Related
While waiting for Opera browser 9.5, I decided to take a look at other options available. I took a close look at Safari on iPhone, which unfortunately is not available on the WM platform. I tested Picsel browser, which is a very interesting browser, very similar to the Safari. I then tried out Opera Mini 4.
I was surprised with how good Opera Mini 4 is, and wondered why did'nt I use this rather than PIE or Opera Browser all these while. It seems a lot faster, has superior zooming feature, and is a lot more pleasant to use.
The Picsel browser is very nice but it is slow. Also, the zooming can be difficult to manage (it involves more manipulation to get the desired target reading area into position) as compared to Opera Mini's, although it is more entertaining and fun to use.
I wonder why I was totally unaware of this much more useable browser and struggled with PIE and Opera all this while
Same thing by me.
And what is also interesting, Opera Mini 4 is freeware and second important thing is that you'll have less GRPS traffic using Opera Mini 4 insead of using any other browser for your Pocket PC.
Thumbs up for Opera Mini 4 till waiting for Opera Mobile 9.5.
I thought opera mini4 was only for Smart phones? If we can get it on the Athena, where do you get it at?
Kenjari said:
I thought opera mini4 was only for Smart phones? If we can get it on the Athena, where do you get it at?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A quick google found operamini.com
I understand that. I'm certain I can go to www.opera.com and find all that I need from opera and its products.
For more clarity, I didnt know it was for PPC platforms. On the website, it only has download availablity for SmartPHones (maybe I didnt look thoroughly). So I was wondering is there another source that have made it available for PPC?
thanks for the reply Confucious....my bad for the confusion!
EDIT: On the website, within download (options of phone) it has a link at the bottom for "other". With in that has ppc phones. However, it doesnt have the Athena or any clones. Could I just snatch one of those and use it? Or is there a specific patch for Athena?
choose other devices and the second option after that.
I like it so far apart from the annoying 'do you want this unsigned app to access the web' message - I asume I'm just being thick and this can be turned off?
Thank you eaglesteve and confucious. I appreciate the response and answers!!!!
Confucious said:
I like it so far apart from the annoying 'do you want this unsigned app to access the web' message - I asume I'm just being thick and this can be turned off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes two of us. I also have not figured out how to turn off this message when you start Opera mini 4 yet.
Other than that, I noted these to be some of the key advantages over the regular opera browser and PIE.
-It is a lot faster.
-the rendering is instant, as opposed to taking a long long time under the regular opera.
- the rendering does not have "wobbling web pages" as is the case under the regular opera.
- I still can surf the existing web pages while connecting to a new link, whereas under regular opera, I can't.
- Once the new page appear, I can immediately use it even if not all objects have been fully downloaded; whereas in regular opera I have to wait for the wobbling web page to settle down.
- the full page desktop look fits into the 5 inch screen with the correct zoom automatically, one single click on the right area would zoom in to that area correctly without furture manual manipulation - this is an edge over safari or picsel browser which requires more troublesome (although it looks like fun in demo) manipulation.
Ya, I love this browser, and I'd say it has very significantly improved my web browsing expereince on Athena.
I encourage everyone to try it.
Go here to get it.
http://www.operamini.com/
Choose "generic" phone, then "Advance MIDP 2" as the version for Athena.
After that , transfer both files into your microdrive, or wherever you want to store this.
Then, click on the JAD file, which should start the MIDLET manager to install it.
To use Opera Mini4, start MIDLET manager, and you will see Opera Mini there. Click to start browsing.
Enjoy.
That looks complicated! I just browsed to operamini.com on my phone and it downloaded the correct version and installed it ( I ignored one bit where it said it couldn't recognise my device) just make sure you download V4 not V 3 tho!
Confucious said:
That looks complicated! I just browsed to operamini.com on my phone and it downloaded the correct version and installed it ( I ignored one bit where it said it couldn't recognise my device) just make sure you download V4 not V 3 tho!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, thanks for saying that. I used the download to PC method instead of doing it directly to my phone. I just like to keep a copy of that also on my PC I guess.
I've just done a simple performance comparison between variuos PPC browser and thought that it confirms my statement earlier that Opera Mini 4 is a much faster browser. All timing measured in second is from the time of clicking to the time when 100% of the rendering is done, with no more formating left to do: Note that the setting in Opera Mini has blanked out the "mobile" option. I'd try to repeat with the option ticked later.
