Can a iPod be jailbroken and play emulators like an iPhone?


second exodous

Advanced Member
Joined
Sep 27, 2005
Messages
2,974
Location
Utah, USA
My nephew's Grandma is going to get him an iPad2 for his b-day if he wanted it or something else around the same cost. We were looking online and an iPod+ICP is about the same price and he love emulators on his families' computer so he wanted to know if the iPod can play emulators like an iPhone. I can find very little information about it so I thought I'd just ask here as I'm sure someone here would know.


Also, is the iPod ICP combo better than an iPad2? He's 10 and I don't know which would be more fun for him. I suggested that he tell his Grandma to get him a 3DS but he doesn't want one, he has a DS and wants a music player - also which is another reason I said a iPod would be better.


I don't own any of the 3, iPod, iPad, or 3DS, so I can't really be any help here. The 3DS will be out before his b-day so he might go bonkers and just want that anyway but does anyone have any suggestions?


I'm also getting my Pandora today or tomorrow, I hope I can get it set up so that makes an impression on him. In the long run a hackable game system might get him into open source more. Right now he needs help with everything on a computer and I can imagine all the help he'll want with a Pandora. Who knows though, it might be fun to teach him the command line!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It's not a suggestion per se, but it's something on the music-playing front that bears mentioning: The 3DS does have MP3 support, if that's of any use.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
@ Prometheus: Ah, there is a very good chance he'll go bonkers for it then!


@ Exophase: That puts the iPod Touch into the running I'm sure. So the name 'iPod' isn't synonymous with the iPod Touch huh? I just figured iPod just mean the most powerful music player Apple had out.


Well, I'll let relay this information next time I see him, probably this weekend or sooner if I drop by to show him my Pandora.
 
Yeah the touch can and i would say that with ICP is better than ipad


here's the info you'll want on J/B


http://www.redmondpie.com/jailbreak-ios-4.2.1-untethered-iphone-ipad-ipod-touch-greenpois0n-rc5-how-to-guide/


and modmyi forums are a great help


if you out and about the ipad I don't think would be very good, touch screens are lame for controlling in game and you can't really carry about the i-Cade or that joystick thing for it. Where as the iPod and ICP would be perfect when out.


If it was for purely at home use, maybe the ipad and I-Cade combo would be nicer as decent controls and the bigger screen .. That said, the emus I play on my iPhone with tvout to my telly looks sweet and is bigger than the ipad screen eh - so that said, i'd get the iPod and ICP if it were me
 
ps: Where you said about looking for info on emus for ipad [and finding only info about iPhone]


I think it's all the same to be honest, an emus compatibility I think is related to the firmware version rather than the device. That's what I've thought anyway I might be wrong
 
Spoil him with all three :p


I kid, but I might recommend the 3DS or iCP+iPodTouch the most. I don't really think emulation on an iPad could be that comfy.
 
My nephew's Grandma is going to get him an iPad2 for his b-day if he wanted it or something else around the same cost. We were looking online and an iPod+ICP is about the same price and he love emulators on his families' computer so he wanted to know if the iPod can play emulators like an iPhone. I can find very little information about it so I thought I'd just ask here as I'm sure someone here would know.

Also, is the iPod ICP combo better than an iPad2? He's 10 and I don't know which would be more fun for him. I suggested that he tell his Grandma to get him a 3DS but he doesn't want one, he has a DS and wants a music player - also which is another reason I said a iPod would be better.


I don't own any of the 3, iPod, iPad, or 3DS, so I can't really be any help here. The 3DS will be out before his b-day so he might go bonkers and just want that anyway but does anyone have any suggestions?


I'm also getting my Pandora today or tomorrow, I hope I can get it set up so that makes an impression on him. In the long run a hackable game system might get him into open source more. Right now he needs help with everything on a computer and I can imagine all the help he'll want with a Pandora. Who knows though, it might be fun to teach him the command line!
If the budget is 500USD and the idea is a highly portable emulator computer, that seems to fit the profile of a rapid-order Pandora.

If the goal is multimedia without spending an excessive amount of money a Archos 70 Android tablet, or smaller model in the Gen 8 line, may be more appropriate. As I understand it they're designed so you don't have to "break them" and deal with the resultant issues.


Archos is a French company that makes multimedia devices and was making tablets before there was a iPad, and has made a point to advertize Angstrom dual boot capability on their Gen 8 line. The Archos 70, and it's smaller 4.3" cousin, uses a OMAP 3630 at 1GHz which should be equivalent to the Gen 4 iPod Touch's 1GHz A4 processor. The Archos 70's 7" screen is at the same resolution as an OpenPandora and max for most Android phones, which aids use of existing apps. You do have to go to their forum and look up the workaround to get into the Android marketplace, and it sounds like you need to upgrade from Android 2.1 instead of it being shipped with the latest OS version.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/dTohnRxG4Sw?feature=oembed While the Archos 70 can be pocketed in of itself dragging a bluetooth controller along with you obviously isn't ideal, nor is the microUSB & microSD ports.

