Switching from iPod Touch to an Android.
I am an iPod Touch user that is considering alternatives. I don't want
or need a smart phone but I have been using the Touch for many things
that smart phone users do, so this might be a reasonable alternative.
As an example I see that Amazon has a "BLU Life One 4G LTE Smartphone
GSM Unlocked - 8GB + 1GB RAM - Gold". I am only just starting to
consider Anderoid devices so this is a mostly random find. I just
googled to see if an Android can take my prepaid T-mobile SIM.
$99 - Phone
$13 or $23 - Memory card. 32G or 64G (Full music library needs 64)
$10 - Android version of password app
$7 - nano sim card (Tmobile said I could just call in to switch from my mini to the nano)
------
$129 to $139 plus ebook app and anything else I forgot.
Updating the iPod to gen6 would be about $200 for a 16G version plus
the need to update my ebook reader since Stanza does not look very
good on the newer device. That jumps to $245 for a 32G and $300 for
64G and of course you are stuck with what you pick since it is not as
simple as buying a larger MicroSD if you find you need more space.
My history / use case...
I am a Linux user that started using a Palm Pilot in 1998 and switched
to an iPod Touch gen3 in 2010. I have access to Windows so can run
iTunes from a virtual machine or a dual boot laptop but I live my life
in Fedora Linux. My wife just upgraded to the gen6 iPod Touch but I am
wondering if I should be looking at cheaper options since Apple seems
to be giving less love to the iPod touch these days. Neither of our
devices have failed but app support for OS version 5.1.1 is falling
off a cliff.
I have a "not very smart" cell phone with a prepaid T-mobile SIM,
which I mostly use as an emergency phone, but that SIM could be used
in an unlocked Android I think. This would allow me to stop bothering
with the mostly unused phone and just carry the Android to cover all
my "Touch" needs and still have my cell if needed. No data service
with that SIM but I don't want a monthly cell bill and have been very
happy with the the iPod touch just using wifi at home and from hotel
wifi a few times a year.
Things I need/want, mostly in order of usage:
Ebook reader. Currently using Stanza with books provided by Calibre
running on my home network.
Podcast/mp3 ability. I have 40Gig of mp3 audio burned from CD but I
don't listen to music that much these days. I do listen to a number of
podcasts tho. I pull some in via my home computer but have also used
iTunes or the iPod itself to add new episodes for some of the
podcasts. I am open to different ways of doing this but I would not
want to lose the ability to pull my own set of mp3 files and load them
up to the device. Note that I could drop the music library way way
down if I only loaded up stuff I am likely to ever listen to. The full
library is co-owned by my wife and I and we both have 64G iPods and
just use the simpler method of letting iTunes load up the whole set.
The iPod tells me that I have 44.7GB of "Music", so the podcasts
themselves are under 5Gig. The overall usage is currently 48.7GB, so
16 or 32G of storage would likely be easy to live with.
Password manager. I use "LinkeSOFT Secret!" which has an Android
version, so that should not be an issue since I should be able to just
sync to the desktop app to transfer over my full database.
E-mail via gmail with offline access to any mail that I have already
opened. I also use this as a way of keeping pdf reference stuff for
offline access. This is not at all my main access to email unless I am
traveling and using hotel wifi.
Calendar via Google, available offline.
Web browser. Using Safari in the iPod without much in the way of
special needs here.
iCloud Notes. That is the only iCloud app that I use but it is really
nice to keep various notes like shopping lists etc. I like that I can
edit them on my home computer or on the iPod without having to
remember to sync since it does that for me as long as I am wifi
connected.
Netflix app.
IMDB app.
Accession Communicator. This allows my iPod to connect to my Sonic.net
VOIP to become an extension of my home phone. Not a big deal so far
but it is nice to have it just in case. This is iOS/Android, so that
should be fine.
I have more apps but the above gives a good indication of my usage.
I am an iPod Touch user that is considering alternatives. I don't want
or need a smart phone but I have been using the Touch for many things
that smart phone users do, so this might be a reasonable alternative.
As an example I see that Amazon has a "BLU Life One 4G LTE Smartphone
GSM Unlocked - 8GB + 1GB RAM - Gold". I am only just starting to
consider Anderoid devices so this is a mostly random find. I just
googled to see if an Android can take my prepaid T-mobile SIM.
$99 - Phone
$13 or $23 - Memory card. 32G or 64G (Full music library needs 64)
$10 - Android version of password app
$7 - nano sim card (Tmobile said I could just call in to switch from my mini to the nano)
------
$129 to $139 plus ebook app and anything else I forgot.
Updating the iPod to gen6 would be about $200 for a 16G version plus
the need to update my ebook reader since Stanza does not look very
good on the newer device. That jumps to $245 for a 32G and $300 for
64G and of course you are stuck with what you pick since it is not as
simple as buying a larger MicroSD if you find you need more space.
My history / use case...
I am a Linux user that started using a Palm Pilot in 1998 and switched
to an iPod Touch gen3 in 2010. I have access to Windows so can run
iTunes from a virtual machine or a dual boot laptop but I live my life
in Fedora Linux. My wife just upgraded to the gen6 iPod Touch but I am
wondering if I should be looking at cheaper options since Apple seems
to be giving less love to the iPod touch these days. Neither of our
devices have failed but app support for OS version 5.1.1 is falling
off a cliff.
I have a "not very smart" cell phone with a prepaid T-mobile SIM,
which I mostly use as an emergency phone, but that SIM could be used
in an unlocked Android I think. This would allow me to stop bothering
with the mostly unused phone and just carry the Android to cover all
my "Touch" needs and still have my cell if needed. No data service
with that SIM but I don't want a monthly cell bill and have been very
happy with the the iPod touch just using wifi at home and from hotel
wifi a few times a year.
Things I need/want, mostly in order of usage:
Ebook reader. Currently using Stanza with books provided by Calibre
running on my home network.
Podcast/mp3 ability. I have 40Gig of mp3 audio burned from CD but I
don't listen to music that much these days. I do listen to a number of
podcasts tho. I pull some in via my home computer but have also used
iTunes or the iPod itself to add new episodes for some of the
podcasts. I am open to different ways of doing this but I would not
want to lose the ability to pull my own set of mp3 files and load them
up to the device. Note that I could drop the music library way way
down if I only loaded up stuff I am likely to ever listen to. The full
library is co-owned by my wife and I and we both have 64G iPods and
just use the simpler method of letting iTunes load up the whole set.
The iPod tells me that I have 44.7GB of "Music", so the podcasts
themselves are under 5Gig. The overall usage is currently 48.7GB, so
16 or 32G of storage would likely be easy to live with.
Password manager. I use "LinkeSOFT Secret!" which has an Android
version, so that should not be an issue since I should be able to just
sync to the desktop app to transfer over my full database.
E-mail via gmail with offline access to any mail that I have already
opened. I also use this as a way of keeping pdf reference stuff for
offline access. This is not at all my main access to email unless I am
traveling and using hotel wifi.
Calendar via Google, available offline.
Web browser. Using Safari in the iPod without much in the way of
special needs here.
iCloud Notes. That is the only iCloud app that I use but it is really
nice to keep various notes like shopping lists etc. I like that I can
edit them on my home computer or on the iPod without having to
remember to sync since it does that for me as long as I am wifi
connected.
Netflix app.
IMDB app.
Accession Communicator. This allows my iPod to connect to my Sonic.net
VOIP to become an extension of my home phone. Not a big deal so far
but it is nice to have it just in case. This is iOS/Android, so that
should be fine.
I have more apps but the above gives a good indication of my usage.
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