Greetings!

I'm looking at getting both myself and my wife an iPod Touch for Christmas (32g, most likely). While I'll know about mine ahead of time (duh), I'm hoping to surprise her with the gift. I want the thing to be ready to use out of the box on Christmas morning ... so, I have a question:

Does the iPod Touch come with any sort of battery charge, so it can be set up and played with right out of the box on Christmas morning? Or should I open it up on Christmas Eve and charge it before wrapping it? Or, can it be plugged in (AC power) or something so that it could be usable out of the box Christmas morning?

Like I said, I want to surprise her, and would hate for the moment to be anticlimatic. "Here's your gift honey ... now let's just wait 8 hours to use it!"

Also, what do you feel would be "essential accessories" that one might desire on that first day, when they open that iPod Touch and begin to use it? Not long-run stuff; just those things that one might really want or need, even if the stores are all closed on Christmas.

Thanks in advance for your answers.

--W@L

Hmmmm ... the notion of preloading some photos, or even some of her favorite albums (she's still very much a CD person) is very tempting. In that case, I would *definitely* have to open it ahead of time!

But that leaves the core question: does the Touch come with a charge?

--W@L

Above post was removed. Yes, the iPod comes charged.

One of the things I liked about getting my iPod was the unpackaging. Apple has done a great job with this and your wife might like to open the case herself.

Although the battery is charged and ready to go, you will still have to hook it up to iTunes and register the iPod before you can start playing with it. That part only takes a couple of minutes.

Myself, my wife and my 2 kids each have an iPod and we all use the same account. This means that if I buy something then they all get it. Apple looks at the account, not the device when it comes to purchases. This might not be as important now that Apple has introduced Home Sharing. That's another thing you might want to look into.

Cheers