DS Browser

[digitalmouse]

Anyone going to be an early importer for the new Opera browser? It's coming out on the 24th. I'm a little hesitant because of the whole 'me not knowing Japanese issue.' Whose importing and whose waiting for a US release?

http://image4.play-asia.com/350/PA.67798.012.jpg

The box art is pretty glorious.

[exit]

What's the point on having one for the DS, unless theres something extremely special about it, I just don't get it.

[THATinkjar]

I believe that the Japanese version is also in English, digitalmouse. I know that the browser is due out in Europe in October, though a US release date has yet to be confirmed.

I'm probably going to import it. I don't know if I'll make full use of it, and get my money's worth, but it does look damn good. And I'm collecting for the DS, so I need to get this at some point.

[2Dskillz]

I see the browser as being convient and handy, but I am going to wait for a U.S. release. I just do not see paying import price for it.

[icbrkr]

I'll end up buying it - if I need to quickly check something on the net while I'm out and about, it's a heck of a lot easier to pull out the DS than to lug the laptop with me.

[PapaStu]

Hell, i'll get one for shits and giggles when it gets a stateside release.

@ Ice, I thought i'd use my psp online a bunch when we got that. I think i've only used it two or three times though and that was out of boredom more than anything else.

[dcescott]

I go geocaching at times. This will be very handy when I am out, looking for cordinates for my gps. Make a few runs, go to starbucks and log in your finds and get more, esp in the area. Those who geocache know what I am talking about. I might do the import thing too.

[GM80]

FYI - there are two versions. The Opera card is the same on both, but the RAM expansion module is different. One (for the regular DS) is near standard GBA cart size, like the standard rumble pak, and one is sized for the DS Lite's slot, like the filler that ships in the GBA slot.

Make sure you import the right one (or both, if that's your intent).

[dcescott]

oh, I have the red one. Thanks for the info. I'm not too happy about the upgrade on the lite, esp the cracking on the hinge reports. It's nice lookin but it's not enough for me to buy a 2nd one.

[c0ldb33r]

I'm going to wait for the North American release.

Any idea on the anticipated price?

[ClubNinja]

I go geocaching at times. This will be very handy when I am out, looking for cordinates for my gps. Make a few runs, go to starbucks and log in your finds and get more, esp in the area. Those who geocache know what I am talking about. I might do the import thing too.

Excellent application.

I also plan to buy this. I don't own a laptop, but sometimes just want to check out something quickly while around the house. This is perfect. Plus, I dig Opera.

[norkusa]

Ehhh, I dunno. I was excited about the Opera browser at first, but then I heard it won't be able to display video, sound, flash, or PDF files. I'll probably hold off getting it now. Especially since my PSP browser can pretty much do all that stuff anyway.

[klausien]

Not to threadjack, but when is someone going to make a Palm OS-style organizer for the damn thing?!?!?! :angry: The DS is just SCREAMING for one.

[smork]

$50. That's the going rate. I was going to pick it up when it hits stores this weekend, but $50 is pretty steep for a browser. It'd be nice to have on the go, but I got a phone for that.

Man, $30 would be great. $50, not so much.

Totally agree with the need for a Palm-style organizer. It'd would be perfect for the system. I do have one of the Japanese Kanji dictionaries for the DS and it works great, so non-gaming apps are good for it (downside: needs to boot instead of instant on, which is a tad annoying).

[THATinkjar]

Opera on the PC allows you to jot down some notes and save them. Perhaps they ported that feature over to the DS. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough.


oh, I have the red one. Thanks for the info. I'm not too happy about the upgrade on the lite, esp the cracking on the hinge reports. It's nice lookin but it's not enough for me to buy a 2nd one.

Just to say, dcescott - people are also reporting the hinge problem on the original DS as well.

[dcescott]

Oh really? Sounds like some folks beat them down good. Mine's fine, of course I take care of my crap, when not in use, it's either on my charger or in the travel case. I don't know what's wrong with me.

[digitalmouse]

@ Ice, I thought i'd use my psp online a bunch when we got that. I think i've only used it two or three times though and that was out of boredom more than anything else.

Yeah, same here. But I think that the stylus might make things a bit more convenient than using that damn dpad.

[ClubNinja]

$50.

Oh. Well, that changes my tune, doesn't it? Call me when it's $29.99, please.

[dcescott]

yeah, that's really high

[smork]

$50.

Oh. Well, that changes my tune, doesn't it? Call me when it's $29.99, please.

OK, I checked around on the web -- the $50 I saw was at Play Asia and at Lik Sang.

