Monday, November 24, 2008

iPod Touch

I've been using an iPod Touch for a few months now and I really like it. I only have a few songs on it and don't use it for video. I've got a few complaints but it's still the best PDA I've used. I used a Palm Pilot for years.

The v2.0 added the ability for iCal support for multiple calendars. This is huge and worth the $10 upgrade.

The Remote app is super cool. I can imagine it being totally awesome if you had an Apple TV.

The display is really bright and easy to look at.

The feel of the unit is really solid. The only part of the unit that doesn't feel solid is the power off button on the top.

I've held the latest version and it is easier to hold. The original iPod Touch had squared off edges which are sharp on your fingers. The volume control and external speaker on the new one would be two really nice features to have.

I wish the battery life was better.

I upgraded to v2.2 over the weekend and Safari hasn't crashed yet.

Lack of a To Do list in my opinion is a huge problem. I've tried every free 3rd party ToDo list and they all simply suck. I hope Apple makes one that syncs with the ToDos in iCal.

I wish the iPod Touch could sync with my Mac without plugging in the cable, running iTunes and pressing the sync button. But they probably don't want to run out of batteries in the middle of a sync.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I love my iPod Touch (2nd Gen) too! I use the Remote app on a daily basis to control iTunes running on my desktop while I work off my laptop (which has "stolen" my desktops monitor ;-)). While this may smack of "Because I can" behaviour, it does actually have some sound technical merit. The way I used to do this before I discovered the Remote app was to use iTunes on my laptop to connect to a shared playlist on my desktop. But this config didn't play nicely with my VPN connectivity software, so whenever a VPN connection was made or dropped, the connection to the shared playlist was also lost.

I had fun and games with the v2.2 upgrade (as did quite a few other users according to the Apple forums). It put my iPod into recovery mode, and I was instructed by iTunes that I needed to restore it. Initial attempts to restore it failed. I eventually got it working again by upgrading iTunes from v8.0 to v8.0.2 (which itself was flawed as I had to uninstall & reinstall QuickTime before it would run).

As it turns out, I may have got away with simply rebooting my PC and trying to restore the iPod again. But that doesn't excuse the fact that the iPod got messed up in the first place.

Chris Bensen said...

Cleggy,

Bummer on the v2.2 upgrade problems. I'm glad that it eventually worked.

The Remote app is a very cool app.

Anonymous said...

I listen to a few podcasts on mine. Its so much better that you can now download straight to the device from the store with 2.2.

I've had a few pda type devices. The iPod is by far my best purchase.

Holger said...

I guess the only thing missing from that device is the ability to make and receive phone calls, eh? Oh wait... :-)

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