Web site: smh.com.au
Picsel browser: 65 sec
Pie with Pieplus: 84 sec
Opera 8.65: 52 sec
Opera mini 4: 26 sec
Website: XDA-developers.com home page
Picsel browser: 28 seconds
Pieplus: 43 seconds
Opera 8.65: 30 seconds
Opera Mini: 32 seconds
Website: ppcsg.com
Picsel browser: 58 sec
Pie with Pieplus: 59 sec
Opera 8.65: 57 sec
Opera mini 4: 32 sec
Website: cnet.com
Picsel browser: 77sec
Pie with Pieplus: 54 sec
Opera 8.65: 86 sec
Opera mini 4: 25 sec
So, if you're tired of waiting, switch to Opera Mini 4.. It still has its own problems though. For example, you can't make a long post to this forum with it. Seems like there is a limit to the length. Can't even edit a long post.
The time above are all done after clearing the cache from the browsers. Not as fast as Safari still I assume, if the video demo for Safari is anything to go by.... Anyone with Safari care to try it out after clearing the cache, and give us the timing?
Leoni, if you are reading this, could you try out with your N800's browser too?
Still waiting for Opera browser 9.5....
I like OperaMini but I get emails with links to forums and can't find a way of setting operamini as default browser - so....
I thought I'd just copy and paste the link into operamini - but I can't even seem to do this.
Together with the really annoying message about connecting to the internet all the time has put me off using what is otherwise a very good browser.
eaglesteve said:
I've just done a simple performance comparison between variuos PPC browser and thought that it confirms my statement earlier that Opera Mini 4 is a much faster browser. All timing measured in second is from the time of clicking to the time when 100% of the rendering is done, with no more formating left to do: Note that the setting in Opera Mini has blanked out the "mobile" option. I'd try to repeat with the option ticked later.
Web site: smh.com.au
Picsel browser: 65 sec
Pie with Pieplus: 84 sec
Opera 8.65: 52 sec
Opera mini 4: 26 sec
Website: XDA-developers.com home page
Picsel browser: 28 seconds
Pieplus: 43 seconds
Opera 8.65: 30 seconds
Opera Mini: 32 seconds
Website: ppcsg.com
Picsel browser: 58 sec
Pie with Pieplus: 59 sec
Opera 8.65: 57 sec
Opera mini 4: 32 sec
Website: cnet.com
Picsel browser: 77sec
Pie with Pieplus: 54 sec
Opera 8.65: 86 sec
Opera mini 4: 25 sec
So, if you're tired of waiting, switch to Opera Mini 4.. It still has its own problems though. For example, you can't make a long post to this forum with it. Seems like there is a limit to the length. Can't even edit a long post.
The time above are all done after clearing the cache from the browsers. Not as fast as Safari still I assume, if the video demo for Safari is anything to go by.... Anyone with Safari care to try it out after clearing the cache, and give us the timing?
Leoni, if you are reading this, could you try out with your N800's browser too?
Still waiting for Opera browser 9.5....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi eaglesteve. I agree that opera mini 4 is a fast browser, the only real gripe i had is that windows haven't properly integrated java into the windows mobile platform, so it always feels a bit dislocated compared with other mobile formats. Windows mobile seems paranoid about letting you do anything java related and is constantly asking you to confirm actions. This i found annoying. With regard to the n800s browser, i don't have my n800 at the moment, though you could time the sydney morning herald load time from my stage 6 browser review. This was done with a cleared cache and therefore would be fair to compare with your tests. Cheers.
The new king of web browser has just surfaced. See this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367202
my results with opera mini 4 - smh.com.au, 8 seconds. Xda developers, 4 seconds. Ppcsg, 9 seconds. Cnet, 6 seconds. This is with image quality set to 'high' and a socket connection, with a freshly downloaded copy of opera mini 4. I'm quite impressed i have to say!
leoni1980 said:
my results with opera mini 4 - smh.com.au, 8 seconds. Xda developers, 4 seconds. Ppcsg, 9 seconds. Cnet, 6 seconds. This is with image quality set to 'high' and a socket connection, with a freshly downloaded copy of opera mini 4. I'm quite impressed i have to say!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you wait for it to completely stop? I got the full screens in shoreter time too, but I did'nt click my stop watch untill the browser ceases all activities.