If you want what Archos refers to as a Gen 9 tablet and which iPad focused people will refer to as Gen 2, there are a lot of options that either preceded iPad2's launch and beat it's pricing like the Notion Ink Adam and more yet to come. So there's no need to take an Apple centric view of things.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Well, he wants a Pandora so we'll see if his Grandma will get him one. I thought he only wanted one because he has used it and hasn't used an iPod Touch, iPad, or 3DS but he has a friend that owns an iPod Touch and apparently they have a computer lab that have a few iPod touches in it. Anyway he has used two of the devices and he still wants a Pandora. He still hasn't played a 3DS yet but I personally think the Pandora would be better for him if he learns more about computers using it. They have a family computer but he is not allowed to use it and it is just windows anyway. I'm still telling him to use a 3DS before he decides as I'm sure one of his friends has one or will get one when it comes out(I don't know if it is out, I thought it was coming out the 17th but apparently it didn't).


I don't know we'll see. I think explaining to his Grandma that he wants a $500 handheld the size of the $250 3DS will be a little tough and he is only 10. Then again the iPad2 is $500 in its lowest configuration, what she was going to get him to begin with, so she might get him a Pandora.
 
Well, he wants a Pandora so we'll see if his Grandma will get him one. I thought he only wanted one because he has used it and hasn't used an iPod Touch, iPad, or 3DS but he has a friend that owns an iPod Touch and apparently they have a computer lab that have a few iPod touches in it.
I'm at something of a loss what a 10 year old would do with a iPod Touch or baseline wifi iPad 1/2 that justifies the initial and hidden costs. The usage profile for the iPad seems to come out to a [crippled] multimedia playback and [crippled] web [1.0] browsing device that nickles and dimes the user for Flash games like Smash Castle [Angry Birds]. Without the SIM card wireless modem the connectivity through social networks component is questionable, and the average modern 10 year old probably isn't going to suddenly decide Kindle/Nook/iBook/Google Books/etc. are the best thing ever or play with Garage Band in more then a idle capacity. I've repeatedly heard thumb typing a iPad is not a pleasant experience vis-a-vis a 7" 16:9 Android setup which combined with a lack of stylus makes it's utility for note taking somewhat questionable assuming a 10 year old would even have the discipline to not switch to toy mode.

Yes, I know Apple marketing is based around creating artificial scarcity, and denying such common modern courtesies as preorders, so there will be lines at launch and this combined with was a media blitz creates the perception these devices are in high demand thereby encouraging followers. That doesn't mean one needs to be a iLemming, ala their Superbowl 1985 commercial "Lemmings" that showed the true underpinnings of the "1984" commercial as far as Apple was concerned.


There's also a emerging issue with the Smart Cover. Charbax's ARMDevices site in particular has a user showing off it damaging and dirtying the screen. Not to mention that or other casing must be added to the TCO.


From what I see Archos, one of the very few GPL compliant OEMs, is the Commodore in all this.


[/\]


The 3DS has been noted by reviewers to have atrocious battery life if you use it as anything more then a very expensive DS to the point of leading to snide comments about what defines a portable device. There's also the issue that 3D setups like that are known to cause issues with people.


One must of course also factor in that in addition to the initial cost is the cost of games. Hence even with a not exactly large game library the Total Cost of Ownership can easily exceed 500USD. The Pandora shouldn't have additional costs beyond the initial outside of buying games to emulate, which should be significantly discounted and I suspect by and large are already absorbed costs thanks to you owning a Pandora.


So while the rush premium doesn't make the Pandora quite as rosy a proposition it can still come out ahead financially, provided the user is actually content with it instead of treating it as a passing novelty. It can handle the PDA functions, the media functions, the internet functions, game device functions, and work as a solid computer if you aren't expecting Workstation performance. Thus it can be used as a vector to not only teach a 10 year old computers, but time management, discipline, and a little of the independent problem solving spirit.


For eBook, movie, and other purposes where a bigger screen is valuable a tablet will trump the Pandora, but only 7" Android tablets and down are pocketable. Something like the iPad requires a bag or to be carried around like a clipboard and Jobs has made it clear he's not going to change that because a iCustomer should use their iPhone for pocketable computing. Oh, and that through purity they will prevail over the impure Androids.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
^


I was reading what you quoted from me and I meant his computer lab has a few iPads, not iPod touches, crap Apples naming of things is getting confusing.