Looking at amazon.co.jp, it retails for 3800 yen (~$35) and is 15% off at ~3200 yen. That's less than $30 now, so when it hits stores i'll get it (or just get it from amazon).

Strange, usually play-asia and liksang have reasonable prices!

[icbrkr]

Hell, i'll get one for shits and giggles when it gets a stateside release.

@ Ice, I thought i'd use my psp online a bunch when we got that. I think i've only used it two or three times though and that was out of boredom more than anything else.

The difference is you wouldn't leave your PSP in your car door for fear of screen scratchage :) On a trip, there's always a DS somewhere in the car.

[c0ldb33r]

$50? Forget it. I was excited about it - but not for $50.

$19.99 and I'll be excited again.

[unwinddesign]

Why isn't this free? Or $10? It's a friggin' web browser; if the PSP can have one for free, then the DS surely can, yes? Hell, make it have ads (a la the free version of Opera for PC). $30? Hahahahahaha. Ahahahahahaha. That makes me laugh.

[digitalmouse]

Just thought the few that are interested in the browser might enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbSq-tCHXmI

[THATinkjar]

Just thought the few that are interested in the browser might enjoy this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbSq-tCHXmI

Awesome find, digitalmouse. Thanks for that. I don't think I had seen the browser in action. It looks very, very impressive. I'll be importing this later in the month, I'm sure.

[rbudrick]

Wow...awesome video. The kana to kanji conversion looks like one of the easiest I've ever seen. Plus, with handwriting recognition and the virtual keyboard, it looks like a killer browser!

-Rob

[slip81]

I'd like to pick it up. It would be a handy way to stay up to date when I didn't feel like luggin my laptop around.

I'll wait for a US release though, unless it's not going to come out here, then I'll probably import it, if it's in english.

[dbiersdorf]

I can't see how it wouldn't come to the US, but if it didn't, a Europe release has been confirmed, so at least that would be in English.

[THATinkjar]

I can't see how it wouldn't come to the US, but if it didn't, a Europe release has been confirmed, so at least that would be in English.

I pointed out earlier in the thread that the Japanese version will also be in English.

[zerohero]

This I will buy.

[digitalmouse]

I can't see how it wouldn't come to the US, but if it didn't, a Europe release has been confirmed, so at least that would be in English.

I pointed out earlier in the thread that the Japanese version will also be in English.

Now does that mean the keyboard and menus are in English? I would imagine there has to be something you will sacrafice if you import.

[THATinkjar]

Now does that mean the keyboard and menus are in English? I would imagine there has to be something you will sacrafice if you import.

I've read numerous times that the keyboard (and the handwriting support) will also be available in English in the Japanese version.

I do not know about the interface, though. Most of it is icon-driven (to save space), so these should be easy to understand.

We'll find out more in the next couple of weeks, I guess.

[LAGO]

If it gets a stateside release i'll pick it up eventually.

[THATinkjar]

I have imported a copy of the Opera DS browser, and I hope to have it in my hands before the end of the week. I'll let you guys know what I think of it, once I've had a chance to have a play.

I'll answer any questions you guys have - any questions at all!

[FantasiaWHT]

My DS has a much better battery life than my laptop, so I'll be looking into this, hehe.

[THATinkjar]

Okay, then! At long last, my copy of the Nintendo DS Browser arrived. I plugged in my USB Wi-Fi dongle last night, switched on the DS Lite and away I went. Except, I didn't go anywhere. Despite the fact that the browser found and successfully communicated with the USB Dongle, it was spitting error 52103 at me. And because everything is in Japanese (despite being led to believe that there would be at least some English), I couldn't understand exactly what was going on.

As it turns out, something had fudged the settings on my PC. I had to completely remove the drivers and software, run through the Home Network wizard (and identify myself as part of a workgroup) and then reinstall. It took me almost an hour to get to the bottom of this, and was just about the last thing I wanted to be sorting out! This has happened before, as well. But last time I was due to do a complete format anyway, so I never bothered to figure out how to fix the problem.

Anyway! Once I had figured this all out, I really was ready to go! And away I went - to Digital Press first, of course. Damn, it looks good on the Lite! I then tried to visit the forums, but nothing seemed to be happening. I'll have another go at this tonight, perhaps. I then accessed my Google Mail account which - despite being in Japanese - allowed me to login and send an e-mail without hitch. And, once I had logged in, everything was in plain English. Hopefully it'll remember my username and password for next time, as well.

GameFAQs has a translation of the browser available (it only went live a little after I had been playing around), but there were a couple of options that I figured out for myself. You can, for example, change the default search engine, the character set, the default zoom level, etc. There are plenty more options, too, but I haven't worked out what they do as yet.

