Apple Iphone and Ipod touch

Simon7685

Sorry if this isn't exactly the right place for this.

My daughter has been asking for an I phone for long enough now and I have always said no because they cost so much money and I don't think she is old enough for the responsibility of a contract phone.

So she has instead asked for an I pod touch this year. I have looked at one of these and to me they look as though it is basically everything that the I phone does but without the ability to make and receive calls.

Is this right? If not can someone explain what the difference is between the two things please.

The I pod touch she has asked for is around £250:eek:. I was wondering if that money might be better used to get a refurbished unlocked I phone instead. So any help on where to spend the money would be appreciated. I want to get her one or the other as her Xmas present for this year but don't want to get it wrong if one is significantly better than the other.

Thanks in advance.

staffie1

Yes, with an ipod touch you can access the internet, email, text messages, face time all through your home's wireless broadband service for free.

You're right - its very much the same as an iphone without the ability to make/receive calls (and no charges). Huge storage capacity too for films, books, music, games etc too. (depending on the size). Mine is a 64 gig and is more than enough memory.

New_and_Improved_Me

250 sounds pretty high....

You can get a used iPhone 4 for about 100 these days if you look hard...and it will do everything a iPod touch will do....

How old is your daughter??

Is it a phone she needs??

NFH

This does demonstrate the huge markup that Apple puts on the iPhone. It costs Apple very little to add the phone functionality so the enormous difference in price is not merited. Consequently the iPod Touch is considerably better value for money than the iPhone. Do bear in mind that a small minority of iPhone apps will not install on the iPod, most notably WhatsApp.

flea72

a 2nd-hand ipod touch is only £100

If she wants whattsap, then thats accessible from any android phone

DD tends to use facetime to speak to her friends, so actually uses a phone very little

Would a cheap tablet not be more useful? Larger screen for gaming/chat, if thats what her main uses would be

jenniewb

I've got an ipod touch and would recommend it- no chance of a huge phone bill though watch out if you have your card details tied to any app as there have been stories of apps for games charging money if your card details are linked.

The only downside is that you will need to be in a wifi area to use any of the apps which require the internet (not all do) but if you have wifi at home and anywhere else this isn't such a problem and many things can be downloaded whilst your in a wifi area and then played back when your not in a wifi area. This is also makes it a lot easier to keep an eye on any charges as it would be near impossible to be charged for any app usage if the ipod isn't in a wifi area.

I have an ipod 4, the current model is the ipod 5. My ipod is now over 3.5 years old and going strong but owing to the updates there are some parts of the new iTunes system which wont work on my ipod and I'm constantly told that certain apps wont run or upgrade as my ipod isn't able to run the new system fully due to it not having the capacities required which exist on the new ipod models and for that reason I'd recommend getting the latest model as the new ipod 6 which is probably out next year would mean my ipod 4 would be even further behind and possibly missing a great deal more of what the newer upgrades would require...

I'd never fork out for an iphone, I think they seem over-rated for what they do (I have a Huawei which seems more than adequate just not as pretty looking) but I would replace my ipod with another ipod as I think they work so much more fluidly and intuitively and without the freezes and glitches I seem to find on my Huawei handset.

Harald

iPhone 5c is selling well below targets and you can expect very good offers right after the Christmas. I think that something around £20-22 a month with no upfront cost is not unrealistic.
So you can give your daughter a choice - iPod now or possibly iPhone in less than 2 months.

grumbler

Simon7685 wrote: »

...I have always said no because ...I don't think she is old enough for the responsibility of a contract phone.

Contract isn't the only option, and is normally the worst one for iPhones in terms of the total amount of money you pay over the minimum term.
There are good PAYG options.

That said, there are capped contracts as well.

Simon7685

Some good advice there guys, thank you.

Anyway moving on.........

We have decided to ditch the I pod touch idea and parents/grandparents are going to club together to get an I phone 4S instead for her main Xmas present.

Having been on to the Apple store I have noticed that they are only selling the 4S with the 8 GB memory. Is this enough or would I be better looking for a 16GB model? If so can someone point me in the right direction of where to get one?

I have noticed on Ebay that there are a number of people selling brand new 4S models. Are these generally okay to buy, or is it better off buying from the high street?

Can you increase the memory size by adding a micro SD card, as you can with a smartphone?

I understand that I will need to get a micro sim card and Tesco are sending me one out (she is on Tesco Mobile PAYG at present). They said after she gets the phone we can arrange for her old number to be moved over along with any credit she has left. Is there a way to move all her contacts over or will she have to do it manually as she will be going from a standard sim card to a micro one?

If anyone has any other advice they think might be usefull for me, then please feel free to tell me, as I am sure it will all be handy.

Thanks in advance.

TadleyBaggie

Simon7685 wrote: »

Having been on to the Apple store I have noticed that they are only selling the 4S with the 8 GB memory. Is this enough or would I be better looking for a 16GB model?

Difficult to say, depends on how much music they indend to keep on the device.

Simon7685 wrote: »

If so can someone point me in the right direction of where to get one?

I've used this site a couple of times to buy older iPhones(www.secure.smartfonestore.com) not had a problem.

Simon7685 wrote: »

I have noticed on Ebay that there are a number of people selling brand new 4S models. Are these generally okay to buy, or is it better off buying from the high street?

Buying from eBay can be OK, but there is always the worry that the phone might get blocked if it happens to be stolen. Buying from eBay wouldn't be my first choice.

Simon7685 wrote: »

Can you increase the memory size by adding a micro SD card, as you can with a smartphone?

Nope, the memory size is fixed to whatever it was produced with.

Simon7685

Thanks for the advice, think I will give Ebay a miss then, I hadn't considered it getting blocked due to being stolen. Maybe a bit naive!

I have also seen the 5c being advertised and it is only £30 more than the 4S, is it a better phone for the extra money?