Ask Engadget: Best portable internet device?
By Darren Murph 
posted August 21st 2008 9:17PM
posted August 21st 2008 9:17PM
Face it, folks -- internet browsing shouldn't be confined to your desktop / laptop. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of options out there when looking to get the intarwebz (and we mean the whole intarwebz) in your pocket. For those out there who've found the perfect one from the smattering of choices, throw Adam (and countless others) a bone here. "I have a BlackBerry Pearl and the web browsing on it sucks like a tornado. What I want is a web browsing device that rocks me like a hurricane. I'd rather not have something large, even as large as a netbook like the Eee PC. There are the Nokia tablets. There's the Archos 605 / 705 WiFi. There are UMPCs like the Q1 Ultra. Then there's the iPhone / iPod touch. I'm looking for something that I can access the internet on from the couch or the john with a full HTML browser. And I need something that won't break the bank."
So, whatcha got? After you're done posting your answer from the lavatory, send over a question of your own to ask at engadget dawt com.
This portable internet device is my personal holy grail. I've had the Ipod Touch and the Samsung Q1 Ultra. Something about having a screen the size of the Q1 with XP and Firefox or IE beats the crap out of a small ipod screen hands down. (IMO) No resizing, just comfortable web browsing without compromise. My only gripe would be battery life (about 3 hours intense use) but the newer models even fixed that.
the opera mini browser on BB Curve and up models is good for net browsing... i have the Red Curve and i've shopped on ebay, amazon, even paid bills on it when i cant access a computer. it loads full web pages like an actual browser on a comp.
the iphone is good as well as you can see form the 8 million iphone junkies. but my girl friend has it and from it freezing time and time again, having to be reset as many times as she has done(about 7 times now in 9 months) and returning it for issues(twice). i wouldn't go thru that much for an internet browser. my Curve treats me damn good.
using the iPod touch to write and navigate this page proved both frustrating and rewarding. People posted links that the browser couldn't copy or open on the fly in a new window and then scrolling is great but the not reading the whole page in one sitting means scrolling and scrolling, where us a page down function? Then without cut and paste mean needing something else to copy links and snippets of info. The phone I use is the crappy HTC touch. Useless as phone but broswing allows me to be closer to a computer browser. not recommending HTC either. With the current flaws I still like iPod slightly better.
just throwin it out there...openmoko?
nokia n810.
The new archos players might be worth looking at... They have WiFi and a nice large screen. And there's no hidden cost or contract involved unless you want 3.5G support.
iPod Touch FTW!
Sony Mylo. Clearest Screen i've seen.
> I'm looking for something that I can access the internet on from the couch
That's exactly what I use my Q1U (XP) for.
> What I want is a web browsing device that rocks me like a hurricane.
Q1U does a decent job of browsing. I sometimes have 15-20 tabs (pages) open at the same time (Showcase plugin) and it does a good job. And as it's Windows you have a zillion software titles working on it already. And believe me the full Windows OS is a VERY BIG PLUS.
++ 7" @ 1024x600 is a good balance (smaller than 7" is a small screen size, less than 1024 pixels will make you scroll to the left and right all the time, 1000 pixels is almost kind of default width these days so go for devices with more than 800 pixel width [and at least 7"])
++ 680gr very suitable to be held in two hands like a book. Suitable to carry in a portfolio-ish case (but not pocketable of course).
++ full-featured Windows OS.
+ little split keyboard is practical for shortcuts and entering web addresses, id/passwords (you don't have to swivel/slide keyboards just for pushing a couple of shortcuts). And with free programs like AutoHotKey you can do very practical things with shortcuts. If some now and then you need to type a lot of text, attacht the full size USB keyboard or use a Bluetooth wireless one.
I'm very satisified with my device, the reasons:
I know it's not for entering text. So I use the keyboard only for short-cuts, renaming files, creating folders, id/password ...
I use it for reading things (web browsing, Zinio magazines, PDF, HTML and ...)
sony vaio ux 490
iPhone certainly has the best mobile web experience, hands down.
http://www.learnucd.com/kevlar/why-is-the-iphone-popular
How on earth can you rate the iPHONE seriously as a Mobile device given the current controversy about dropped calls/poor data signal the world over regardless of a countries mature 3G coverage.Owners reports its like using the web on 52kbps DIAL-UP ffs
Now thats where fanboi denial/emotional involvement with Apple will help screw all the other customers over and let Apple produce more dodgy goods for the cycle to repeat.
Even had this disaster never occured its the same thing with the battery which has by far the shortest life due to inefficient energy conversion (the battery itself is fine re the comparison tests).+ What's causing those case cracks could be the excessive heat just like in a certain model of their laptops.
On the drawing board it might have had potential but in practical use its become 1 aborted foetus of a project that should never have been publically released. Taking in to account all the faults the extra time spend needed to browse the web you would be better off using Broadband on a home computer to spend a fraction of the time you would need to do the same browsing on the 3G iPhone (usually without 3G).
Yes of course all the endless problems will soon be fixed and Apple intergrity will shine again.
Sorry nearly forgot the EXCUSE this is only Apple's second Phone.-Well if they are so bloody in incompetant it is LEGAL to buy an mobile from an alternative manufacturer, who do have lots of experience and produce superior pieces of technology that can be reliably used and depended on in a moment of need for years....
Asus wind, 10" with XPsp3 + nokia N95 8GB (for things like plane schedules & stocks quotes)
I use a Sigmarion 3.
But for power browsing when on the road I have a media server (low AC consumption PC) at home which I access from the Sigmarion over RDP.
There are lots of new mini laptop devices coming out and I like the instant on and long battery of CE devices. I would love to see somthing in the Sigmarion 3 form factor with faster processor etc.
John
Pocket PC, using SkyFire www.skyfire.com