Ipod touch VS Iphone

Once again, I come to this smörgåsbord of information for all the answers to all of life's questions.

Background: My phone sucks at everything except making calls and texts, and my ipod is getting long in the tooth--battery life is really short. I might just go and do surgery and replace it, but figured I'll look at other options as well.

My roommate has an Iphone, and I really really like it and would use almost everything it has if I had one. But I cannot justify spending that much, especially since the only thing I need or really want a phone for is for calls and sometimes texts.

So how much is an Iphone really? FWIW, I already have the unlimited texting plan.

How much would I like the Itouch? Is it just like an Iphone without the phone? Would I be able to use stuff like google maps or mapquest; does it have a gps, can I use youtube? And the most important thing, GRM?

Any other questions I should be asking?

The Iphone plan will take your regular phone rate plus a $30 data plan on top of it. So keep that in mind.

sachilles wrote: The Iphone plan will take your regular phone rate plus a $30 data plan on top of it. So keep that in mind.

Even on top of the unlimited texting family plan? $360 a year is enough to make me say no thank you.

This changes the question to: Do I get an Itouch, or perform surgery and replace my Ipod battery? Basically, why should I get an ITouch?

You can surf the web with the iTouch, but only when you are connected to a wireless network. Also, when I got the iPhone, it was cheaper than the iTouch. I think this is still the case.

I think all of your normal rates and fees apply as normal, but you do have to pay the extra data charges. That's it. It's kinda worth it to be able to surf the internet in a field or buy a song or app while driving. Shall I say something about puppies and iPhones too, or are you convinced now?

Buy the iPhone with the larger storage medium. Then, enjoy total phone pwnage.

One thing that is very important is which (if any) cell carrier are you currently on? If you aren't on AT&T and you switch to AT&T you can get an iphone for as low as $99 (plus all of the fees = $360/year). If you are on AT&T and are not up for a renewal a new iphone can cost as much as $600 or more. If you are planning to switch carriers you may have to pay an Early Termination Fee as well.

This can be very complex.

Also look at the competition. If you are on Verizon there's the Droid and Droid Eris (the Eris can be had for $30 with a new contract with Verizon + all the usual fees). Sprint has the Palm Pre and Pixi ($80 and $25 with new contract, I think) and T-Mobile has a couple of Android based phones for cheap.

confuZion3 wrote: Buy the iPhone with the larger storage medium. Then, enjoy total phone pwnage.

I would, but 30 dollars a month works out to 360 a year on top of however much the phone package already costs, my grassroots senses (read: I'm a cheap bastard) don't let me do that.

I would use all of it and love it, but its not worth that much to me when I have a laptop and cell phone. To me, the big advantage of it is to have an ultra portable computer, but not for that much money.

senador wrote: One thing that is very important is which (if any) cell carrier are you currently on? If you aren't on AT&T and you switch to AT&T you can get an iphone for as low as $99 (plus all of the fees = $360/year). If you are on AT&T and are not up for a renewal a new iphone can cost as much as $600 or more. If you are planning to switch carriers you may have to pay an Early Termination Fee as well. This can be very complex. Also look at the competition. If you are on Verizon there's the Droid and Droid Eris (the Eris can be had for $30 with a new contract with Verizon + all the usual fees). Sprint has the Palm Pre and Pixi ($80 and $25 with new contract, I think) and T-Mobile has a couple of Android based phones for cheap.

Yeah, I know all of the contract stuff. The only way I'll do anything in the next year is if I do the replacement battery on the current Ipod; it would be my christmas present this year. Hence the question being asked now.

Well, I've got a company-supplied[1] iPhone and also a 5th gen regular iPod. The iPhone is strictly a tool and while I put some stuff like podcasts and a little music on there, even in its 32GB vastness it's not big enough to keep my whole music collection on there. For that, I have the 60GB iPod and that's getting a little full also. So basically, if you've got a ton of music, you probably want to put a new battery in your existing iPod rather than get an iPod touch or an iPhone.

The iPhone (and thus presumably the iPod touch) is rather good at this mobile email/web surfing lark which was always my criticism of the phones I had before and the main reason for buying one. As a call-making device, it has a couple of quirks - my iPhone will sometimes indicate it's got good reception but calls go straight to voicemail without the phone even ringing.

Don't forget that you can use an iPod touch as a "phone" if the places you're most likely to be have wifi as you can get a Skype client for it and the iPhone. It works pretty well over Wifi.

[1] Wasn't hard to convince people that I need one given that it's my own company

See, I don't have a lap top. But you can tether your iPhone to your lap top (with some trickery) and use it to surf the internet on your computer whilst camping in an enchanted forest. I haven't done it, but apparently, the phone's hardware supports it and there are some YouTube videos of people who show you how to do it.

mtn wrote:

sachilles wrote: The Iphone plan will take your regular phone rate plus a $30 data plan on top of it. So keep that in mind.

Even on top of the unlimited texting family plan? $360 a year is enough to make me say no thank you.