Also, what device are you using? Can you try with HSDPA connection?
eaglesteve said:
Did you wait for it to completely stop? I got the full screens in shoreter time too, but I did'nt click my stop watch untill the browser ceases all activities.
Also, what device are you using? Can you try with HSDPA connection?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the pages were fully loaded before I stopped the stopwatch. I was using a 2mb virgin media broadband connection via wlan.
Have just tested using HSDPA on T-Mobile Internet in the United Kingdom. The results are as follows:
SMH.COM.AU - just a blink under ten seconds.
XDA - UNDER 4 seconds
PPCSG - 8 seconds
CNET - 6 seconds.
I'm astounded by these results. They are fresh from the load screen with a cleared history. I am using an N95 8gb but since it's a java application I don't imagine the device will make all that much difference to the speed.
will try with my Hermes and see what results i get.
If skyfire uses the same technology as opera mini but incorporates flash I think it will be my browser of choice.
leoni1980 said:
the pages were fully loaded before I stopped the stopwatch. I was using a 2mb virgin media broadband connection via wlan.
Have just tested using HSDPA on T-Mobile Internet in the United Kingdom. The results are as follows:
SMH.COM.AU - just a blink under ten seconds.
XDA - UNDER 4 seconds
PPCSG - 8 seconds
CNET - 6 seconds.
I'm astounded by these results. They are fresh from the load screen with a cleared history. I am using an N95 8gb but since it's a java application I don't imagine the device will make all that much difference to the speed.
will try with my Hermes and see what results i get.
If skyfire uses the same technology as opera mini but incorporates flash I think it will be my browser of choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
May be a QVGA screen requires less time rendering than a VGA one running realvga?
eaglesteve said:
May be a QVGA screen requires less time rendering than a VGA one running realvga?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try changing your resolution to 192 and see if it impacts on the load times. I will give my hermes a shot tomorrow and post the results.
ive heard of some people using opera mini. did you guys just download the one straight from opera website? or where?
its much faster right?
id like to get it if it is..
go to www.mini.opera.com in internet explorer and it will do the rest After install It will not show up on programlist. Its javabased i think so it will show up when you press "E" javabutton
I have a problem with opera mini:
after few minutes that I use the program when I try to open a link it stops to work the screens goes blank and I must quit program, has anyother the same problem?
Ok basically I think this may have something to do with the pagepool being set at 18mb,
for all those who have opera 10 beta 3 installed, could you try this for me
soft reboot your hd2's
load opera 10 beta 3
then click on the windows key and go into your HTCAlbum
you should not get a not enough memory available error
it works fine if opera is closed, OR if you open the gallery first (and without closing the album) then open opera 10 beta 3, as long as opera 10 beta 3 is running in the memory, you can open and close the htcalbum as much as you like, but as soon as you close opera 10 beta 3, and open it again, the htcalbum memory full error message will appear
unfortunatley I am not going to be able to change the poolsize until I get home, does anyone know what the default poolsize is on a default official rom ? is it about 12mb??
can someone confirm this bug please, than
sorry mate, can'T reproduce your error. doesn't matter how often and in which order i open/close opera beta 3 or htc album.
but i don't know if my rom has a pagepool modification... it's rtt shock rom rc3 german!
well my pagepool is set at 18mb, ive still not had a chance to play about with it, can anyone else confirm if this bug occurs on their hd2 if they have 18mb pagepool ?
Yes!!!! Finally... the java one was good, but had problems running on winmo.
Now... there's a real cab for it. yessss!!! I hate Opera Mobile and it's slowness. Finally!!
http://m.opera.com/next or http://www.opera.com/mini/next/
here is the cab
Okay, question. why use the mini 5, when you can use the opera mobile beta 10?
crusher11590 said:
Okay, question. why use the mini 5, when you can use the opera mobile beta 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When i am in the many areas i go to where t-mobile is gprs here in Illinois, it will TOTALLY come in handy. Much faster!
Yeah it would definetly help if your boosting 2g gprs signal..
If your like me an run 3g most of the time, then opera beta 10 is the best
Just my opinion...
And it's quite faster than Opera Mobile. I'd like to make it default browser. I have already tried the registry settings, it won't work. Any ideas?
I love opera mini in general, but this version for some unknown reason cannot accept my facebook username and pass. Thus I cannot login to that page, it just keeps refreshing when I hit Login.
This is only in FB, in other pages that require logging in everything goes fine..
Anyone else experiencing this?
great browser but how do u open email links and bookmarks from outside the browser I click em and it just opens the browser start screen not the page I want!
I had to turn the password autosave off in the settings so facebook could acepted password.
This release is brilliant! It is great for multitasking, which is a huge plus. Is there a way to make it the new default browser? (for opening links out of other applications, in my case MoTweets?
drpal181 said:
I had to turn the password autosave off in the settings so facebook could acepted password.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem here logging into faecesbook, but I don't think I've tried logging back into it yet.
I've never used Opera Mini, but it is pretty nice.. It doesn't draw very well though, I've tried several sites and it looks really bad.. Like http://geocaching.com the site is kind of organized in columns and the columns are quite narrow, and winds up drawing on top of itself.
Opera 10 beta 3 launched Veeeryy slow. It was the only reason for me , for deleting it for ever. Im going to try out the mini version.. thanks for the hint
I have installed opera mini 5 now, but on some pages, like
www.openingstijden.nu or m.opentot.nl it doesnt give any search Results.. can somebody test and confirm this please.
crusher11590 said:
Okay, question. why use the mini 5, when you can use the opera mobile beta 10?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because this version doesnt eat up 90% of the device's resources to run. I am constantly amazed that people use opera beta 10. You can run opera beta 10 and sense UI.... THATS IT. try to run anything else and your system starts complaining about memory.
cirrob said:
Because this version doesnt eat up 90% of the device's resources to run. I am constantly amazed that people use opera beta 10. You can run opera beta 10 and sense UI.... THATS IT. try to run anything else and your system starts complaining about memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know what ROM you're running but I'm running WM 6.1 and when I run Opera 10, my ram is at 61 percent. I have no trouble running multiple apps when it's running.
DADDYDC650 said:
I don't know what ROM you're running but I'm running WM 6.1 and when I run Opera 10, my ram is at 61 percent. I have no trouble running multiple apps when it's running.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that Opera 10 (and other versions of the "full" client) suffer more from the resource drain experienced overall in 6.5 vs 6.1; I'm running 6.1 as well, and I can run opera 10 and a bunch of other stuff (text, gmaps, music, etc) all at the same time.
Also, anybody using Opera 10 on 6.5 should try running the dynamic proxy resource and nopushinternet cabs to address memory use.
eff this thing! I cannot log into ANY websites, redbox, netflix, CAG..nothing that I have to input a user name or password and check a box to remember me. I guess I'll try to play w/ the 'save password' settings, but I'm back to using Skyfire until I figure it out..argh!!
To anyone using Mini: I know we all want to browse the web that looks mostly the same as on our home computers, and often that's nice, but try browsing with Mini in "Mobile View". It's really the best way to experience the web in Mini, it renders almost everything really nicely, no need for panning and zooming, you just scroll down the page in 1 direction and never miss anything. It's very nice and quick and easy for reading newsites and long articles and things like that.
I use Mini for this type of quick browsing and Mobile for anything more "heavy duty", it's a nice combo.
I would really like to set Opera Mini 5 as my default browser. If any one finds a solution please update this thread for all of us.
If you run any speed test, IE always come out on top on HD2. Way faster than Opera Mobile 9.7. Neither are reprocessing the info so anyone have a idea why Opera 9.7 is so slow? I used mobilespeedtest.com 1mb file and dsl mobile site.
dallastx said:
If you run any speed test, IE always come out on top on HD2. Way faster than Opera Mobile 9.7. Neither are reprocessing the info so anyone have a idea why Opera 9.7 is so slow? I used mobilespeedtest.com 1mb file and dsl mobile site.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get exactly the opposite when using the stock versions of those two browsers...snarksneeze and I were just testing that this evening.
I got about 350kbps speed with pIE (.7xx s latency), twice in a row...then when I immediately switched to Opera, I got ~895kbps, .35x s latency.
I used dslreports.com/mspeed for all the tests. I don't, and won't, use mobilespeedtest.com