# iPad vs. iPod Touch Pros/Cons



## N. Eshelman

So I have an iPhone, which is basically the iPod Touch with the added feature of a phone. I like it. I have also had an iPod Touch. 

Now I am looking at the iPad and am wondering a few things: 

1. Who owns one and thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Why?
2. What's the real difference between the iPad and the iPod Touch besides size? 
3. What can it do that makes it really worth having? 
4. Now that Stevey Jobs came out with the Macbook Air 11inch: why not just go for that instead of the iPad? 

Anyways: discuss. And I may not get one; but I am trying to work through it.

N


----------



## LawrenceU

I wish I could help, but I only have an iPod Touch and I haven't really touched it since I started using my Android powered phone.


----------



## jfschultz

I am wondering the same thing. I have a first generation iPod Touch that will not take the 4.0 system and some of the newer apps. The few things where the size is really nice don't care (at least for now) about it being "obsolete." So should I look at a new iPod Touch or go with the iPad?


----------



## Marrow Man

I love my iPod Touch, especially the Kindle app, but the one negative I've noticed is that battery life is very short (I can't get it to last a day) if I let it go to sleep and keep the wifi feature on. Drains the battery big time. Of course the life is extended w/o wifi and by turning the unit off when not in use. I would suspect that the iPad would have a much bigger battery and greater life.


----------



## puritan628

My husband and I both have an iPad. We opted for the wi-fi version since we have the 3G version of the iPhone. We absolutely love our iPads because everything we can do on our iPhone we can do oh-so-much-better on the iPad. Photos are viewed in HD; books are easier to read (the Kindle app now even had two-column reading in landscape mode); games are sharper (the ones that are made specifically for the iPad; periodicals are interactive; the weight of the iPad is "just right" ... I'm sure there are more accolades I could share, but right now I have to run an errand. That's something my iPad can NOT do.


----------



## jfschultz

Marrow Man said:


> I love my iPod Touch, especially the Kindle app, but the one negative I've noticed is that battery life is very short (I can't get it to last a day) if I let it go to sleep and keep the wifi feature on. Drains the battery big time. Of course the life is extended w/o wifi and by turning the unit off when not in use. I would suspect that the iPad would have a much bigger battery and greater life.



You battery life can be greatly influenced by what application you have running. I was able to listen to podcasts on a long drive and still have plenty left. Run something that keeps it on or is interactive and the battery life goes way down.


----------



## puritan628

Another app that I've been especially impressed with is called iAnnotate. It's a PDF reader that allows you to mark it up in many, many ways. I especially like it for reading "study" books. My reading is compartmentalized. I read fiction on my iPhone because I can lay down at night before going to sleep, no lights to bother the hubby, and simply lay it aside when I'm ready to snooze. I read non-fiction on the iPad because it's more of a study tool for me. Even book apps like the Kindle, nook, and other eReaders allow you to annotate to one extent or another. 

By the way, regarding battery life: the iPad has good battery life and the iPhone 4 has GREAT battery life!


----------



## 21st Century Calvinist

I have an iPod Touch and I love it. I also love my new Mac. I am not sure what I would do with an iPad. I like the Kindle app (and all those free Kindle books that PB members tell us about) but it can be a little awkward to read those books on my iPod. A Kindle reader sounds like a cheaper option than an iPad. What would you use an iPad for? If you are going to carry an iPad around would you not be just as well carrying your laptop with you?


----------



## Bookmeister

I can't believe you have not gotten anyone extolling all the wonderful things about the iPad, so I guess I will. First reading on it is great, unmatched in my opinion. Kindle, Nook, Ereader, Ibooks, CBDReader. Almost all PDF readers allow annotation/markup now, I use GoodReader and readdle. Logos Bible App is free and gives access to about 75% of my library(about 2500 books). PIM on the iPad is outstanding. News, news, news. Fox, CBS and ABC all have apps that allow you to watch video, Newsy is a great app that collects news from various sites and puts together nice videos. Netflix, ABC, PBS, Hulu, TV.com all have great entertainment video to watch. Games, best game experience short of a consol. Surfing the Internet much better experience than other mobile Internet options. Some really great science and history apps.

I could go on. There is a huge difference carrying this around vs. My laptop, this is truly mobile the laptop is portable. The battery life is fantastic, 10 hours continuous use. Since I have purchased the iPad I have spent more hours on it than my desktop, laptop and smartphone combined. I highly recommend the iPad.


----------



## Marrow Man

Alan, someone asked me about being able to markup and take notes on a Kindle/iPod Touch recently. You indicate that you are able to do that on an iPad (and possibly a Kindle). Is there a way to do that on the iPod Touch? I know you can dogear pages, but is there more that you can do?


----------



## JasonT

I don't have an ipad/iphone, but I know that the battery on my regular phone lasts MUCH longer when I reduce the brightness. Even at 50% it's easily readable. Perhaps this would help with the ipad battery life?


----------



## puritan628

Bookmeister said:


> I can't believe you have not gotten anyone extolling all the wonderful things about the iPad




What am I, chopped liver?


