I nearly bought an Apple iPod Touch 64 GB version, from amazon.co.uk, using some gift certificates I had been offered.

I had been considering the iPod since I saw at zinio.com that they now have an app for the iPhone and iPod, that can read Zinio content. This made me happy because I own (literally) thousands of Zinio magazines, that I read on the PC.

At the very last moment I decided to search how the iPod reading experience was. As expected, at first glance, “everyone” seems to love the iPod, but this is only the surface. After digging I found that in fact, the iPod would be useless in my hands because:

(1) only a very limited selection of Zinio titles work on the iPod. The .zno files that I already download for the PC wouldn’t work at all on the iPod. Even magazines that are currently also available for the Apple device must be redownloaded because it is a different format, very specific for that other platform.

(2) interfacing with the iPod is mainly done via Wi-Fi and this makes it slow to transfer tens of GBs into it.

(3) the best solution for reading PDFs on the iPod seems to be Amazon’s Stanza, but then the iPod doesn’t handle files from certain sizes and with certain graphics.

So, I stick with my Tablet TC1000 and HP HX4700 and I totally excluded the iPad (big iPod) from my wish list.

These are random sites that I read while deciding what I just decided. Beware that some of these sites are very much copy/paste and don’t really use the solutions they write about.

http://macresearch.org/ipod-touch-e-reader-0

http://www.calvinshub.com/2009/01/how-to-read-pdfs-on-your-ipod-touch/

http://blog.bradgrier.com/2009/04/26/how-to-view-pdf-and-other-files-on-your-iphone-and-ipod-touch/

http://palmdiscovery.com/2010/05/05/software-review-zinio-magazine-newsstand-reader-app-for-the-iphone-ipod-touch-and-ipad/

http://ipodtouchtricks.net/page/2/

http://www.lexcycle.com/ – Stanza home

http://mekentosj.com/papers/iphone/