Ipod Touch or Netbook?

[mebbradley]

Hello

Well, my mom gave the choice of a netbook or an ipod touch for my Christmas/Birthday present. I will be traveling twice this summer to Europe (class trip and confrence) and gone from my college due to track most every weekend. she wants me to be able to write (I am in a class at college where I have to write each day) and email her while in Europe plus send her pictures.

Any Advice? Pros and Cons?
I have about 300 dollars that she is willing to spend and I can chip in about another 50 or so (silly college tuition makes me broke. constantly). I do have an ipod nano and I love it.

Thank you so much for all your help

 

[spokanemom]

I have only one thing to contribute, consider the size. You can put an iTouch in your pocket, you can't do that with a netbook, you will have to carry it around in a backpack or something. You can listen to your music on a walk, but you will not be able to do that with a netbook. If you currently have an mp3 player, that may be a non-issue for you, but you will have one more thing to carry with you.

There are probably many more things to consider, but that was the tipping point for me. (I got an iPhone though; REALLY one less thing to pack around!)

 

[bavaria]

With the touch you can get boingo wireless for $7,95 a month which also works in much of France and Germany. With the netbook you would need boingo international which is $59 a month and not always available everywhere, but in more countries that the wireless version. Skyping from the netbook is cheaper than using a calling card or phone.

You can also buy a cheap pay as you go SIM card in Europe, but check which countries. My German FONIC gives me good rates in some countries but no others.

That assumes that you don't have a regular source of internet.

I don't use my touch for any extensive typing; it is a handy tool but it doesn't replace a computer.

 

[pezheadmeg]

I will be traveling twice this summer to Europe (class trip and confrence) and gone from my college due to track most every weekend. she wants me to be able to write (I am in a class at college where I have to write each day) and email her while in Europe plus send her pictures.

I would go Netbook. Especially if you're going to be using it most weekends. I've only had a touch for about a week, and it's great for checking quick stuff. But for typing actual works, you'll be much better with a full keyboard. I have word to go on my blackberry, it's nothing like using actual MS office. I would never dream of downloading it as an app.

 

[mebbradley]

I have only one thing to contribute, consider the size. You can put an iTouch in your pocket, you can't do that with a netbook, you will have to carry it around in a backpack or something. You can listen to your music on a walk, but you will not be able to do that with a netbook. If you currently have an mp3 player, that may be a non-issue for you, but you will have one more thing to carry with you.

There are probably many more things to consider, but that was the tipping point for me. (I got an iPhone though; REALLY one less thing to pack around!)

Thanks! Size is something that matters, it has to fit into my purse or backpack for meets or when I travel

With the touch you can get boingo wireless for $7,95 a month which also works in much of France and Germany. With the netbook you would need boingo international which is $59 a month and not always available everywhere, but in more countries that the wireless version. Skyping from the netbook is cheaper than using a calling card or phone.

You can also buy a cheap pay as you go SIM card in Europe, but check which countries. My German FONIC gives me good rates in some countries but no others.

That assumes that you don't have a regular source of internet.

I don't use my touch for any extensive typing; it is a handy tool but it doesn't replace a computer.

I do have a regular source of internet, everyplace I will be staying/be at will have wireless.

I would go Netbook. Especially if you're going to be using it most weekends. I've only had a touch for about a week, and it's great for checking quick stuff. But for typing actual works, you'll be much better with a full keyboard. I have word to go on my blackberry, it's nothing like using actual MS office. I would never dream of downloading it as an app.

Thanks! That is what I was kinda thinking

 

[mebbradley]

I'm looking up brands of Netbooks, is there any that you would recommend or not recommend?

Thanks to everyone, this is a great source of answers

 

[MMluvsWDW]

I would go touch without any questions or wait and see if apple comes out with something comparable to a netbook. The new touches do have bluetooth so you can attach a bluetooth keyboard and you can get apps and music and internet all in your pocket. Just a thought.