----------



## Bookmeister

puritan628 said:


> Bookmeister said:
> 
> 
> 
> I can't believe you have not gotten anyone extolling all the wonderful things about the iPad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What am I, chopped liver?
Click to expand...


Correction, "I can't believe you have not gotten more replies extolling how wonderful the iPad is!"

My son has an iPod touch and you can highlight and make notes in all the ereaders an it as well. One thing I did not mention was that in the Kindle and iBook reader you can look up words in a dictionary from within the app, this is a very cool feature.

One more thing, there are magazine and newspaper apps that just would not work on a smaller device or a laptop. I subscribe to "The Sporting News Daily," and every morning I wake up to a beautiful, full color 65+ page magazine! Oh yeah, the cost? $2.99 a month. Which reminds me, another great thing is the cost of the apps, many are free and most are within the $2-$10 price range. Ok, I will stop now. Ssorry Laura, I was tired when I typed my previous post.


----------



## jawyman

Nate, 

1. Who owns one and thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. I own one.Why? My congregation gave me one and I like it because it is less intrusive than a laptop. It is smaller and you don't have to open it.
2. What's the real difference between the iPad and the iPod Touch besides size? Size is about it. You can read books and newspapers better on the iPad, but that goes back to size.
3. What can it do that makes it really worth having? Nothing. Essentially it makes you look cooler.
4. Now that Stevey Jobs came out with the Macbook Air 11inch: why not just go for that instead of the iPad? If my iPad was not a gift, I would seriously consider the MacBook Air, but again the Air doesn't do anything differently than your MacBook.

Just my opinions.


----------



## puritan628

Bookmeister said:


> Ssorry Laura, I was tired when I typed my previous post.



I was totally kidding, but you did a WONDERFUL job of expounding upon the best-thing-since-sliced-bread idea than I did anyway! 

---------- Post added at 02:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------

Chatting about this thread with my husband at lunch, the two biggest differences between the iPad and the MacBook Air (or whatever it's called) - the MacBook Air is right around $900-1,000; it's essentially Apple's version of a netbook - solid-state hard drive, long battery life, much more portable laptop. I STILL like my iPad better than my netbook - and my netbook didn't cost anywhere near what the MacBook Air costs. I think Alan said it best when he compared: mobile vs. portable ... for a person who's selected handbags that would hold the technology, THAT is a huge difference!


----------



## jfschultz

puritan628 said:


> My husband and I both have an iPad. We opted for the wi-fi version since we have the 3G version of the iPhone. We absolutely love our iPads because everything we can do on our iPhone we can do oh-so-much-better on the iPad. Photos are viewed in HD; books are easier to read (the Kindle app now even had two-column reading in landscape mode); games are sharper (the ones that are made specifically for the iPad; periodicals are interactive; the weight of the iPad is "just right" ... I'm sure there are more accolades I could share, but right now I have to run an errand. That's something my iPad can NOT do.





Sprung for a iPad last week. The applications that take advantage of the larger screen are much better than the iPhone/iPod Touch versions. The Bible programs show much more than the couple of verses that fit the 3.5" iPhone screen. The key board is much larger and easier to use than the tiny iPhone keyboard. Pages was the first program I downloaded for the iPad since I have iWork on the Mac.


----------



## coramdeo

Are you all trying to tempt us to break the tenth commandment?


----------



## SolaScriptura

If the next generation of iPad includes cameras so that I can use Facetime... I'll likely get one.


----------



## MLCOPE2

SolaScriptura said:


> If the next generation of iPad includes cameras so that I can use Facetime... I'll likely get one.


 
I would suggest waiting, if you don't already have one, for that very reason. The next gen. are reported to have both forward and rear facing cameras (for video chat and hd video recording). While I love mine now, I would really love to have waited for the newer model (mine was also a gift).


----------



## KMK

Can you preach from an iPad? I can see this as being a benefit over pages and pages of sermon notes.


----------



## Rich Koster

KMK said:


> Can you preach from an iPad? I can see this as being a benefit over pages and pages of sermon notes.



Mr Gates might say it violates RPW


----------



## puritan628

KMK said:


> Can you preach from an iPad? I can see this as being a benefit over pages and pages of sermon notes.


My husband, who runs the sound at our church, has figured out a way for his (or my) iPad to control the sermon slides from within the iPad while it's connected to wi-fi. How cool is that? So the actual speaker can advance the slides as he's preaching.



SolaScriptura said:


> If the next generation of iPad includes cameras so that I can use Facetime... I'll likely get one.


I have an app that allows me to take a picture with my camera and it automatically shows up on my iPad. You install one on the iPhone and one on the iPad and they talk to each other so that when you take the picture on the phone, it's taking it on the iPad at the same time. But that doesn't address the Facetime issue.


----------



## wtleaver

Finally a thread to which I can contribute! (This will be my first post - was considering posting months ago as I wrestled with reformed theology, but I made it through that conversion without posting.)