Yes, the $30 iphone data plan does not include texting or anything else, just the iphone data. Also does not include tethering(connecting phone to computer so computer can talk to the internet). So you need your phone plan, texting, then the data plan. Data costs the same for phones with windows mobile for what it's worth.

That $30 data plan is per phone, just in case you were wondering(seeing as you have the family plan).

sachilles wrote:

mtn wrote:

sachilles wrote: The Iphone plan will take your regular phone rate plus a $30 data plan on top of it. So keep that in mind.

Even on top of the unlimited texting family plan? $360 a year is enough to make me say no thank you.

Yes, the $30 iphone data plan does not include texting or anything else, just the iphone data. Also does not include tethering(connecting phone to computer so computer can talk to the internet). So you need your phone plan, texting, then the data plan. Data costs the same for phones with windows mobile for what it's worth. That $30 data plan is per phone, just in case you were wondering(seeing as you have the family plan).

Yep, can't do that

Yep, my bill for 2 iphones with unlimited texting on the cheapest family plan is $172.xx per month. It hurts but it's sooooo much better than the winmobile and blackberry devices I had previously that it's worth it.

pigeon wrote: Yep, my bill for 2 iphones with unlimited texting on the cheapest family plan is $172.xx per month. It hurts but it's sooooo much better than the winmobile and blackberry devices I had previously that it's worth it.

That's about right. Us, with three iPhones and 200 text each is around 200.

iPod touch does not have gps. Maps only work when they can triangulate off of wifi. When your on wifi though everything is just as good.

Joey

What this thread is teaching me:
1) Buy a new battery
2) look on craigslist for an itouch
3) wait 15 years until the Iphone is the norm.

mtn wrote: Background: My phone sucks at everything except making calls and texts

isn't that what a phone is suppose to do ?

wbjones wrote:

mtn wrote: Background: My phone sucks at everything except making calls and texts

isn't that what a phone is suppose to do ?

Yep

If you read my original post, I mentioned that:

mtn wrote: But I cannot justify spending that much, especially since the only thing I need or really want a phone for is for calls and sometimes texts.

i got the 3g iphone this year for work. it works awesome for me because of the gps, email away from the office, internets for looking things up especially if i am far away from where i am familiar with things to find a store that has what i need to finish the job. weather channel application helps me schedule jobs on the fly, and if i forget my camera i can still get pictures of my work.

plus the espn radio app ensures no matter how far from cleveland i always get my local sports talk radio.

for me is was a no brainer because my truck is my desk

wbjones wrote:

mtn wrote: Background: My phone sucks at everything except making calls and texts

isn't that what a phone is suppose to do ?

Sure... If it's 1999...!

I'm just kidding. They aren't for everyone, but it sure is sweet to have.

Joey

Buy a used 3G iphone, it will be cheaper and do almost everything that the 3Gs does. They're only available up to 16gb though.

iPhone means AT&T. eww.

There are literally hundreds of phones with anywhere from 4gig to 80gig potential storage that can play MP3s. Just because its an "iPhone" you don't need to fall for the propaganda. Proprietary software, expensive apps, crappy coverage, finnicky phone with a built-in battery... not for me.

I have a blackberry which has 8gb of micro SD, a removable/replacable battery, and I can update the software so I can use up to 32gb. I got it free from Verizon.

If you want the ultimate, screw the others and wait for the Droid.

Random thoughts from a guy who's got a few iphones AND an ipod touch in the family:

The ipod touch is very very good, but it does have some frustrating limitations, particularly not being able to get on the web whenever and where ever you like. Space is also pretty tight on it. I loved it when I bought it, but now I see it getting used less and less.

After first-hand sampling the latest generation, the iphone is still the king of the hill, but the Palm Pre and the Droid are both very nice, and getting very close. Blackberry isn't in the hunt right now, and Windows is a sad joke.

On all of these, calling them a phone is a bit of a misnomer. It's like calling your desktop machine an "email box". That's one thing it can do, and MAY be the most common use, but it's far from what the device is really designed for.

The worse thing about the iphone is AT&T. I definitely liked T-mobile better. No experience with Verizon.

In practice, the storage size isn't really a limitation, or at least hasn't been for me. I have a playlist that randomly grabs 5 gigs of my music. That's WAY more than I can listen to at one time, and it updates whenever I sync.

I don't even put music on my iPhone anymore, I just use pandora. All sorts of music with no commercials for free.

One of my co-workers got an email from pandora. I guess they are going to start charging for heavy usage(over 40 hours a week).

Um, Curtis? That only applies to new iPhones, used ones can be unlocked and used on other compatible networks.

I have had an Ipod Touch for over a year now and I am still getting an Iphone in January when my contract is up for renewal. Data is worth the $30/month and you don't normally hear me say anything is worth what it costs. It just has so many uses when you are on the go and its everywhere. Ever been in a junkyard and wanted to research something? The Ipod touch does not have GPS, and does not have a camera. The touch is a nice device that does a lot of entertaining things but its more of a toy than a real pocket computer.