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JamesDSP
June 23rd, 2007, 21:39
Yesterday I picked up the Nintendo DS Web Browser from Opera. I must say, I'm slightly surprised how well it does work. Of course, depending on your connection, your experience may very. Here's my review for the DS Web Browser and some very helpful hints.

***Assuming you have already configured your WiFi connection***

INTERFACE
The Browser is very easy to use, nothing out of the ordinary for most mobile devices. There is a nice feature added to view the full page and zoom in a certain location (aka Overview Mode). There is also your standard SSR Mode (Small Screen Rendering) that found on most mobile devices. The only draw back to Overview Mode is, it takes longer to render the page.
HINTIn order to scale down the page you should have the page "Fit to With" in the option bar. Images can be turned on and off depending on how long it takes to load that page.
HINT If you are going to be on a single page for a long time, enable images. If your jumping from page to page, disable images.
Obviously, images take a longer time to load.

EXPERIENCE
The Browser is noticeably slower then some mobile devices however, bearable for the most part. As mentioned, image heavy web pages will bog down your experience (other factors include your wireless speed or just the website in general may come into play). Of course, you can always turn off images.
HINT If loading times are taking too long then, switch to SSR mode. Better yet, you can use a portal service in order to access the internet. A portal automatically format the page for mobile devices (like phones) so, the browser does not have to spend time pre-rendering the page. However, all your pages will be formated to look like SSR. A very helpful service (free) is Skweezer and Google Mobile. Again, like most devices, no flash, video or, PDF support. There are however, instant messaging services that work with AIM, MSN and AOL and Yahoo!.

PARENTAL
There is a Parental Control option available for free provided by Nintendo and Astero. I'll have you refer to the manual to set it up.

OTHER THOUGHTS
If you do not have a Internet enabled device but, you have a DS and your always on the go, this is for you. If you do have a internet enabled phone, then, you probably don't need this. If you only have one computer at our home but, have a Wireless router, this is for you and so on... The DS Web Browser isn't a bad device but, not great. As for me, I don't mind it, really. I can check all my websites with no problem using portal services.

MY RATING
3 out of 5 (***/**)

Please, post any other helpful hints! Thanks.

hanzo hattori
June 23rd, 2007, 23:44
i have been wondering whether to buy the internet browser but all my friends said its rubbish and i reckon its based on Opera and i dont really kow whether its worth ther money

DanTheManMS
June 24th, 2007, 01:00
I'd say it's worth it, in my opinion. I've already used it in several instances and was glad I had it.

Regardless, so they did indeed get a parental control feature working for the US release? That would explain why it took so long for them to release it here.