a built-in microphone that came from an old cell phone. It uses a standard 2.5 mm connector. However, it would be nice to get a bluetooth headset working.

Other than Skype, the apps that come with the iPhone seem to be more useful than the free apps, at least to me. But I agree that the iPod is the best PDA. Why spend the extra money on an iPhone when there is no 3G network here? - Grin

[bangla]

There is however a killer PDA out there (..) It's the iPod Touch running the iPhone 3.0 software.

you don't get a phone, camera and GPS.

Oh yes, you do need a WiFi connection of course to connect to the Internet

iPod does not have multi tasking

so basically you're saying that the mp3 player you bought for 8.000 baht is the ultimate PDA?