Help me decide...Kindle Fire or IPod touch?

thelion777 · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 11:28 am

I have the opportunity to choose between one of two items’ to receive for free, but need some help deciding. I can either get an Amazon Kindle Fire or an IPod Touch 4g. I am somewhat familiar with the Kindle Fire and what you can do with it, but, since I don't own any apple devices, I have limited knowledge what the IPod Touch can do.

So, I just have few questions for those of you that are familiar with the IPod Touch.

1) Does it work well with EBooks? Specifically, are there apps available to read various eBook formats, such as epub, mobi, and pdf,

2) Can you access your shared network folders with the IPod Touch? I would like to be able to access video or audio via my wifi network at home if possible

3) Can the device access a dropbox or box.net account via an app, and allow you to save files directly to the IPod Touch?

Basically, what I plan on using it for is: Reading EBooks, checking email and rss news feeds, listening to podcasts or music, and occasionally watching video.

Any help would be appreciated. I know the Kindle Fire can do all of these, but I really like the look of the IPod Touch.

Adbot · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 11:28 am

trekkie · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 12:16 pm

if you have the time. maybe wait til around october when the new android and window tablets come into the market. who knows maybe those will be better.

thelion777 · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 12:45 pm

trekkie wrote:

if you have the time. maybe wait til around october when the new android and window tablets come into the market. who knows maybe those will be better.

I wish I could wait, but I am getting one of these item's for free and have to make a choice between the two soon. I guess I need to chose between whether I want a portable device (the Ipod) or a "sit on the couch" tablet device (the kindle). I like the Ipod for it's portability, but like the Kindle for the Ebooks and the fact that it's not as "locked down" as the Ipod.

Marking22 · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 12:47 pm

So yes you can do this with a Jailbroken ipod touch. A regular one can only use ebooks but if you jailbreak it all those things are possible.

trekkie · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 12:57 pm

well then if you are going for ebooks go wit the kindle. at least it has a larger screen than the itouch. and since it is owned by amazon, i think you may get a larger collection of ebooks.

Ranging God · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 1:53 pm

Hands down her the Kindle Fire (but if you can, get the Nook Tablet.)

What you do it put Android on the Nook tablet and it is pretty sick. That is what I have done.

Adbot · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 1:53 pm

Evelyn · **Posted:** April 17th, 2012, 5:34 pm

A better comparison would be Kindle Fire vs iPad. If you're going to read books, a Kindle Fire is definitely a better choice.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

If you're going to be reading, I wouldn't consider the iPod for a second.

The rest are quite doable on the iPod even without jailbreaking, minus the network share.

It probably depends the most on if you want to read, or do the rest more. If reading will be one of the key activities, I'd pick the Kindle. If audio will be a key activity, I'd pick the iPod touch. For video, I'd probably go with the Kindle. Generally web browsing, again, Kindle.

Both devices will handle Dropbox equally well. I can't vouch for box.net, but they should both be able to use an application.

Ring · **Posted:** April 18th, 2012, 4:10 pm

Wait to see if apple updates the ipod touch

Pfkninenines wrote:

Both devices will handle Dropbox equally well. I can't vouch for box.net, but they should both be able to use an application.

Incorrect. The Dropbox iOS app is horrible. I use dropbox to keep important images for school. However, when I try to view them with the iOS app they are blurry and unusable (iPhone 4S quality pictures). And this isn't an optional feature, the app is unusable.

Shane · **Posted:** April 18th, 2012, 4:15 pm

Dropbox for iOS works quite well... I'd even call it a decent file system.

As for the original question:
- Kindle Fire if reading is more important. I know I couldn't manage reading books on a iPod size device for long periods of time.
- iPod if music and media is more important. Note that even though the screen is small it is of decent quality. Not sure if you'd want to watch a 2 hour feature on that size of screen.

koil163 · **Posted:** April 18th, 2012, 4:27 pm

Depends. Ipod= kindle fire minus reading and a few other things. But remember, the Ipod was designed for music and videos.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

Ring wrote:

Wait to see if apple updates the ipod touch

He's getting it for free (used?), so I don't think that would be an option. Plus the iPod touch usually gets the refresh in the Fall.. It will be due for a refresh as the 4th gen that came out in 2010 is still the current. It'll have a better processor (same as the 4s) and likely a better camera (same as the iPad 3), at least if they keep with their upgrade path.

Ring wrote:

Incorrect. The Dropbox iOS app is horrible. I use dropbox to keep important images for school. However, when I try to view them with the iOS app they are blurry and unusable (iPhone 4S quality pictures). And this isn't an optional feature, the app is unusable.

I dunno, it seems to work fine for me. My old 1st gen handles everything I throw at it fine, and the 4th gen I've currently got does the same.

Checking a recently taken photo from my camera on Dropbox with the iOS app, and it looks fine. Same with some larger photos that were from a scanner. I can see them being a little blurry, but only when I zoom in as far as it will go. The PPI on the 4/4S/iPod touch 4g are higher than that of the zoomed in photos, so seeing them a bit blurry isn't a huge surprise. Make sure you've got "original" quality photo uploads set under the settings. I noticed quite a bit of artifacts when it was set as default, even back on the 1st gen.

thelion777 · **Posted:** April 19th, 2012, 1:17 am

Thanks everyone for your input. I have decided to go with the IPod Touch 4g. What was the deciding factor was the portability of the IPod. While the Kindle Fire would be a better experience for reading EBooks, watching video, and checking websites, I already have a netbook for doing those things when away from my main computer. I already have a decent MP3 player (the Sandisk Sansa), and will still use that on occasion, like when I’m outside in the elements.

The IPod Touch will give me a great introduction the whole apple experience, which I’ve missed out on mostly because I haven’t been able to afford an IPhone, IPad, or an apple computer. I’ve had to settle for cheap windows based computers.

It will be a few days before I get my IPod, so one more quick question if I may. With the IPod Touch, can you access the ITunes store via Wi-Fi and download a podcast directly to the device without going through the ITunes computer application? Also, does anyone use an app called “Podcaster”? I believe it allows you to subscribe to podcast feeds, which would be great for having my RSBandB podcasts directly downloaded to the IPod.

Thanks again everyone for your comments.

Evelyn · **Posted:** April 19th, 2012, 10:18 am

thelion777 wrote:

I’ve had to settle for cheap windows based computers.

Whoa now, just because Windows-based computers are relatively inexpensive doesn't mean they are of any less quality than a Apple computer.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

thelion777 wrote:

It will be a few days before I get my IPod, so one more quick question if I may. With the IPod Touch, can you access the ITunes store via Wi-Fi and download a podcast directly to the device without going through the ITunes computer application? Also, does anyone use an app called “Podcaster”? I believe it allows you to subscribe to podcast feeds, which would be great for having my RSBandB podcasts directly downloaded to the IPod.

Yep, you can go onto the App Store and iTunes store via WiFi and download applications and audio/video without needing to connect to a computer. This is honestly my #1 favorite feature, as I detest iTunes on the PC... I only connect now for new music syncing, and when I jailbreak. So, a few times per year.

I don't use the Podcaster app, but it looks like a nice application. However, it doesn't appear to have the 2x playback speed I've come accustomed to with the native audio player. That works for Audiobooks as well as Podcasts, but doesn't alter the pitch of the voices. It's fantastic for getting through a large volume of audio in half the time it would normally take.