Which of these offer the most complete and best Internet browsing experience?

[porpackage]

Hi.. I am looking at a device for mobile internet access.... It should be fairly portable and give me a complete internet experience. Which of these devices would you recommend?? :?:


PS. To use the MSN chat rooms u need to download a little chat applet... does the MSN chat rooms work for Pocket IE on PDAs??


1) Regular PDA: ie. Ipaq 5555, 2200, Toshiba E750 etc...

PLUS: cheaper than other two devices below, highly portable, instant boot up, use stylus as the mouse, wireless 802.11b

MINUS: Pocket IE does not support all the standards like desktop IE, PDA screens are small and require scrolling, lack desktop plug ins like Quicktime etc for internet use, lacks keyboard

SIZE: 5.43 x 3.3 x 0.63 inches, 7.26 oz (206 g) IPAQ 5400

2) Sansung Nexio S160

PLUS: 5 inch screen, 800X480 resolution, keyboard, wireless 802.11b

MINUS: Expensive, Windows CE 4.01 does not have many programs running it, lacks desktop plug ins like realplayer, quicktime for internet use

SIZE: 6.0 x 3.6 x 0.6 inches, 8.8 oz

3) Sony Vaio U101 subnotebook

PLUS: Large 7.1 inch screen, fast processor, full desktop use of IE and internet plug ins like quicktime, realplayer etc, wireless 802.11b, keyboard

MINUS: Expensive, bigger than either PDA, slow boot up time, no touch screen

SIZE: 7.0 x 5.5 x 1.3 inches, 1.94 lbs

[rhmorrison]

:idea: Why don't you make a POLL out of this if you want to know which one of N that someone thinks is better!

[Pony99CA]

Hi.. I am looking at a device for mobile internet access.... It should be fairly portable and give me a complete internet experience. Which of these devices would you recommend?? :?:

1) Regular PDA: ie. Ipaq 5555, 2200, Toshiba E750 etc...

2) Sansung Nexio S160

3) Sony Vaio U101 subnotebook

This seems like an easy question. If you really want the complete Internet experience, you won't get it on a Windows CE device. (If someone using NetFront or ThunderHawk knows better, please correct me.)

That means your only option is the Sony.

Steve

[Ed Hansberry]

This seems like an easy question. If you really want the complete Internet experience, you won't get it on a Windows CE device. (If someone using NetFront or ThunderHawk knows better, please correct me.)

That means your only option is the Sony.
Agreed. Internet pages are written to be compatibile with a Windows desktop with IE5 or higher on it. Even a CE.NET product with IE5.5 in it can't support ActiveX controls written for an x86 processor and I don't think there is a full JVM in CE.NET.

That means you need a device that runs Windows XP. :?

[Kevin Remhof]

I know they aren't cheap, but you might want to check out a Tablet PC. They run Windows XP and should be able to do everything that you want. Plus, they look really cool IMHO.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/tabletpc/default.asp

You can go to your local Best Buy/Circuit City/CompUSA and check one out.

[Stephen Beesley]

Okay - first off I would have to agree that if you want access to everything on the net then I don't think that any PDA around at the moment (whatever the OS) is what you are after. This would be especially true if you need to load special apps etc. If you do not mind the size and cost then a tablet PC might be just the thing.

That said - I have found that Netfront running on my HP 568 gave me a very usable net experience. I know that there are some sights out there that it can not run but for most of my surfing it worked great and the fit to screen option really works unlike on Pocket IE.

Goldtee

[Janak Parekh]

(If someone using NetFront or ThunderHawk knows better, please correct me.)
ThunderHawk comes pretty close to fitting everything on the screen and emulating the desktop experience. It'll never be the same as surfing on a laptop or desktop, but not having to scroll is wonderful.

--janak

[Johan]

[/quote]
ThunderHawk comes pretty close to fitting everything on the screen and emulating the desktop experience. It'll never be the same as surfing on a laptop or desktop, but not having to scroll is wonderful.

--janak[/quote]

Also using Thunderhawk reduces the ammount of data you have to download since things are "scaled" before sent to the device by the Thunderhawk server. Especially important while using GPRS.

:!:

[ekconrad]

Kevin... that wouldn't happen to be a picture of the Beast now, would it?

[porpackage]

I see... so basically most of yur arguments is in favor of a notebook for the full internet experience... then why do you guys even buy Pocket PC's with wireless to surf the web??? Arent you better off with a notebook? If you need just simple PIM functions ie. calendar, appointments, arent you better off with a simple Palm device?? If you want a multimedia, or the full internet experience its just better to get a subnotebook... so basically there isnt any use for a Pocket PC then.

[Brad Adrian]

... then why do you guys even buy Pocket PC's with wireless to surf the web???... so basically there isnt any use for a Pocket PC then.
There's more to Web access than surfing full-size pages and there is more to a Pocket PC than PIM functions. There are certain sites that display properly on a Pocket PC but it is also usually possible to accomplish surfing on regular sites, although it takes a lot of scrolling.

