And The New Hotness Is…

Continuing from yesterday’s post:

Since CompUSA announced they were closing all stores, I really felt the urgency to take advantage of their warranty one more time. Especially when I tried to call the store a numerous times over the course of a few days and no one picked up the phone. That wasn’t a good sign in my book.

But I was also faced with a huge enigma: which model iPod do I get? Over the course of my trade-ins, I had accumulated about $400 in store credit. Each time I got a new iPod, I just paid a little more and got the next version up until I had the best model. However, this time I was faced with two choices: the iPod Classic or the iPod Touch. Well, I briefly entertained the idea of coming home with a PS3…but A) my wife would probably use it to kill me and B) I really have zero desire to own one. It was just to see the look on her face when I walked in the door with it. But I digress.

I went back and forth on which model to get. I was current using a 60 GB iPod with about 7600 songs (approx 38 GB worth of music). I was really nice to know I still had room to expand and I always had my entire collection with me. On the other hand, I was mostly using my iPod in the house to play music in our living room or while we were painting or something. I had also gotten to the point where I was flagging all of my favorite songs. I ended up with a playlist of about 700 songs and I usually just listened to that. I really wasn’t using it as much in the car as I used to since I didn’t travel so much.

It came down to this: do I get the 160 GB iPod Classic or a 16 GB iPod Touch? I mean, do I almost triple my capacity and get a slightly more bulky iPod…or do I go with the new hotness and carry only my absolute minimum number of songs?

Survey says…my inner (as if it’s really inner) geek went with the iPod Touch.

And how do I feel after playing with it and using it for almost a week? I’m still have mixed emotions. Part of me misses having all my music with me and the other part really doesn’t. Why did I go with the new Touch? For starters, it has built-in wifi access with a surprisingly functional web browser and direct access to YouTube videos. Plus it has a crap ton of iTunes eye candy. And it’s really slim with a huge screen. I guess you could say is a Nano on crack and speed.

However, I will say this: the space is limited and the battery life isn’t all that great. Plus some people have complained about the wifi, but I haven’t experienced any problems with it. In addition, the iPod Touch is really just a gimped version of the iPhone. If CompUSA sold iPhones, I probably would have gotten one of those instead. Aside from a majority of the eye candy, most of the Touch’s features are limited by you having access to wifi. And it’s almost a PDA but not quite. It really just sits there in many gray areas.

I will also say that if you are feeling brave enough, based on what I’ve read and researched, you can jailbreak the Touch to make it more or less like a iPhone…just minus the bluetooth, camera, and ability to place calls and MMS/SMS. Apple is supposed to legally open up the iPhone and Touch to third party apps sometime in February 2008.

With all that said, should have I gotten the iPod Classic? My wife seems to think so. As for me, I’d probably still be standing in CompUSA, going back and forth. In the end, I wanted to get something I figured I do more with than just listen to music. If you are on the fence, ask yourself these questions:

• Is there an iPhone in your future? If yes, get the Classic.
• Are you an audiophile/music connoisseur ? If yes, get the Classic.
• Want something new to play with? If yes, get the Touch.

I will say that if you do travel, don’t have a laptop (or don’t want to take one), and don’t need your entire music library, then get the Touch. The ability to surf the web from any open access point could come in handy in an unfamiliar city.

Finally, I could see myself getting a cheap refurb iPod in the future. I just realized an iPod is a great way to keep a back-up of all your music.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Listen to music stored in Gmail.

How Many Five Year Olds Can You Take In a Fight (remember when I asked this?). I can handle 24.

Motorist rescued after car falls off parking garage.

Christmas Cards from LucasFilm.

MENSA Test, Part 5.

According to kids, how to decide who to marry.