The 8 GB IPod Touch - Review as a PDA

I recently decided to scrap my paper daily planner and go electronic. Being a pregnant working mother in college with a 6 year old, trying to keep track of doctors appointments, meetings, parent teacher conferences, and homework assignments by paper became to much of a hassle. I had a cell phone and an iPod shuffle but had wanted to upgrade my iPod for awhile.

My main needs out of this piece of technology were a place to keep my address book, calendar, and a music player. My wants were an eBook reader and somewhere I could keep my budget so I didn't have to carry it on a thumb drive. I decided to check out the iPhone. While I liked it, I just couldn't get past the mandatory data plan charges. This is when I came across the iPod touch.

For those who do not know what the iPod Touch is, it's an iPhone without the phone. If you have wifi connections you can still access the internet. You can download iPhone applications. You just don't have 24/7 access to the internet or the ability to make phone calls. The following is a breakdown of the stuff you can do on the iPod Touch. For the purposes of this article, it is a 3rd generation 8GB iPod Touch.

The Touch comes preloaded with several applications such as Safari, a music player, weather, contacts, a calendar, notes, stocks, YouTube, voice recorder, a clock with alarms and a stopwatch, photo viewer application, videos, a calculator, maps, email, and the iTunes/app store. You can access the internet through your Touch as long as you have a wifi access.

Once you have wifi access you can download iTunes to your Touch as well as other applications. I was able to download ereader to read eBooks, a budgeting program called iXpenseIt for keeping track of my finances, and even a to do list application to keep track of my homework.

One benefit to the App Store on iTunes is that a lot of the programs are available as free "Lite" versions. This gives you the opportunity to try them out before purchasing them. There are some very good applications and games out there to put on your Touch. You can get dictionaries, flashlights, mobile apps for banking and programs such as Quicken Online. I even was able to get a free contraction stopwatch to help me time the frequency and duration of contractions!

Many people find it hard to believe that you can use an iPod as a PDA. It is a fabulous piece of technology that I would recommend to everyone. For those who want the technology of an iPhone but don't want to use AT&T or pay a mandatory data plan, the Touch is definitely worth looking at.

What would I change? There have been several times when I wished I could access the internet from anywhere. However, if you want that, get an iPhone.

You need to have a file transfer program to get files such as PDFs and Word documents onto your Touch. I use a free program called Drop Box. It is also important to note that the iPod Touch does not have Bluetooth capability with one exception. You can purchase a set of accessories such as headphones and sync them via Bluetooth so you don't have to use the cord. However, you cannot Bluetooth your Touch to your cell phone to use the internet.