How good are Pocket PC web browsers?

[AStar617]

I'm considering getting one, except the only real useful task (to me at least) that I can figure I'd be able to do with one--over what I can do with my existing cell phone w/camera, contact list, calendar, alarms, etc.--is possibly abandon WAP and make use of wifi hotspots.

Please list some examples of some webpages that DO display correctly on a Pocket PC, and some that DON'T workout so hot.

Also, are you stuck with just Pocket Internet Explorer, or are there good 3rd party browser offerings?

 

[CVSiN]

Dunno my Dell Axim x30 displays every page pretty darn good.. only problem is Java so far...
id be up for a new one that does everything if anyone knows any...

 

[acemcmac]

pocket internet explorer from PPC2002 is good enough... I did online banking with it and shopped from newegg.... the inquirer and a few other sites have pocket versions of their pages wich is VERY nice. Not compatible with the forums.

<<<<e740 owner

 

[AStar617]

Thanks, I'm looking to get probably a secondhand X5 or something, so PPC2002 info definitely helps.

So far, it looks like other than display size, there should be no problem with most HTML pages, XML, SSL, etc. However, besides basic jscript ability, I gotta say I'm pretty surprised that nobody--including Sun!--appears to have developed a JVM for Pocket PC. Just seems like the exact market segment that could benefit from portable applets, games, etc... oh well...

 

[NuclearNed]

Symbol has for sale a product called "Symbol PocketBrowser" that I have used a little. Essentially it is PIE with a few extra features. It probably isn't worth the price for someone who is just going to use it for personal use.

 

[torpid]

So far most pages load for me but are impossible to use due to excessive scrolling required. It's definitely significantly more difficult to use than a laptop in terms of browsing.

 

[Ionizer86]

The netfront browser is supposed to have good compatibility with stuff like java etc. But personally, I found it slow and clunky. There's an add-on for PIE called PIEPlus which features, among other stuff, a "Pocket mode" that, when used with PIE's "Fit to screen", should eliminate horizontal scroll.