iPod Touch as a PDA
October 2, 2008 3:34 PM Subscribe
Can I save files (specifically pdfs) on an ipod touch?
I'm thinking about buying an ipod touch to use as a PDA - I love the display and it has all the medical programs that I want - but I want to be able to save files to it in order to access them later: papers, my own notes, and so on. Is there a way to do this without jailbreaking, or without just emailing everything to myself?
Bonus points: Does it have a good pdf reader?
I'm thinking about buying an ipod touch to use as a PDA - I love the display and it has all the medical programs that I want - but I want to be able to save files to it in order to access them later: papers, my own notes, and so on. Is there a way to do this without jailbreaking, or without just emailing everything to myself?
Bonus points: Does it have a good pdf reader?
Yes. You can use Airsharing. Or you can do what I did before the app store opened up: email yourself the pdf; using the ipod's mail app, get your email, and download and open the pdf. Now it will be available for viewing even if you're not on a wireless connection.
I also use Stanza, which is awesome, but it's not always great at preserving the formatting of pdfs.
posted by rtha at 4:00 PM on October 2, 2008
I also use Stanza, which is awesome, but it's not always great at preserving the formatting of pdfs.
posted by rtha at 4:00 PM on October 2, 2008
Whoops. Missed the no-emailing-to-self part. Sorry. Airsharing does work a treat - pdfs, jpegs, excel sheets, etc. Very cool.
posted by rtha at 4:01 PM on October 2, 2008
posted by rtha at 4:01 PM on October 2, 2008
Air Sharing is actually $6.99 now, but was free for the first 1 or 2 weeks, when I downloaded it.
posted by jaimev at 4:04 PM on October 2, 2008
posted by jaimev at 4:04 PM on October 2, 2008
Access them later means viewing them on the iPhone? If so, then no, you can't save PDFs for viewing, only viewing through e-mail or the web browser.
If you are talking about using the iPhone as mass storage, to keep PDFs to read on a computer, then yes, you can use Airshare as suggested.
posted by wongcorgi at 4:21 PM on October 2, 2008
If you are talking about using the iPhone as mass storage, to keep PDFs to read on a computer, then yes, you can use Airshare as suggested.
posted by wongcorgi at 4:21 PM on October 2, 2008
Response by poster: Hmm - yeah, I did want to access them on the ipod. My goal was to have references that I could review in the hospital if necessary, where I won't have internet access. I was hoping to be able to have them organized in some sort of file system.
Not that I have really strong convictions against the emailing to myself idea, it just seemed like a bulky and ungraceful solution.
posted by deliquescent at 4:27 PM on October 2, 2008
Not that I have really strong convictions against the emailing to myself idea, it just seemed like a bulky and ungraceful solution.
posted by deliquescent at 4:27 PM on October 2, 2008
I just got something called sugarsync that is supposed to do that. Haven't tried it yet.
posted by Gregamell at 4:34 PM on October 2, 2008
posted by Gregamell at 4:34 PM on October 2, 2008
There's also MobileFinder (iTunes store link) for only $1.99. I believe it lets you view PDFs and docs (dont' have the device in front of me).
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:00 PM on October 2, 2008
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:00 PM on October 2, 2008
What neustile said: Yes, yes you can keep pdfs for viewing, on the iphone/ipod touch, without a wireless connection. I'm looking at one right now on my touch. Airsharing lets you do this.
posted by rtha at 6:14 AM on October 3, 2008
posted by rtha at 6:14 AM on October 3, 2008
rtha, how are you getting Stanza to read pdfs? I was under the impression that you could only download things from the online repositories it accesses, but I'd love it if I were wrong.
posted by averyoldworld at 12:31 PM on October 3, 2008
posted by averyoldworld at 12:31 PM on October 3, 2008
Oh, heck no, averyworld. Oh, but...Stanza has a desktop app that may be Mac-only at this point (not sure about that). So, with the desktop app, I can open a pdf or a word doc in Stanza, and Stanza converts it - sometimes losing all formatting, sometimes only losing bolds/itals (it seems to do better w/ Word docs, but I've had n trouble with some pdfs). Then, with the converted stanza version open, and both my laptop and ipod touch on the same wifi network, I go to Stanza on the touch, select shared books, and voila, it syncs with the Stanza version on my laptop.
posted by rtha at 2:10 PM on October 3, 2008
posted by rtha at 2:10 PM on October 3, 2008
Response by poster: OK, just as a follow up - airsharing does exactly what I want it to do. If I could edit my word files etc it would be even better, but for right now its great. Thanks for all the tips!
posted by deliquescent at 10:09 AM on November 11, 2008
posted by deliquescent at 10:09 AM on November 11, 2008
Deli; Are you using an iPod touch or Iphone? 1st gen or 2nd gen? I am thinking of using an itouch as a PDA as well, I would like the organizational/syncing capabilities, without getting a smartphone that requires an expensive dataplan. Any follow up as to how it is going for you would be great to hear. See my recent post: Verizon PDA/Cell with no dataplan?
posted by retro88 at 9:06 AM on December 18, 2008
posted by retro88 at 9:06 AM on December 18, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 3:41 PM on October 2, 2008