AvantGo 5.0 Beta Now Available

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.avantgo.com/beta2005' target='_blank'>http://www.avantgo.com/beta2005</a><br /><br /></div><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20041124-AvantGo5.jpg" /><br /><br />AvantGo has opened its doors for beta testing of the new 5.0 version. It's now more of a feature-rich web browser than an offline content viewer, so this new version may be of interest to those looking to maximise their AvantGo experience. You will need a valid account to access the beta page which you can find <a href="http://www.avantgo.com/beta2005">here</a>.

[foebea]

That was actually kind of fun.

turns out i had an account about 4 or more years ago on a palm pilot i had completely forgotten about.I went in and saw all the things i had subscribed to and such.

I think i will stick with PiePlus and Thunderhawk for my browsing though, and for offline webpage reading im absolutly hooked on repligo.

It's nice to see AvantGo is doing well, they really are invaluable for mobile users who do not have internet access wirelessly

[Jonathon Watkins]

I think i will stick with PiePlus and Thunderhawk for my browsing though, and for offline webpage reading im absolutly hooked on repligo.

I thought you had to tag webpages manually with Repligo, i.e. you do not have the 'push' element that Avantgo does?

[foebea]

thats absolutely correct.

If i did not have free internet through the phone, then AvantGo is a wonderful application, for most webpages though, i just access them real time so storage is not needed.

The wireless browsing functionality of AvantGo is not yet enough for me to switch over from PIE. It a very polished application for the most part, and I have not yet uninstalled it ;)

[acollet]

Back in the non connected Palm days. Well, maybe not so far back given the new T5, Avantgo had its place. Since the integration of wi-fi and the grwoth of RSS, I dont think I'll ever go back to AvantGo. I just LOVE RSS.

[MS Mobiles]

It's now more of a feature-rich web browser than an offline content viewer

Yes! Remember that it can be used also for online (wireless!) mobile content synchronization, not just for off-line reading!

Here is an audio interview (i.e. Podcast) about AvantGo Beta that I made with 2 guys from Sybase (makers of AvantGo):

http://x.msmobiles.com/portal/podcasts/msmobiles_com_24.mp3

I have asked there some uncomfortable questions and they answered them all...

[buss]

I have been using Avangto for about 5 years and really enjoy it. RSS looks like a good thing, but I have not figured it out yet (something to do with old dogs and new tricks I guess).

Last week I loaded the beta on my HP415X and have my initial observations:

1) Very attractive interface
2) Very slow when compared to the version that it replaced
3) Text formating in the screen is off. Have to use left/right scroll bar. Never had that as an issue with the previous version

I have sent my comment to Avangto using the embedded support / feedback form. Hope that they address and correct.

[Birdman]

I too found it very slow when loaded onto my storage card, to the point of not being usable. (I am using an older XDAI.)

I then tried installing it to the main memory and so far, it has not been much better. I just hope I can delete it and go back to the reliable old version.

[SteveHoward999]

Tried it 3 or 4 days ago, hate it.

1, Text size is stuck at large. I run PIE with text at smallest possible size ... my eyesight is good, and I like ot get as much text on screen as possible.

2, Slower than currrent version.

3, Web page formatting sucks. I have got used to how PIE Plus improves the browsing experience. AvantGo 5.5 forces horizontal scrolling because it cannot reflow the web page.

4, CCS support is as bad as PIE on Pocket Windows 2002.


On the plus side, I do like what they are trying to do with the tabbed interface.


When I uninstalled it to revert to AvantGo 3.3 (the current public version) AvantGo would not find files in PIE. I eventually fixed it by uninstalling AvantGo, deleting the AvantGo folder in Windows and using a registry editor to remove both of the AvantGo trees. Then I reinstalled 3.3 aqnd all was normal again in Kansas.

[jngold_me]

I installed it on my 4150 yesterday and so far I find it more than acceptable. I have experienced and significant slowdowns as mentioned by others. I did notice that some of my channels require some horizontal scrolling. Since this is a beta, I think Avantgo needs some time to iron out some of the initial issues.

I really like the selective wireless sync option,

So far, so good.

[Jerry Raia]

I found it way too slow on my 4705. Even syncing the pages was a career!

[jngold_me]

I find that very amusing considering the 4700's processing capabilities.

Anyways, a 17 channel (wiireless) sync with 229 update pages went as fast or faster than what I was used to when using the current production version.

[SHC]

There may have been options I missed but it was very slow on my 4700 and the display just awful. Still nice to see AvantGo developing its software. When it's finished I'll give it another go, for now back to the old.

[Jerry Raia]

There may have been options I missed but it was very slow on my 4700 and the display just awful. Still nice to see AvantGo developing its software. When it's finished I'll give it another go, for now back to the old.

I agree but they really don't need to develop anything. It's fine the way it is. I read it fine on Explorer. The beta client adds nothing.

[Birdman]

I tried to uninstall the upgrade but now I cannot get the older version to connect. I keep getting an eror when I try to sync.

[Darius Wey]

Remember that any errors that people encounter can be attributed to the fact that it is a beta version. This is something you should remember when trialling pre-release software. If something's not working right, it would be a good idea to inform AvantGo so they can rectify the problem. Developers need consumer input to help fix bugs and improve the features of their programs. ;)

[pms]

Tried it 3 or 4 days ago, hate it.

1, Text size is stuck at large. I run PIE with text at smallest possible size ... my eyesight is good, and I like ot get as much text on screen as possible.

2, Slower than currrent version.

3, Web page formatting sucks. I have got used to how PIE Plus improves the browsing experience. AvantGo 5.5 forces horizontal scrolling because it cannot reflow the web page.

4, CCS support is as bad as PIE on Pocket Windows 2002.


On the plus side, I do like what they are trying to do with the tabbed interface.




Totally agree!!! Big fonts, bad formatting, lack of "true" full screen...

What about page down? I like that in PIE you can use the Dpad to page down. With the new avantgo I could only scroll line by line ...

Why are they building a browser?????? It doesn't make any sense... The previous combination was perfect: avantgo for the syncro and pie for the browsing!

I use PIEPlus so that I can have "true" full screen (avantgo still leaves the bar on the top), customize hardware buttons to navigate (i.e. back, homepage). Are they going to recreate all of this? If not, I will stick in the current version.

PS: I install avantgo 5 and remove after a couple of hours
PS2: I use avantgo for over 5 years now!!!!

[emuelle1]

It's not bad on my 3765. The fact that it has it's own browser took me a few seconds to comprehend. I don't mind, in fact, I like the line by line scrolling. I prefer to have the line I'm reading up at the top, and if I don't feel like holding the stylus or scrolling with my finger I'm not fond of scrolling an entire page at once. That's just me.

Still forming an opinion, but not bad.

[Jonathon Watkins]

Is it just me, or is the Avantgo website unavailable at the moment? I've had problems with it for the past few days, but can't get to it at all at them moment.

[ctmagnus]

No problems here.

[Jonathon Watkins]

It's find now. One of these things.

I'll give the bata a go tonight.