While typing that e-mail, I was particularly impressed by the handwriting recognition. It was, to be frank, superb! The only letter it seemed to have trouble with was "i"; but - if it does get it wrong - it always makes suggestions as to what you may have meant, so it is very quick and easy to change it without drawing the letter again!

So, I pretty much prefer the handwriting method to the on-screen keyboard. The keyboard is functional, but there seems to be this marginal delay between pressing the key and the character appearing on the screen. This really puts me off. As it goes, one complaint I would make at this point about the entire software is that you can push a button - and it changes visually to indiciate that you have pressed it - but it won't actually do anything, as if it hasn't been pushed. It feels a little sloppy, to tell you the truth.

As for viewing pages... you have a number of ways to actually make use of the two screens. And swapping between them is very simple, and it usually only takes about five seconds to re-render the page, which isn't as bad as some have suggested. I prefer to have an overview of the entire page on the touch screen, with a zoomed-in section on the top screen. I can then switch the screens around when I want to input some text. To click on a link, it is - obviously - a quick double-tap on the screen.

What else can I say? The browser itself is ready for use within just a few seconds of switching on, which is how it should be. Pages do, unfortunately, take a while to load, but isn't as bad as I had heard. Digital Press, actually, was almost instant! But when you scroll around the page, everything can freeze for a moment as it loads the next section. I would imagine that images are to blame for this. While it is annoying, I reckon I could get used to it.

Finally, the GBA cartridge is a perfect fit, as expected, but it is a semi-transparent plastic. I had hoped it would come in white, to perfectly fit with my DS Lite. Oh, and the images on pages look really good. The colours are generally excellent, but you won't see clean gradients.

As I've no doubt said, I am still very much feeling my way through all of this. It would be really nice if there was a way to turn off images, or have the page fit to the screen so I don't have to scroll both horizontally and vertically. So far, I have been quite impressed - but it isn't perfect, but I knew it wouldn't be. It is functional, first and foremost, but slick and stylish as well.

I'd probably give this a 7/10 (though a 10/10 for effort!), though I really need to discover every little thing before I can really give this a score. If you guys have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them (if I can).

[ChronoTriggaFoo]

Well I was going to buy a Dell Axim X51v PDA for its internet capabilities, but I already have a DS Lite. I just read an IGN review and it wasn't exactly glowing. He mostly complained how it took 3 to 5 minutes for most pages to load up, and that it took him back to the days of 14.4 connections. That makes me have some serious second doubts.

[Nz17]

I've been hearing some belly-aching about the US/CA DS Browser not having Flash and Java, and some people complaining about rendering times, but I trust the opinions of my fellows here at DP more.

So for those of you who have the DS Browser, how is it? Does it compare favorably with the Dreamcast browser? How is the PSP browser in comparison? And in the end, is it worth the price?

[boatofcar]

For people who have both, how does this compare speedwise with the PSP browser?

[PapaStu]

I'm seeing scant few copies of this about, Target had like 2, my local GS only got in 3. I don't think that this is going to be an out there kinda thing.

I'm also at a loss for finding the Fatty DS browser online (I know that Nintendo is suppose to have it) and though I want to replace my DS with a lite (Battery is starting to go out) I still want the Fatty browser.

[Nz17]

http://store.nintendo.com/wcsstore/NOASTORE/noaimages/NC63920.jpg http://store.nintendo.com/wcsstore/NOASTORE/noaimages/NC63324.jpg

The Nintendo Online Store has the DS Browser for the Original-Style DS (http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?lastAction=setCurr&jspStoreDir=NOASTORE&languageId=-1&catalogId=10001&categoryId=58694&productId=129204&currency=USD&storeId=10001&ddkey=SetCurrencyPreference). It costs the same as the DS Lite version. The only difference is that the cartridge is bigger and opague.

Also, if you already bought the DS Lite version, you can purchase the "Fatty" version of the GBA memory expansion pak for $15 (http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?lastAction=setCurr&jspStoreDir=NOASTORE&languageId=-1&catalogId=10001&categoryId=58694&productId=129207&currency=USD&storeId=10001&ddkey=SetCurrencyPreference).

[boatofcar]

Any impressions?

[Streetball 21]

So, I'm gonna bump up this thread. Is it worth ordering the DS Phat opera browser from the online store? I just think it would be cool getting online with the DS. Why do I say that? I have no idea. I just want it. Any other impressions?

[Jorpho]

Why do I say that? I have no idea. I just want it.Things like this make my head hurt. :frustrated:

Though it depends on exactly what you want to do, there are homebrew programs out there that do a much better job than the official DS browser.

