The day the iPod Touch was announced, Mike called me. "Isn't this what you were looking for?" he asked. "A pocket computer that has wifi and isn't tied to a crappy cell phone?" Yeah, it's true, that's pretty neat, but I already have one. You see, the iPod Touch (with a little hacking) is a great little pocket computer, but Nintendo does it better. :) The device I already have is a hacked Nintendo DS.
To say that the Nintendo DS can outperform an iPod in the iPod game is pretty far-fetched, but for most uses (and indeed, all the things I use it for), it performs admirably. The homebrew hacker culture on the DS even brings some notable advantages, like Ogg Vorbis support. A hacked DS does require some extra hardware. I'm using a Supercard SD with a 1GB SD card, a combo that will cost you about $65.
Because I'm a pedant, let's do a side-by-side comparison. For each category, the better stats will be in bold. For situations where there is no clear winner, or where it is a matter of personal preference, I'll leave both columns un-bolded.
| Nintendo DS | iPod Touch | |
|---|---|---|
| Audio Playback | MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, MIDI, WAV, FLAC, MOD, SPC, MDX(no PCM), GBS, HES, NSF, XM, S3M, SID | AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, Audible, Apple Lossless, AIFF, WAV |
| Video Playback | MPEG-1 video with MP2 audio (DPG format). 256x192@20fps, 256x144@24fps | Low Complexity H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640x480@30fps; Baseline Profile H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480@30fps; Simple Profile MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640x480@30fps (M4V, MP4, and MOV format) |
| Image Formats | JPEG, BMP, GIF, PNG, RAW | JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD (Mac only), and PNG |
| Other Features and Formats | TXT, VCard, IRC client, text-only web browser, file browser, Scribble pad, WAV recorder (Opera web browser available for $40) | Safari Web browser, Youtube player, iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store |
| Wi-Fi | 2Mbit 802.11b | 802.11b/g |
| Screen | Dual 256x192 screens, lower screen is touch-sensitive | 480x320, 163 pixels per inch, multi-touch sensitive |
| Audio I/O | Built-in stereo speakers and microphone, 3.5mm stereo headphone jack, proprietary microphone jack | 3.5mm stereo headphone jack |
| Software | Several free, open source projects including DSLinux, MoonShell, and DSOrganize. Active developer community with hundreds of homebrew utilities and games. | Proprietary Apple system software, not user modifiable |
| Video Games | Plays games from a library of thousands of DS and GBA games. Plays NES, GameBoy, and other systems with homebrew emulators. | Er... |
| Storage | Uses industry-standard and widely-available removable SD cards in capacities up to 2GB | Non-removable internal flash, 8 or 16GB |
| Battery | Removable 850mAh Li-Ion, provides 6-8 hours of gameplay or video playback, probably about 20-25 hours of audio playback. (I haven't tested it) | Non-removable Li-Ion, provides 5 hours video playback or 22 hours audio playback |
| Price | $185: $130 Nintendo DS, $40 SuperCard, $15 1GB SD card | $299 for 8GB, $399 for 16GB |
It is interesting to note that for an extra $75-85, you can get 8GB worth of SD cards instead of the 1GB, but that would be some kind of management nightmare pulled straight from the days of floppy-only home computers. Eventually someone will come out with a homebrew cartridge that supports SDHC.
Surely this is comparing apples (hah) and oranges, but it's not a clear decision, either. For most people, the iPod Touch is an easier device for most of what they want to do, but as a portable computer, the DS is much more versatile and useful. Also, I love the Mega Man 2 soundtrack, so NSF support is a big big plus. :)
So in the end, to each their own. I can't watch youtube on my DS, but you can't play Metroid Fusion on your iPod. :P
Thats harsh man
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