If you are a regular reader then you already know I recently picked up an iPod Touch recently. After a bit tinkering with the Power Mac G4 MDD I found that it just wasn’t going to be useful for me. What I really needed was something that could provide some of the same functionality as a laptop.

The laptop I currently have is in need of a new battery, it’d be the third in less than three years, I just couldn’t justify spending 130 for something that would die again in less than a year.

I also needed a new MP3 player, a way to play TV shows but not completely give up the ability to browse the web and check my email. So in comes the iPod Touch. It can play music, video,
browse the web and do email. And if that isn’t enough, you can download more software via the App Store. This post was in fact pecked out on the iPod Touch on screen keyboard. Sure I could do the same thing on a full blown laptop but it wouldn’t be nearly as portable and honestly, nearly as fun.

Browsing the web using Safari is actually a treat because it uses the same rendering engine as the same one used in Safari on the Mac. The on screen keyboard is surprisingly easy to use and even fixed your misspellings on the fly.

So far, after just a couple of days with it, I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed much if anything at all. If you’re on the fence about whether or not an iPod Touch, or an iPhone, would be a sufficient laptop substitute I think you can rest easy knowing that yes, it definitly can be.

There are however some notable limitations. You can’t unload pictures from your digital camera and you are limited to a small screen, on screen keyboard and you’re tied into the iTunes ecosystem with no other options.