To say that there is no use for a Pocket PC for Web surfing is a bit ill-informed and is certainly "flame bait" on a Pocket PC site. If you truly want to know about the valuable things we do with our devices, I'm sure there are plenty of readers eager to share their experiences.

[porpackage]

What I meant is that there is not a specific or unique thing that a Pocket PC does that a notebook or a Palm device cant do.... I mean if you only need to do PIM etc, then a Palm device would fit your needs. While if you want to surf the web with a mobile device then use a notebook then.

I know what the Pocket PC can do... it can do PIM, multimedia and surf the web... However it does not do any of those things very good.. it seems to be a generalized device than can do alot of things but not very well for any of them. I tried surfing the net on a PDA at a computer store.. and the small screen was not good, not to mention the constant scrolling. I do like the Pocket PCs extremely mobile form and it comes with minitature versions of most Microsoft software. I still find normal notebooks and tablet PCs too big for my liking.

It just seems like subnotebooks, handheld PCs, tablet PC's and PDAs are all going after the same market. Perhaps what they need is a MINI TABLET that has the best features of both PDAs and tablet PCs.. Say a 5-10 inch LCD tablet running Windows XP in ROM. It include PIM features but desktop versions of the software. Comes with stylus and keyboard. Programs would be installed on hard drive. Come with 256-512 MB RAM. Would include wireless 802.11b and Bluetooth, Lithium Polymer battery.

[hollis_f]

What I meant is that there is not a specific or unique thing that a Pocket PC does that a notebook or a Palm device cant do.... I mean if you only need to do PIM etc, then a Palm device would fit your needs. While if you want to surf the web with a mobile device then use a notebook then.Yes, a PPC isn't as good for going online as a full-sized laptop. Nor is it as small as a Palm. But look at it from the other direction - it's advantages over each of those devices.

It's smaller than a laptop. That means I take it with me everywhere. My laptop may be better for going online - but that's not much use when it's stuck at home. So I can use a PPC or lug a huge great laptop with me everywhere I go. I'm willing to sacrifice some functionality for portability.

It may be small - but it's still bigger than a Palm, true. However, it's not so much larger that I can't take it everywhere. And it can do so much more than a Palm can.

The key thing about a PPC is in that first P - 'Pocket'. If I need 2.5GHz of processing power with DVD/CDRW, scanner, printer, etc then I use a desktop machine.

If I'm going away from home, but I'll be wanting to use a computer from a main base (like when going to a conference) then I'll use my laptop. Not as powerful as the desktop, but a good compromise. (According to your arguments I should be unplugging my desktop and setting that up in my hotel room. As its functionality (if only for screen size and resolution) is better than the laptop's).

If I'm away from home without a stable base, without my car then I'll use my PPC. It can do almost all I need to do. Not as well as either my laptop or desktop - but neither of those fit in my pocket.

[Pat Logsdon]

I know what the Pocket PC can do... it can do PIM, multimedia and surf the web...
Pocket PCs can do a lot more than that, my friend. Here's a short (and very incomplete) list of other things it can do:
Get a CF GPS card, and you've got a handheld GPS unit that you can take geocaching (http://www.geocaching.com).
Buy some software, like Routis (http://www.deluo.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=DE&Product_Code=RSSA&Category_Code=GS), and you've got an in-car navigation system that rivals the $2,000 unit in your uncle's Acura.
The Pocket PC turns into a music player with software like PocketMusic (http://www.pocketmind.com/pocketmusic.htm).
With software like TextMaker (http://www.softmaker.de/tmp_en.htm), the Pocket PC turns into a full-fledged word processor. Add a folding keyboard, and you've got a word processing package that's smaller, lighter, and easier to use (instant on, no long boot-up process) than a laptop.
There are a ton of ebooks available - the Pocket PC can hold enough books to cause serious hernia damage to anyone who tried to haul the paper versions around in a backpack.
Have I mentioned that PPC's are significantly cheaper than laptops?

[Ed Hansberry]

Because a Pocket PC fits in my pocket. I can get the basic stuff I need. Even if the PPC offered 100% of the desktop experience, that small screen only makes it useful for reading sites either designed for the small screen or mostly text.

For one other laptop alternative, check out the May 15 Mossberg column - http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html

[hollis_f]

I know what the Pocket PC can do... it can do PIM, multimedia and surf the web...
Pocket PCs can do a lot more than that, my friend. Here's a short (and very incomplete) list of other things it can do:
Yeah, but it ain't as good at displaying maps as my laptop, and it can't play music as well as my hi-fi, and my desktop beats it for word processing, and it hasn't got as many books as my library, and it can't play videos as well as my DVD / wide-screen TV combination.

Therefore it's crap :jester: