Database Users

VGA WEB Browser which one

Having a VGA PDA is nice, but Microsoft made useless Pocket IE, which Browser will help me to REALLY surf in VGA mode, I do not want to put the VGA Hack for everything

I am afraid there are very few options at the moment. Give Bitstream's Thunderhawk a try though it is a bit expensive as you have to select a package of regular payment. However use there free trial period and if you like it you may continue.
I am also anxiously waiting for the WM5 compatible version of Access Netfront and Opera.
I was using Netfront 3.2 on my previous i-mate pda2k but this does not work on the JJ.
Regards

Daimaou said:
Having a VGA PDA is nice, but Microsoft made useless Pocket IE, which Browser will help me to REALLY surf in VGA mode, I do not want to put the VGA Hack for everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What VGA hack? Do you know of one that works for WM5 or Pocket IE? I've been looking for one.
Thanks,
Brett

I've always liked opera and used to use it loads on my SE P800/P900. Does anyone know if they plan to release a WM5 version? Should we ask them?

minimo support VGA not sure if it works on 2005 though

It doesn't (at least it didn't for me)

This is reall stupid, MS made the OS quite well except for Web browsing...

Daimaou said:
This is reall stupid, MS made the OS quite well except for Web browsing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never cease to be amazed when I ponder the absolute stupidity of Pocket IE. To some extent I can understand why some people would want to use the pixel doubling feature on a VGA device, but why on earth wouldn't they give us the option to disable it?
Brett

It really is pathetic isn't it. They give us the options of having the text as small as we like but then it goes and makes all the pictures massive and blocky.
I guess MS just don't want people to use the browser.

rilot said:
It really is pathetic isn't it. They give us the options of having the text as small as we like but then it goes and makes all the pictures massive and blocky.
I guess MS just don't want people to use the browser.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And worst off all VGA work flawlessley on Terminal Service... :x

Well, there you go then. I'll remote desktop through to my server, which will RD through to a desktop machine (with slightly more lapse security settings than my server; eg running scripts, etc) and I'll use that IE in that instead :roll:

MiniMo - Mini Mozilla -
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/
support vga screen (640x480) check http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/FAQ.html for more infos.
some screenshots http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/screenshots.html

forget the dl link http://www.meer.net/~dougt/minimo_ce/
use the 009 version

Tried the install of minimo on my Jasjar. Ran thru the normal start of installation, then i got a msg on the pda screen that the install was unsuccessful!

I tried to use Minimo very eary time i got Jasjar, yse works.
But not only too slow but also the size was too big for me.
Not good solution for me.
That why i am using Opera for MS Smart Phone and Opera Mini for GSM Phone on MIDLet.
Opera Mini is the best for me at this moment..... :lol:

How do you use Opera Mini without being in Norway?
There website says Norway only.

srmz said:
I am afraid there are very few options at the moment. Give Bitstream's Thunderhawk a try though it is a bit expensive as you have to select a package of regular payment. However use there free trial period and if you like it you may continue.
I am also anxiously waiting for the WM5 compatible version of Access Netfront and Opera.
I was using Netfront 3.2 on my previous i-mate pda2k but this does not work on the JJ.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately Bitstream Thunderhawk that is the best browser at the moment does'nt work with jj. Anyone managed to work with it and jj?

@ 155,
You can run it. The default language is Scandanavian (Please don't shoot me if I have that wrong). But you can go into the settings and change it to english. I didn't find the program too useful, but it does work.

Sorry late replay, already not up to date i think....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?p=157596#157596
change english menu like this...
Start Opera -> Meny -> Verkt?y -> Instillinger -> Spr?k
you can find Language manu!
Also you can see the Captured here(pls igonore japanese)
http://asukal.seesaa.net/article/7227776.html

@lucazaffiro.
Bitstream Thunderhawk does work on the JJ. It is working for me.
The trick is that before you tap the Thunderhawk Icon (eye) rotate the screen to portrait. If you start Thunderhawk without rotating the screen to portrait then it gets stuck.
Please do let me know if this helped.
Kind regards

Opera 8.60 for Windows Mobile, Pocket PC

Download and info here:
http://www.opera.com/products/mobile/products/winmobileppc/
MaX

Downloaded the cab, installed to storage card (the new version removed the old version), ran Opera, it asked me if I wanted to register (17 Euros), I said Okay.
Then I had to tell Opera.com my IMEI in order to get a registration code. I found the IMEI in Settings\Indentity.
When I received the reg code, I ran Opera, selected Tools\register, and then there appeared a box asking for the reg code plus another box showing the "Device ID". The device ID number was completely different from my IMEI, and needless to say, now opera does not accept the registration code. Now I have to write Opera for a new reg code.
So, I would advise all to check the "device id" that opera uses, and provide that number when requesting the registration code, rather than the IMEI found in your PPC's Settings.

Is it just me, or does the large icon for opera have a white background (rather than being a ransparent background as it should be)?

BillB said:
Is it just me, or does the large icon for opera have a white background (rather than being a ransparent background as it should be)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also here!!!!
using pocketplus large icon....
MaX

Just my two cents, I've been a big user of the data service, particularly browsing, and found Opera the best browser... almost. A much better alternative is to RDP home, and use whatever you have there. No more need to worry about user agent strings, java or flash, plus, it's (suprisingly) a lot faster. The VJ fullscreenTSC utility is particulary useful for that purpose.

mdaexecfan said:
Just my two cents, I've been a big user of the data service, particularly browsing, and found Opera the best browser... almost. A much better alternative is to RDP home, and use whatever you have there. No more need to worry about user agent strings, java or flash, plus, it's (suprisingly) a lot faster. The VJ fullscreenTSC utility is particulary useful for that purpose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was thinking of trialling Netfront - Can i ask why you think Opera beats Netfront in your eyes?
Thanks
Matt

i was using netfront before i switched to opera and i must say that opera is the best by far.

I find Opera completely useless for most sites:
try www.o2.co.uk on both Opera and Netfront 3.3 and see the difference.
or try new.bbc.co.uk on both
THERE IS NO WAY I WILL EVER USE OPERA.

matt1971 said:
Was thinking of trialling Netfront - Can i ask why you think Opera beats Netfront in your eyes?
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because with the 'fit to screen' option, Opera resizes the pixs and everything on the webpages - keeping them in proportion with the text. Netfront doesnt, so you end up with horizontal scroolbars and unreadable pages, while the opera-rendered ones looks just like the ones on a regular desktop computer.

I agree, my experience with opera is bad. It locks up all the time and can't be dissuaded from dumping tons of temp data in main storage memory.
Netfront is much better. The fonts on netfront are a bit wierd and its no way perfect though!

RE
Quote
"I find Opera completely useless for most sites:
try www.o2.co.uk on both Opera and Netfront 3.3 and see the difference.
or try new.bbc.co.uk on both
THERE IS NO WAY I WILL EVER USE OPERA."
No problem for the mentioned 2 sites if you'll to set OPERA to 'Fit to screen'

Re: RE
FOSA said:
Quote
No problem for the mentioned 2 sites if you'll to set OPERA to 'Fit to screen'
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Click to collapse
Exactly - bbc.co.uk is brilliant on opera 'fit to screen'. I find it unusable on netfront.

Sorry, I meant to say the Opera is useless on Universal (mine MDA Pro) compared to NetFront.
I wouldn't use it if they paid me to.

One advantage is netfront 3.3 allows you to log onto more secure sites and if you fiddle with the settings does look and work better for me than Opera but they still haven't relesed the final pay for version and my trial version has ran out

samsul said:
Sorry, I meant to say the Opera is useless on Universal (mine MDA Pro) compared to NetFront.
I wouldn't use it if they paid me to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Opera on my Universal since the first Beta and all I can say is that it's the closest you can get to a "real" browsing experience on the PDA. The only "better" sollution would be to use some sort of RDP, as mentioned above.
I don't know what you do with your Universal, but on mine, in TrueVGA, Opera is simply great.

Almost as crappy as beta 2! Still very much work in progress - few bugs havn't been fixed, map hardware buttons??, flash??!. Also i'm not sure about you guys but Netfront (latest TP - D2) seems to render about 90% of websites (using WiFi) much quicker than Opera and is more responsive too. What's up with that?!?

Has anyone read the press release fully?
Here it is. http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2006/05/31/
One bit that jumped out at me was this.
The first operators to ship Windows Mobile devices with Opera Mobile(TM) pre-installed are T-Mobile through their Web'n'Walk offering, and the leading Japanese operator, Willcom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has anyone seen Opera on a released T-mobile phone, or is it more likely the t-mobile have been holding up the release of ROMs in the UK market until they could put Opera out at the same time? If this is true then should we be expecting to see an AKU2 ROM for the MDA PRO with opera embedded sometime soon?

matt1971 said:
Was thinking of trialling Netfront - Can i ask why you think Opera beats Netfront in your eyes?
ThanksMatt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have found NetFront to be AWESOME. I have it set so I see full webpages with very little jumbling or problems.
Combine it with FlexMail and you got a basic internet package on the go..
That said, I will give the new Opera a spin.. Why not.. Everything since I installed the latest DOPOD ROM has been working flawlessly and well I cant have that..
Charles

samsul said:
Sorry, I meant to say the Opera is useless on Universal (mine MDA Pro) compared to NetFront.
I wouldn't use it if they paid me to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering that the opinions are so divergent, yet we all come equipped with (pretty similar) sets of eyeballs, I reckon I'm going to take screenshots of both netfront and opera rendering of common webpages and will post them here.

I am a web designer and think the differences of opinions are all to do with how the site's are coded in terms of fixed widths and such like in the html or xhtml and CSS.
Netfront is definitly better for me as web designer for checking on the fly changes for clients sites but for simply viewing sites informtion then I think the new opera mini works quite well and keeps data trafic low.

best webbrowser for the wizard?

today at the university I tried out the wlan capabilitys of my device and it was a great experience sitting in the cafeteria and surfing at some news sites with that little fellow when all the others used big laptops occupying all their tablespace :lol:
I used the internet explorer first and then tried out the mozilla minimo browser. IE was "ok" and minimo just sucked with the handling and speed. I also know there's an opera version but I never tried it online. any other good browsers out there? any favs? :wink:

A lot of people seem to agree that Opera 8.6 is a really good browser. It's not free though. You get a 30 day trial, but after that you must pay for it. It's 24USD I beleive.

Try Thunderhawk. http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/

I've been using Thunderhawk ( http://www.bitstream.com/wireless/index.html ) with great success. I absolutely love it. They route all traffic through their servers and software so you end up with the web page designed for your desktop rendered nearly perfectly on your Pocket PC.
The methods they use reduce all graphics to a size managable by our devices without any drop in quality. Pages load extremely fast and I'm just using my T-Mobile internet connection. Between it and IE, just isn't even a contest.
I have not used Opera though, so I can't comment on it. But I highly reccomend trying Thunderhawk.
I don't have the Screenshot program installed on my device, but here are a couple of pics I snapped so that you can see the layout. First is DrudeReport.com and I'm sure you're familiar with the second. :wink:

B**tard! You beat me to it!

but thunderhawk is not free!
I use PIEPlus, which is very nice.

Thanks guys I will check out both, thunderhawk and pieplus. But actually pieplus doesn't seem to be free either.
Let me extend my question at this point
Which cool and usefull internetrelated software do you use on your wizard?

Also give Netfront 3.3 a trial though it is not free.
I am using it and am very satisfied with it. Specially if you surf the web with a fast WiFi connection then sites with flash animations really turn out great. It is the only WM5 browser with flash support.
Regards

Opera 8.6.
I used others but this one allowed me to run java scripts that PIE couldn't.
I can use it on my banking sites and other secured sites that other have had trouble or simply don't work.
It is worth the money. IMO.

thunderhawk vs Opera? Anybody?

Opera Mini 2.0
It's a Java App. and it's free.
Go to mini.opera.com on PIE and download and install.
To me it has the fastest and best performance when compared to native WM browsers. I use it daily... the only time I don't use it is when I want to look at an animated radar image. That is about the only limitation to Opera Mini... no animated images. You can still download files, and save images from it. 8)

To be honest I have stuck with PIE. Opera does format a little better but considering you now have to pay for it I will stick with PIE.

Best Browser?

Which is the best internet browser in your opinion? Obviously IE sucks. Opera is good but not free..

I think IE is pretty good with PIEplus.
Opera made it impossible to bring my TyTN back from standby and I couldn't scroll up/down using the scrollwheel on my bluetooth mouse, so that (crappy) program had to go...

Try Opera Mini. It is free and I find it great.

Can't be answered in one word. If you can put up with the (comparatively) weak rendering / JavaScript engine of PIE, then, PIEPlus 2.1+. Otherwise, Opera Mobile 8.6.
Please do check out my articles on Web browsers ( http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&cat=61 ): you'll find EVERYTHING you need there.