I hadn't considered the cost of games before, in that respect the Pandora wins even when one considers buying games to emulate which are usually used and discounted like you said.


He has used my Pandora off and on and he does learn things fast, his nimble brain can even remember exactly what to type in a command line. In fact when he demonstrated that he could learn the command line it amazed me and I wished at that time I had a little Linux device like the Pandora when I was his age to learn on.


Books for a ten year old are not a problem, he only reads one at a time and 99.9% of what he reads he gets from the library anyway, school and public. It would be a waste to buy ebooks for him if he had an iPad as he is just starting to seriously read. Also, he is the last generation that will have the luxury to read words printed on dead trees, might as well let him enjoy it so when he has kids he can explain what books were.


Also, he just got a DSi for Christmas, so the 3DS is pointless for him until that wears out or there are some really good titles on the 3DS. Also, the warnings of kids using 3D extensively causing eye problems scares me and I wouldn't want anything to happen to my nephew's vision. I won't stop him from getting one but I'm going to stop telling him to play one of those before he decides.


Yeah, the more I think about it the Pandora would be an invaluable learning tool for him, he'll learn much more with it than with an iPod, iPad, or 3DS, and he'll have as many games on it if not more than on those 3 combined. He already wants a Pandora over the others so if he can convince his Grandma then I think that is what he'll get. I might let him borrow it to show her and even explain it's merits of it over the iPad if she has problems understanding why it costs $500.
 
Excuse my whilst I beam crippled HD video to my AppleTV with my crippled iPad, or crippled 1080p video through the crippled HDMI out. Or play crippled music from crippled Spotify. Or watch TV in the crippled BBC iPlayer. Or stream crippled movies from my crippled PC. Seriously, Apple haters annoy me more than Apple fanbois with the crapola they spout.


Sure, all your movies need to be AAC3/H264, but that's only ~10 mins of octo-threaded re-encoding away per movie.


Also, the web without flash is considered an enhancement. Unless you enjoy "punch the monkey" adverts and obsessively surf porn.


I was playing Zelda:AlttP on my iPad 1 + iControlPad whilst queuing for the iPad, massive crowd puller. There's nothing like a 10" screen for that classic gaming goodness. Really hard to put the damned thing in your pocket, though. Which is the one major failing with the iPad. Sure, you can fold it in half, but don't expect to use it afterwards.


Also, the iPad 1, using then new AV adaptor and an iControlPad can do 1080p HDMI out, or upscaled video mirroring. Good looking classics still look good on a 40" LCD. I'll really miss a good TV out on the Pandora, I suspect. The HDMI adaptor works with the iPhone, too, and presumably the latest iPod touch.


All this Snapple defence aside, the Pandora is probably a good choice for sheer emulation awesomeness. But SNES9x ex + iControlPad + iPod Touch is a really nice combo.


The iPad also costs a metric ass-ton of cash if you want any room for a movie collection. And the HDMI adaptor isn't cheap, either. Oh there's no iPad 2 jailbreak yet, either.


Archos are a mixed bunch, they seem to fluctuate between strong tablet offerings and really feeble and ultimately failed attempts to join other markets. And they like to charge for "plug ins." At least they did the last time I cared enough to attend one of their product launches, anyway.
 
I'll make this nice and simple. I can't satisfy my gaming needs with my xbox 360 as a home gaming console and my iPod as my mobile gaming device. That's why I'm getting a pandora;) But if you want to play Emulators of 8 and 16 bit consoles and the gba sp which is 32 only, then that would be a good idea if you're getting an iPod touch iPhone or iPad anyways.
 
My nephew is spoiled now. He got an iPhone 3 from his aunt but isn't using it as a phone, just an ipod(he's 11) and he is getting the iPad2 on his trip with his Grandma in a few weeks. Oh, and he has a zune form his Grandma but he never uses it since he got the iPhone. I guess he is making up for his lack of modern game systems, he has an old Xbox and a PS2 so at least he's getting 'new' stuff.


I might get him a ICP now that it has rubber side grips so he can use it with his iPad as well as his iPhone. I have not seen him even pick up his NDS for a while now, makes me kind of sad, we used to play 2 player games all the time :(


On his Dad's side he is the only grandchild, his grandparents have two children, one daughter that can't have kids and one son that my nephew is his only kid. His Aunt and his Dad have really good jobs and get him stuff all the time and his Grandparents are retired well so he gets stuff from there also. I thinking one of those people will get him a Pandora or a 3DS for Christmas though, which ever one he wants.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top