Portable internet devices

[Tuba Guy]

I was wondering what people on here knew about portable internet devices. My entire campus has Wi-Fi, but lugging around a laptop is a bit of a pain. I'd also like something so when I'm watching tv, or in orchestra rehearsal, i can descreetly be surfing the internet.
At this point, I really doubt I can afford anything (what with my student being away for the rest of the summer, having no work study next year, and finishing paying off a tuba), but if something comes up, it'd be nice to have an idea.
My cell phone is beat up, but works, so I don't need something that replaces that. Ideally, something like an ipod touch is what I'm looking into. Does anyone know anything about these devices?

[Tuba Guy]

(and if someone has one that they don't use, and would want to trade for a few mouthpieces, or tuba parts or something, I'm all ears)

[Rick Denney]

I'd also like something so when I'm watching tv, or in orchestra rehearsal, i can descreetly be surfing the internet....Ideally, something like an ipod touch is what I'm looking into. Does anyone know anything about these devices?

An iPod Touch requires Wi-Fi (I think it has that capability), while an iPhone will get its internet access from the AT&T 3G network. Both seem like they will run pretty much the same apps, though I don't think the Touch has the GPS built in, and that's needed for a lot of the apps to have any usefulness.

Much as I hate to admit it, Apple has done a MUCH better job of figuring out how to make a tiny screen useful for web-surfing, with its intuitive scrolling and zooming.

I compared my new iPhone with my niece's iPod Touch last week, and that seems to be the gist of it.

There are many useful apps for these that serve musicians, too, including metronomes and tuners, though the microphone in my iPhone is insensitive at frequencies useful to tuba players. I would need an external microphone to make much use of it as a tuner.

Much as I have enjoyed playing with my iPhone, however, I would NEVER do so during orchestra rehearsal. Don't get in that habit. There is no such thing as "discreetly surfing the Internet"--what you are doing will be glaringly apparent to everyone in the room. Plus, the stuff the conductor is saying to the violins may well apply to you, too, at least indirectly.

Rick "avoiding iPhone-aholism" Denney

[Tuba Guy]

It's pretty much just the wi-fi that i'm looking for. I don't really want to have to pay extra on the phone bill for internet (i already had to pay more for unlimited texting....it was worth it, but i'm not going for much more).
And I don't really do it too often...if they're doing a piece without me, I sometimes read, last year I brought a gameboy and no one minded. The low brass section has been known to text (and occasionally usefully too...they put me on the other side of the trumpets and I needed to ask the bass trombonist a question...it was a quiet and descreet way of asking him). Besides, it is easier to throw this in than a book (it's usually smaller)

[The Big Ben]

I'm not a 'texting' sort of guy but it appears to me that the iPhone would not be a good texting device. The keyboard is on the screen and one of those kind with the 'real' button keyboard might be better.

I have an iPhone and like it. However, I also have an Asus Eeee netbook. I bought it more for giggles than anything else. It was cheap- $150 from the Best Buy closeout outlet. It is running a form of Linux (which is fine by me) but I can see why they were going for so cheap. If someone bought a netbook and had only used XP, Linux would be as disappointment mainly because 'it's different". I don't think most users want to learn something new just because it's a little cheaper.

I think a netbook would be a better device for what you describe you want to do than an iPhone Touch. YMMV.

ObGeek: Linux can run Windows software through something called Wine. It's not an emulator but an implementation of Microsoft DLLs that uses no MS code and is free. Works pretty good.

[Rick Denney]

I'm not a 'texting' sort of guy but it appears to me that the iPhone would not be a good texting device. The keyboard is on the screen and one of those kind with the 'real' button keyboard might be better.

The new iPhone 3Gs allows the keyboard to rotate, and that really helps my fat fingers--the keys are about a third wider when rotated.

I cannot push buttons on a blackberry--they are too small. And I cannot imagine how one could prefer tapping out letters using the number pad.

I have an Acer net-book and I love it for when I need to carry a computer at a conference. The iPhone is too small and has too little ability to do documents to serve that purpose, and my regular laptop is too heavy. I put Open Office on it because it was cheap (it came with XP Home) and it does what I need for the most part. I wish the Open Office presenter would support a dual-monitor display, however. That's a key weakness when giving presentations on projectors from a portable computer. Powerpoint will put the slides on the projector as a second monitor rather than forcing me to deal with the resolution and shape of the main screen. And I doubt I could do real production work on the keyboard, but for light stuff it's fine. It does not, however, fit in my pocket and the iPhone does.

Rick "who types out emails on the iPhone pretty frequently" Denney

[The Big Ben]

I'm not a 'texting' sort of guy but it appears to me that the iPhone would not be a good texting device. The keyboard is on the screen and one of those kind with the 'real' button keyboard might be better.

I cannot push buttons on a blackberry--they are too small. And I cannot imagine how one could prefer tapping out letters using the number pad.

The kids know how to do it, that's for sure. If I see a kid with her hands under the desk and a 'concentrating' look on her face, I know she's sending a text message. Then, the whip comes down...

Rick, you being a ham might find it amusing that I had kids asking me to teach them Morse last year. As a part of my U.S. History class, I teach a few letters of Morse and show a 'typical' message that can be sent via Morse with ham radio. A couple of them mentioned that it would be so much easier to just send a dot or a dash rather than finding the right button on a keyboard. They caught on to "QSO English" quickly, too.

Jeff "Morse might not be dead" Benedict

[Tuba Guy]

Morse is actually interesting. At some point, I would like to learn it. Definitely not dead either...Bloke put up a couple posts here in morse within the past 2 days.
And the ones who get caught are the ones who don't know how to do it right. In one of my more boring classes last year, we figured out how to make it look like we're reading/taking notes, and are actually texting or sleeping. There's an art form to hiding that sorta stuff

[ojannen2]

nokia n810

An ipod touch with removable storage, battery, slide out keyboard, bigger screen, root access. Does not need a jail break to use all the useful programs. No unnecessary limitations on types of media to play. It is significantly less cool though.