iPod Touch or iPhone?

October 16, 2011 9:16 AM

Does buying a new iPod Touch as a gift for my wife still make sense now? Considering the iPhone...

I wanted to get my music-loving wife an iPod Touch for her upcoming B'day, but with the iPhone 4S on the market, not sure if it makes sense to buy it.

The caveat is that we are on T-Mobile with a grandfathered plan and making the shift to Sprint or AT&T is not something we want to do at the moment. Also, my wife doesn't believe in the smartphone as we both are in IT and spend all our days before a computer.

The reasons I am looking at a Touch instead of a classic are:

1. Connecting to the internet through wi-fi and playing the occasional game or using an app
2. Reading something while in airports
3. Sparing use as a camera when nothing is available at hand (but the 8MP of the iPhone 4S gives me pause, a very long at that!)

With these things in mind, should I still go for the Touch or get an iPhone instead?

posted by theobserver to shopping (16 answers total)

If you don't want to leave T-Mobile, and your wife doesn't want a smartphone, I wouldn't bother with an iPhone at all.
posted by Tomorrowful at 9:25 AM on October 16, 2011

You can get a nice-condition off-contract iPhone 4, which is much nicer than in iPod Touch, on eBay now for about $350. Then jailbreak and unlock (a relatively straightforward process) and use with your existing T-Mobile contract. You can even buy one that's been pre-unlocked for use on T-Mobile.
posted by killdevil at 9:28 AM on October 16, 2011

She loves music. She doesn't like smartphones.

Get her an iPod touch.
posted by jason's_planet at 9:28 AM on October 16, 2011 [5 favorites]

When I was laid off in 2009 I lost my company Blackberry, and after getting stranded in a strange city during a winter storm with just a cell-phone, I resolved to get myself another smartphone.

I'm happy with my HTC Android device, but now that I work at home in front of a computer all day, it doesn't make much sense.

What I wish I had done was bought an iPod and kept my old cellphone. It would have been waaay cheaper, and all I would have to do when on the road and looking for hotel information would be to pop into a Starbucks, get onto WiFi, and find the info I need.

So, in short, go with the iPod.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:37 AM on October 16, 2011

Couldnt you just buy a used iphone 4 or 3gs to get the better camera and just not activate it on a cell plan? You would still have all the iphone features just not the cell service.
posted by dstopps at 9:55 AM on October 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

dstopps/killdevil: I would go the used route, but since this is a gift, I don't want to.

KoKuRyu: I am inclining more in this direction.
posted by theobserver at 10:14 AM on October 16, 2011

iPhone gift: The gift that costs $80 a month forever.
iPod: Zero dollars per month.

Does this affect your decision?
posted by cccorlew at 11:21 AM on October 16, 2011 [4 favorites]

So, other than the better camera, it appears that there is nothing about the iPhone that you prefer to the iPod.

This isn't even an issue. Get the iPod. It's great and with Skype you can even use it to make phone calls.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 12:48 PM on October 16, 2011

She likes music, not phones? Get the Touch. Functions in all the ways you want, without the phone part, which it sounds like your wife doesn't want. Totally makes sense.
posted by metaphorik at 3:34 PM on October 16, 2011

I love my iPod Touch. If she doesn't need remote access to the internet or GPS (the only advantages to the iPhone), the Touch is awesome (and has more space).

(I tell my friends: it's like an iPhone without a monthly bill :)
posted by jb at 7:30 PM on October 16, 2011

I should warn you, though - the camera on the Touch is very low end, like 110 film or web-cam quality images. Camera quality may be a good reason to look for a used iPhone.

I normally would agree with you that gifts really shouldn't be used, but my one exception would be for my SO, as we are close enough that he would never be offended by used if that used thing were better than a new thing. It's like buying myself a used thing. Also, we're kind of poor, and he is just fine with used things, especially as we share all finances and thus he's paying for his gift anyways.
posted by jb at 7:35 PM on October 16, 2011

I really, really enjoy my iPod touch, which I bought close to 2 years ago now. It's the latest one with the camera. The camera is ok (you can see pictures from it in my Flickr linked in my profile if you're interested), but not spectacular. If you want what is basically an iPod touch with a better camera, get an off-contract iPhone 4. If the camera quality isn't a big deal for your wife, the iPod touch is a great device. It's hard to go wrong either way.
posted by asciident at 9:29 PM on October 16, 2011

Oops, realized I meant to say I bought it a year ago! And I'm upgrading to an iPhone 4S, but only because I want phone features. The iPod has been very good to me.
posted by asciident at 1:53 AM on October 17, 2011

A contrarian view:

Nothing about a smartphone forces you to stare at it any more than an iPod touch would. The camera on the iPhone is much better. An iPhone means you're only carrying one gizmo, not two--and it's always with you. You can, as mentioned above, buy an iPhone that will work on your current plan. For me, among the most practical reasons for a smartphone are 1) I have a ubiquitous method of capturing and viewing notes, calendar, and contacts; 2) I never have to go look for a computer if I want to, say, register for something online and I don't happen to be at a computer; 3) I have a backup means of internet connectivity.

This last one is not to be taken lightly. It is very frustrating to be dealing with a personal or client computer or network problem and not having any way to google the problem. Furthermore, my phone's 3G connection is not subject to the browser proxy settings at work; a surprising number of work-related software development articles that I want to see are classified as either 'hacking' or 'gaming'.

Your mileage may vary, and the above commenters have very good points. In fact, I doubt anything I say trumps the "I don't want to leave my carrier and she doesn't want a smartphone". But that's for you guys to decide.
posted by RikiTikiTavi at 5:29 AM on October 17, 2011

The screen on the iPod touch is the same resolution, but considerably worse than the iPhone 4's. It's not bad, but just an FYI.
posted by wongcorgi at 10:33 AM on October 17, 2011

Aw, Thanks guys for confusing me even more :)

The camera is the only deal breaker for me, since it is the only thing which does not require an internet connection, while being extremely useful.

Finding a decent, used, off-contract iPhone 4 for about $300 is going to be extremely tough. Most of them on craigslist aren't new enough and paying $500 for a new one is not in the budget right now.

Darn Apple, why couldn't you put at least a 5 MP camera?
posted by theobserver at 10:30 AM on October 18, 2011