Browsing on a PDA

[Dnana]

I was wondering what the browsing experience is like using a PDA - assuming you had a connection like a wireless one - was wondering what the experience is like - do web pages shrink to fit or is navigating and browsing a nightmare - say with an Axim x3i or HP 4150 for instance?

 

[rb56]

I use a 4150 and browsing is pretty good, considering the size of the screen. It has the option to veiw at standard size or "fit to screen". I use both depending on the content. It can't replace my 19" LCD but at times it is very useful.

rb56

 

[everman]

I use an axim x3i (wifi) and don't have much trouble getting information I need off a site. Some sites are better than others but overall I like it.

 

[vegetation]

I use a Tungsten C with webpro3 browser and it's just incredible. I have no trouble viewing or replying to forum pages (including anandtech), where it's often a jumbled mess. It's important to get a web browser that can reformat the entire page, graphics and all, so there is no horizontal scrolling. Regular generic pda browsers do not do this and in this case the experience is frustrating.

 

[KDOG]

Vegetation, I have a Tungsten E with the WebPro 3 browser but I haven't got it working yet. How did you set it up? Are you going thru a cell phone? I would love to have that set up, but I can't figure out how to get it working. Do you have to have a plan and if so, what plan do you have? Any help you could give would be great....

 

[BoomAM]

Would`nt use it with a Psion.
I tryed using a Psion 5mx with 128mb flash card, along with a a Nokia 7110, in france, cos i saw some cheap gfx cards, and wanted to know if they were any good. It tooks ages to load the front page of "Reactor Critical" (Remember that site?, ah the memories....). But that was probably cos the modem in the 7110 was 14.4k, and was using a infrared connection.

 

[vegetation]

Nope, I use the wifi connection as it's built-in to the Tungsten C. The webpro3 program worked great right away for me. What specific issues are you having?

 

[KDOG]

Well if I'm gonna surf the net thru the USB cable, how do I set up the browser to surf once the computer is connected to the web? I guess I just need to know how to set up the browser, huh?

 

[vegetation]

Actually it has nothing to do with the webpro program but rather the network settings on your Palm (in preferences) and also you would need to have some kind of internet connection sharing going on with your usb port on the host system. I'm not exactly sure how to set this up.

 

[acemcmac]

When active sync is going on pocket pc 2002 or newer, it automatically does what it needs to do to get to the internet when in cradle/USB

 

[ultimatebob]

Sorry, but I think that web browsing sucks on a PDA. The screen is too small, most web pages aren't formatted to look right at 240x320, the keyboard is too small to type in long URL's, and handwriting recognition always gets the URL WRONG! And, even over a 802.11b wireless connection, pages still take too long to load and render.

Been there, done that, and hated it. At least it wasn't as painful as trying to use AIM on a PDA, though!

 

[vegetation]

Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Sorry, but I think that web browsing sucks on a PDA. The screen is too small, most web pages aren't formatted to look right at 240x320, the keyboard is too small to type in long URL's, and handwriting recognition always gets the URL WRONG! And, even over a 802.11b wireless connection, pages still take too long to load and render.

Been there, done that, and hated it. At least it wasn't as painful as trying to use AIM on a PDA, though!

Like I said, you need a browser that reformats the page so there is no horizontal scrolling. A Palm has 320x320 resolution so you can use small fonts and it looks good enough to make it readable. No one here is saying it's going to replace a desktop any time soon, but I prefer carrying my pda with me outside to browse forums or news (the only sites I really care about) rather than my laptop. The job is done decently, and I agree it's difficult pecking out words with tiny keyboards but tolerable for forum sites as you mainly click on links to browse messages, maybe type a few one-liner responses. I would go insane trying to peck out anything more than a few sentences.

As far as rendering, any pda (MS or Palm) with the newer xscale 400mhz is plenty fast. On my Palm I even got it overclocked to 470mhz so rendering speed is a non-issue. I would just like to see higher resolution screens come out for pda's, 640x320 would be good.

 

[Ionizer86]

IT's not the best on my e740, but it's doable and it works out relatively decently. Feels like 56k but it's ok.

 

[rb56]

I agree I wouldn't want to do a major typing with my PDA but for wireless email, messenger, forum browsing etc. it's very usable. It sure beats pulling out the laptop to do a little surfing while in airports and coffee shops.

rb56

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Browsing on a PDA sucks unless the page is formatted for use on a PDA. I use my Toshiba E740 to browse occasionally and you simply don't have enough resolution to make pages look nice. I only use my PPC to check something quickly if I need to, otherwise all my "browsing" is done through AvantGo (which is a kickass service BTW).

 

[everman]

Originally posted by: rb56
I agree I wouldn't want to do a major typing with my PDA but for wireless email, messenger, forum browsing etc. it's very usable. It sure beats pulling out the laptop to do a little surfing while in airports and coffee shops.

rb56

I would disagree about major typing. I've typed pages of notes on a targus keyboard (same size as a laptop keyboard, but folds up nicely).

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: RaynorWolfcastle
Browsing on a PDA sucks unless the page is formatted for use on a PDA. I use my Toshiba E740 to browse occasionally and you simply don't have enough resolution to make pages look nice. I only use my PPC to check something quickly if I need to, otherwise all my "browsing" is done through AvantGo (which is a kickass service BTW).

It works perfectly for me on my e740... and it makes me feel like im still on cable. If you guys are using Poclet IE for browsing then yes, you do have a problem 😉. Download ThunderHawk and it renders all pages as if you are on a "virtual" 800x600 monitor and makes them landscape (hold your pocket pc horizontally 😉) http://www.thunderhawk.info

 

[sunase]

Back when I had an iPaq PPC browsing was really terrible with the built in browser. Often "fit to screen" wouldn't even work. Rendering speed wasn't all that bad at least (my college campus has wireless so internet speed was about as high as possible ^^). Like someone said above, I think 240x320 is just not enough (you have to up the font size to make things clear and there just isn't enough room for the pages).

I now have a Zaurus PDA with 640x480 res, however, and browsing is quite good. I actually keep sites on the thing for when I'm not connected now. Some sites you get some compatibility troubles since it's not MSIE derived, but at least the pages don't have to be ridiculously warped since they have 640 pixels width to work with. The zoom and text size functions in Net Front work a lot better than what pocket IE or whatever the PPC had as well.

Conclusion: my advice is wait for better res on the platform of your choice. Even Palm who had those godawful poor screens for so long is starting to realize resolution improves the entire PDA experience.

 

[rb56]

Originally posted by: everman

Originally posted by: rb56
I agree I wouldn't want to do a major typing with my PDA but for wireless email, messenger, forum browsing etc. it's very usable. It sure beats pulling out the laptop to do a little surfing while in airports and coffee shops.

rb56

I would disagree about major typing. I've typed pages of notes on a targus keyboard (same size as a laptop keyboard, but folds up nicely).

I have a targus keyboard for by old handspring and with that I would agree. I got the small plug in thumb pad for my ipaq and it just isn't the same.😉 I haven't looked for a larger keypad for it as I really haven't used it much with Pocket Word.

rb56