 

[Bellastumbles]

I have both, actually I am tying on my netbook right now. I love my Touch BUT I have to stress that when using the internet options the battery life is less than great. Be prepared to charge it often, the only good thing is that it does charge very quickly (it can go from zero battery to fully charged in about an hour). I would go with the netbook, I have an ASUS and it has been great for me so far.

 

[mumto2]

DD has an Acer - we got it for her just over a year ago, so price was a consideration, and the Acer was one of the more reasonable ones out there. This year, DH bought me the Dell inspiron mini, and I really like it. I think it is a bit faster than the Acer. The only complaint I have with it is that the touch pad is hyper sensitive and has taken quite some getting used to - we did not have that problem with the Acer.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I have both a an iPod Touch and a netbook and would go with the netbook, without question. The Touch is great for tapping out a quick email or Facebook status, but not good for typing anything more than that. Also, it won't be any use for sending photos, as the iPod Touch does not (yet... although, there have been rumors about them adding one in the next generation) have a camera, and there is no way to hook up a camera USB to the Touch.

Our netbook is an ASUS EEE and it works quite well for what we need it for. I have a neoprene sleeve for it, and then just carry it with me in my purse.

 

[Lori2202]

You may want to hold off a couple of weeks. There are strong rumors that Apple will be releasing some sort of new netbook type device in the near future. Some say it may be revolutionary in it's capabilities, but this is all at the rumor stage. Some think a major Apple announcement will be made in January.

 

[Blue.Fairy2]

You may want to hold off a couple of weeks. There are strong rumors that Apple will be releasing some sort of new netbook type device in the near future. Some say it may be revolutionary in it's capabilities, but this is all at the rumor stage. Some think a major Apple announcement will be made in January.

I would go touch without any questions or wait and see if apple comes out with something comparable to a netbook. The new touches do have bluetooth so you can attach a bluetooth keyboard and you can get apps and music and internet all in your pocket. Just a thought.

Apple will and is but the price is going to be around $1,000 not the $300 OP wants to spend

While the bluetooth keyboard is a great idea you will have to drop another $100 for one and typing without it for a class on a touch would be a hassle.

And as far as sending pictures from the touch, like another poster pointed out, the touch as of yet does not have a camera so pics would have to be sent to it and then sent on which defeats the purpose.

For what you need it for I would go with a netbook, handsdown the better choice or consider an iPhone which does have a camera and can from my understanding be used in Europe but there will be costs associated with that, monthly and internationally.

upfront costs will be less than what you want to spend, around $200, so you would have money for a bluetooth keyboard.

http://www.appletell.com/apple/comment/a-bluetooth-keyboard-for-the-iphone/

 

[puffkin]

I have an iPhone and a netbook. Without a doubt you should go the netbook route. I absolutely adore my iPhone and all the apps and convenience but it is a pain for just regular internet surfing if there is no app available. Quick emails and facebook stuff is fine, but I much prefer using the netbook for longer things. Since it seems like you will be using it for school work you will want the extra fuctionality of the netbook!

I have a Toshiba netbook...I believe the one I have is about $350 now. There are much cheaper options but the reason I went with the Toshiba was the LONG LONG LONG battery life. I get about 9 hours of internet surfing between charges (less if you watch a lot of youtube videos or stuff like that, but still a decent amount). I also like the full keyboard with two shift keys. Definitely check out the keyboard layout with any netbook purchase as they are all different. It easily slides into a purse or backpack. So much lighter and smaller than my Dell work laptop. Mine has SD slot and 3 USB hookups so I can charge my iphone from the netbook battery. I also can load my pictures right into my netbook from the SD slot.

ETA: I also like the built in webcam on my Toshiba. Skyping is so easy with that! I thought the Toshiba had a lot of really nice features for the price.

 

[mebbradley]

Thanks to all for their perspectives. I think as of right now, I'm going to aim towards a netbook!

Thanks!

 

[englishteacha]

I love my iPod touch, but for what you're looking for, I'd go netbook, too. I have a MacBook laptop and I use it all the time, but it's nowhere near as small as a netbook. I don't know much about brands but my DH is an IT consultant and recommends Dell to his clients. The Dell Outlet might be a good place to look.