[wood_jl]

I ordered the DS (original) one from Nintendo a couple months ago, and I love it. Of course, the only difference is the RAM card for the GBA slot is bigger; it will also work in a Lite, but of course protrude from the forward edge.

I also bought a new copy from Gamestop for the DS Lite because I wanted one for each of my DS models; they didn't have it in stock, but they were able to do a search of other Gamestops and find one in a neighboring state that had it in stock and send to my local Gamestop for no extra charge. As you may be aware, you can not buy the original DS version in any retail environment.

I was curious as to WHY they never have any used copies of the DS browser for sale. I was hoping to pick it up cheap. The Gamestop employee told me that they don't accept it in for trade. According to him, once "you put your name/password/etc" in there it stores in the cartridge and can NOT be erased. I'm not sure that I believe this, but ordered new versions just to be sure. This made me afraid to buy a used one, which I saw for sale on Ebay and Amazon. When you put in the browser for the first time, it asks for a password. I left it blank on both of mine and now it never asks me. Maybe that's the ticket - not leaving a password. Hell, if anyone has access to my DS they're going to steal it anyway; who cares about a password on your browser? Maybe it's just the password (if entered) can't be changed....dunno.

I don't understand some of the negative reception of the DS browser. Yes, it's limited. What the hell did they expect on a friggin' DS anyway? Yes, it's slow. But I can check my email and read the news at school - for FREE. You can also use it to log into wireless networks to do require a login (school, etc) and then turn it off and switch to a game and the router you logged into will remember your MAC address for a few minutes, so when you turn it back on, a game will have instant access to the internet and you can online game from other places. That's a nice thing about it. How else could you game online from a place that requires a login? Awwwww, I can't watch youtube with it. Boo hoo.......get a laptop.

I mostly view mobile (cell phone oriented) internet sites with it because it's fast. As far as "regular" sites, the thing is so-so on some sites, chokes if there's a lot of pics or really big page. But it works!! If you stick to the mobile sites it's not even slow. As long as you adjust your expectations to reality and look at what a diminutive device it's on, I think it's great. There's all kinds of mobile news, mobile yahoo email, mobile wikipedia....and if you spend hours of the day at a place (college campus, etc) with free WiFi then it's worth it.

[PapaStu]

So, I'm gonna bump up this thread. Is it worth ordering the DS Phat opera browser from the online store? I just think it would be cool getting online with the DS. Why do I say that? I have no idea. I just want it. Any other impressions?

If you've got Wifi and no other viable way to get on the net, then yes. I've got both the lite and Phat browsers and have had them for quite a long time. Both have never been opened and probably won't be. When i've got the wifi access and i'm not at home, 98% of the time, i've got the wifes laptop close by. Better surfing conditions and no browsing issues.

[boatofcar]

I found the DS browser to be the worst online experience I've ever had. Even browsing on my old phone was faster. I guess if you're a student and aren't allowed to have a cell phone at school this could be useful, but beyond that...

[ChronoTriggaFoo]

I was curious as to WHY they never have any used copies of the DS browser for sale. I was hoping to pick it up cheap. The Gamestop employee told me that they don't accept it in for trade. According to him, once "you put your name/password/etc" in there it stores in the cartridge and can NOT be erased. I'm not sure that I believe this, but ordered new versions just to be sure. This made me afraid to buy a used one, which I saw for sale on Ebay and Amazon. When you put in the browser for the first time, it asks for a password. I left it blank on both of mine and now it never asks me. Maybe that's the ticket - not leaving a password. Hell, if anyone has access to my DS they're going to steal it anyway; who cares about a password on your browser? Maybe it's just the password (if entered) can't be changed....dunno.


Actually, there is a way to reset the password feature. I freaked when I purchased mine and found I needed a password. Fortunately, I found the link below:


http://www.metacafe.com/watch/898375/how_to_reset_your_ds_browser_password_just_in_case _youve_forgot/

[c0ldb33r]

Just get an Asus EEE PC. It's not much bigger than a DS and works wonderfully.

[Jorpho]

Just get an Asus EEE PC. It's not much bigger than a DS and works wonderfully.Whoa! They're small, but they're not that small. Also, I suspect you'd get much better battery life from the DS. (Or does it drain faster when browsing, what with the extra RAM and everything?)

[c0ldb33r]

The EEE isnt' as small, but it works and works well. The DS browser doesn't.

Plus, don't forget that the DS battery life takes a real dive with the wifi on.

[TheGam3r]

I Have the Original DS Lite Browser and its not that good cause there is no video support.good bye Youtube on the can