I'm using NetFront as my default browser. It's superb!!!
Just try it out and find out yourself. Cheers!

thnx guys. I am not sure though if any of these browsers play flash etc. Anyways I'll try and see

Moskus said:
I think IE is pretty good with PIEplus.
Opera made it impossible to bring my TyTN back from standby and I couldn't scroll up/down using the scrollwheel on my bluetooth mouse, so that (crappy) program had to go...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wait, how did Opera make the TyTN impossible to bring out of standby? The only thing I don't like about Opera is that the back button is so small! And I have to pull out the stylus to go back; unless I'm retarded and there is a way.

darkjedi said:
Wait, how did Opera make the TyTN impossible to bring out of standby? The only thing I don't like about Opera is that the back button is so small! And I have to pull out the stylus to go back; unless I'm retarded and there is a way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use the TyTN's thumbboard to control this - I've also elaborated on how this should be configured in the Opera .ini files. (Unfortunately, no hardware buttons yet - hope they implement this some time.)

I prefer using IE and Opera. I have tried Netfront few times, but it just doesn't work. Just exits itself upon start up, so no idea how Netfront even looks alike.
I've noticed that some pages works better with IE and others with Opera, so that's why I use two different browsers. However, there are few pages where neither of my browsers work.

Wiper said:
I prefer using IE and Opera. I have tried Netfront few times, but it just doesn't work. Just exits itself upon start up, so no idea how Netfront even looks alike.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't lose much - the Opera Mobile + PIE + PIEPlus 2.2 + Macromedia Flash + Creme JVM is a much better combo.
I've noticed that some pages works better with IE and others with Opera, so that's why I use two different browsers. However, there are few pages where neither of my browsers work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you please provide some URL's? I'll file in a bug report for Microsoft after some research.

I find PIE and PIEPlus 2.2 to be the best lightweight, overall combination that enables tabbed browsing.
I also tried the tabbed browser feature from PocketPlus, which I personally didn't care for (I like being able to see the "tabs").
I've found NetFront to be a bit too resource intensive, but I give the gang from Japan an "A for effort" on a full-featured app!

I use PIE and MultiIE at the moment. Not a bad combo, but won't render certain websites properly - in particular some website discussion forums.
I've tried Opera and recently Netfront 3.3. Opera is a bit poor and resource intensive, and Netfront was just unusable for me - very slow to download websites, if at all. Might give PIEPlus 2.2 a go tonight.

g00nerz said:
I use PIE and MultiIE at the moment. Not a bad combo, but won't render certain websites properly - in particular some website discussion forums.
I've tried Opera and recently Netfront 3.3. Opera is a bit poor and resource intensive, and Netfront was just unusable for me - very slow to download websites, if at all. Might give PIEPlus 2.2 a go tonight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, PIEPlus 2.2 is certainly worth it - it's better than the current version of MultiIE. See http://www.pocketpcmag.com/blogs/index.php?blog=3&p=1170&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 for a complete comparison & review.

You might want to check out minimo (Mini Firefox) as well.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/

PPCNUT said:
Try Opera Mini. It is free and I find it great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you stop the warning message: 'This program is trying to access the internet and is not from a trusted source etc.....' everytime you enter a url to go to?
Cheers

I not to sure it only asks when I start the program and I just say yes allow it to access the internet and it is fine.

padlad said:
How did you stop the warning message: 'This program is trying to access the internet and is not from a trusted source etc.....' everytime you enter a url to go to?
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using it with the built-in Intent Midlet Manager or with J9 6.1? In both cases, just answer Yes once and it won't ask any more.

Anyone know if any of these browser options mentioned support left-handed scrolling bar?
Also, on a different note, i am using regular PIE, i have had trouble logging in to some sites, anad then staying logged in. Ex: Howard forums i keep logging in and it keeps telling me i am not logged in. I'd written a message three times before i gave up in frustration!

Menneisyys said:
You don't lose much - the Opera Mobile + PIE + PIEPlus 2.2 + Macromedia Flash + Creme JVM is a much better combo.
Could you please provide some URL's? I'll file in a bug report for Microsoft after some research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is one :
http://www.bmw.co.uk/bmwuk/auc/advanced_search/0,5066,___,00.html?empty=1
Select retrieve saved searches. Up pops a box to fill in with a login you can create. I am unable to enter this on PIE or indeed opera which starts to grind really badly!

popsi said:
You might want to check out minimo (Mini Firefox) as well.
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/minimo/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG!
From the website:
What is Minimo?
The Minimo has been focused on code-size and runtime footprint reduction...
From the install screen:
Instalation space needed - 8300 bytes (8.3 megs)
What isn't considered a small footprint?

Web Browsing with Opera on the Athena

I received my new x7501 a couple of days ago. I am disappointed with the web browsing experience using Opera Mobile.
I've been using Opera on my Kaiser and it works differently. On the Kaiser, I use both Opera Mobile 8.65, and Opera Mini 4. If I could copy text and if it were tabbed for multiple pages, I would only use Opera Mini 4.
On the QVGA screen of the Kaiser, Opera Mini does a great job of taking a web page that has multiple columns of text, and rendering the columns in a width that fits the screen width of the Kaiser. The worst thing, in my opinion, is having to scroll horizontally to read text.
On the Kaiser, in Opera Mobile, sometimes horizontal scrolling is necessary. On the Athena, in Opera Mobile, it seems like horizontal scrolling is always necessary. I've tried different settings and different orientations. I've tried RealVGA with different DPI resolutions. The text always seems to be too wide.
When I use the Opera Mobile setting of Display in One Column, it only uses half of the width of the screen. It is as if Opera Mobile is unaware of the larger, wider screen of the Athena, and thinks it only has QVGA to render the column.
On my Athena, using Opera Mobile, the font sizes are wierd, sometimes extremely big while other text is very small. It doesn't do this on the Kaiser. It depends on the web site, and how the page is designed, but on the Kaiser in Mini and Mobile, the fonts and the text columns seem to render better than on the Athena.
I like the large fonts and large icons of the standard display, running without RealVGA or similar utilities, because it enables me to use the touch screen without a stylus. I've tried RealVGA 1.1 and MvRTrueVAG, and there are several rendering defects that I don't like.
I realise that with time and effort, I may be able to play with the settings and find a combination that works for me. I'm hoping that I'll get feedback to this posting that will help me find better settings. I'm wondering if I should just install the Black Dual PK 3.0 ROM and see how well things render in it.
Having a good web browsing experience is my main objective.
Thanks, Bren

You can try new NetFront 3.5 concept or Opera 9.xx on the athena - they are best for now

Thanks for the suggestion. I had found the earlier post about browsers, and found the link to NetFront.
I'm still getting familiar with it. I like that I can toggle between scrolling or selecting text to copy.
I'm trying to figure out how to choose a different font. It wants to display everything in Courier monotype.
Anyway, so far, I'm encouraged that I've found a browser that is improving my browsing experience with my new machine.

xdafile said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I had found the earlier post about browsers, and found the link to NetFront.
I'm still getting familiar with it. I like that I can toggle between scrolling or selecting text to copy.
I'm trying to figure out how to choose a different font. It wants to display everything in Courier monotype.
Anyway, so far, I'm encouraged that I've found a browser that is improving my browsing experience with my new machine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Netfront 3.5 is the best at this moment, IMHO. To change font,just do to menu/tools/browser setting and press the font button. Also,while you're there, you might want to blank out the Use Visual Bookmark option to use the classical bookmark.
One other very nice feature is you can define a few view setting (controls the browsing mode and display mode) that you could tie to each website so that you have complete control over how you want a specific website to be displayed.

This thread contains lots of comparison between Opera 9.33 versus Netfront 3.5.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=368881. I suggest that we move over to that thread for future discussion.

Thanks for the how to and the link to the comparison. NetForge is very good. I'm resolving some of the cognitive dissonance and buyers remorse that comes for me in this phase of new technology purchases.
NetForge is still in development, and it does have a few missing pieces and rough edges. I encounterd a bug cutting and pasting. When I cut, tt puts more text on the clipboard than is selected. Not a big deal, but I do a lot of cutting and pasting. I cut from a French newspaper, and paste into Google Translate.
There's a lot of development going on NetForge is in Beta, Opera is in development, WM7 is on it's way. I wonder how PIE will be in WM7.

xdafile said:
Thanks for the how to and the link to the comparison. NetForge is very good. I'm resolving some of the cognitive dissonance and buyers remorse that comes for me in this phase of new technology purchases.
NetForge is still in development, and it does have a few missing pieces and rough edges. I encounterd a bug cutting and pasting. When I cut, tt puts more text on the clipboard than is selected. Not a big deal, but I do a lot of cutting and pasting. I cut from a French newspaper, and paste into Google Translate.
There's a lot of development going on NetForge is in Beta, Opera is in development, WM7 is on it's way. I wonder how PIE will be in WM7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NetForge? You mean NetFront?
Strange, I could cut and paste in Netfront without problem.
Yes, there is lots of things on the way, thanks for the open SDK on Win CE. As for PIE, I'm not optimistic that it will be as good, if PIE 6.1 is any indication to go by. I hope Safari will one day be avaialable on the Win Mobile platform like it is on the window desktop now. On the desktop Safari seems even faster than Opera 9.5.

eaglesteve said:
On the desktop Safari seems even faster than Opera 9.5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would have to disagree there:
http://nontroppo.org/timer/kestrel_tests/