As a systems admin who has to be able to work on servers at any given moment, wherever I happen to be, I love the instant on, instant connection of the iPad. No bootup, no waiting for a 3G connection - it's just on and connected. I have a great SSH client to manage Linux servers, and a great RDP client to manage Windows servers. There is a very usable free ESV Bible on the iPad, so I use it at church even.

I also own a Macbook Air, but to get online requires me to boot it up, as well as my Sprint overdrive, whereas I can grab the iPad and be working in seconds. That said, there are just a couple things the iPad can't do that require me to keep the Air on hand as well, but I'm hoping iOS 4.2 for the iPad may help with that.

Aside from business applications, reading is awesome on the iPad, as is watching movies or television. (Though admittedly, it's getting harder and harder to find anything suitable to watch.) If I find myself waiting in line, at the doctor's office, or in the car waiting for my wife to finish shopping after she's run into the store for "just a couple things", it's very handy.

In my opinion, there is a huge usability difference in the 3G model, for my needs at least. No searching for a wifi signal if I'm out and about. I also picked up the 3G iPad before AT&T killed the unlimited data plan.


----------



## puritan628

Welcome to the Puritanboard Mr. Leaver. As the wife of a geek, I can semi-comprehend some of your terms: "SSH" "Linux" - not so sure about "RDP" but you did mention the instant connection that I forgot to mention in my posts. Thanks for the post!


----------



## Brother John

nleshelman said:


> So I have an iPhone, which is basically the iPod Touch with the added feature of a phone. I like it. I have also had an iPod Touch.
> 
> Now I am looking at the iPad and am wondering a few things:
> 
> 1. Who owns one and thinks it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Why?
> 2. What's the real difference between the iPad and the iPod Touch besides size?
> 3. What can it do that makes it really worth having?
> 4. Now that Stevey Jobs came out with the Macbook Air 11inch: why not just go for that instead of the iPad?
> 
> Anyways: discuss. And I may not get one; but I am trying to work through it.
> 
> N


 
I own one and it is great! I also own an iPod Touch which is great too. But I will say that typing on the Touch is not my favorite. The mini keyboard is one of two reasons I have a Blackberry and not an iPhone, the other being that verizon is way better than AT&T in my opinion . My Touch is an iPod and 90% of the time it is used to listen to excellent sermons and lectures. My iPad is my mobile computer. I check email, surf the net, watch movies, read books, etc. I would not put the iPad up against a laptop because they are apples and oranges, but I personally would skip the laptop and get a desktop and an iPad. First being that the iPad is much cheaper than an apple laptop. Second the iPad is much more mobile than a laptop, it is so light so compact so easy to use with the touch screen. Imagine standing in line somewhere using your iPad one hand holds it while one hand types and drags on the screen compared to standing in line with a laptop, the iPad just feels right not cumbersome. It's great to have with you as you can just turn it on and grab what info you need and turn off, quick and to the point, very convenient. While the iTouch/iPhone is very compact I am unable to surf the web, type or view movies without being frustrated on it. The iPad is as small as i want to go for that. I do not have an Apple computer yet but this is my final comp goal. Apple iTouch for listening to sermons, Apple desktop for all work tasks such as writing/editing etc, and iPad for mobile around the house/town use. I would wait for the next gen with the camera and then snatch an iPad up. 

**** First thing to do when you get your iPad is to buy a protective screen sheet to keep those scratches away and a case.


----------



## Bookmeister

I love the iPad but I don't understand this desire for a camera. A camera on the iPad would be like taking pictures with a clipboard. As for face time,I don't need it. I can video chat, over 3G by the way, you have to be on wifi for face time, with both my sons on two different carriers, with two different phone manufacturers with the android phone. I will always prefer Android for phone, and video chat, and apple for the tablet/Logos.


----------



## wtleaver

puritan628 said:


> Welcome to the Puritanboard Mr. Leaver. As the wife of a geek, I can semi-comprehend some of your terms: "SSH" "Linux" - not so sure about "RDP" but you did mention the instant connection that I forgot to mention in my posts. Thanks for the post!


 
RDP is remote desktop protocol - I use it for connecting to Windows servers as if I were sitting at the console, and you can top/double tab the iPad screen for mouse clicks - really handy.

Thanks for the welcome!

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:40 AM ----------




Bookmeister said:


> I love the iPad but I don't understand this desire for a camera. A camera on the iPad would be like taking pictures with a clipboard. As for face time,I don't need it. I can video chat, over 3G by the way, you have to be on wifi for face time, with both my sons on two different carriers, with two different phone manufacturers with the android phone. I will always prefer Android for phone, and video chat, and apple for the tablet/Logos.


 
Facetime is probably the obvious use case that wouldn't be clunky. However, if they do outfit the iPad 2 with cameras, and the rear-facing camera is really high quality - higher than iPhone 4 - imagine the photo composition you'll be able to do with the large screen.


----------



## EricP

I've got the new Iphone (when my first gen was orphaned), so in theory I could use the Facetime feature; sadly, my face won't qualify! I could just put a photo of Will Smith or Antonio Banderas there instead....I've been happy with my 2nd gen Kindle, but will probably go for the newer Ipad when available, or being really cheap, get one of the old ones when the new come out!


----------

