Is The Imagio Worth The Slow Browser Experience?

racedog · #1 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 02:29 PM

I've had the Imagio now for two weeks. I love the form factor. I love most everything about this phone. I have the GSM side running a TMO sim and am able to use it here at home in the USA. It has tons of things that fit my needs.

However, there is one thing that is just driving me up the wall. The browser experience on the Imagio is nothing short of a disaster. No matter whether on my office wifi or on VZW EVDO both the IE browser and Opera are painfully slow. I had the tp2 before returning it for the Imagio and it worked just fine but I hated the large form and really have no need for a keyboard. I thought I had it made with the Imagio but at this point I am ready to pack it in.

I did download Opera mini 4.2 but I don't much care for that. I hear Opera 5 is better but I haven't tried that one yet.

Has anyone found a solution to the browser issue on this phone? I would really like to keep it but every day it gets tougher to tolerate the slow browsers.

I know there have been other threads that mention this issue but I decided to start a thread just for this to see if anyone has come up with a solution. Its really my last attempt to stay with the Imagio because that is what I would like to do, but I can't do it with the way it is right now.

R

fwaits · #2 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 02:34 PM

Try Opera 9.7 beta located here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=486502

Specifically build 35461 which is the latest. It has improved speed over the 9.5 builds for me. Not lightning fast, but noticeably better. And it should improve further as newer builds come out.

chrysalis · #3 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:03 PM

Do I need to uninstall the opera in Imagio first? How about the performance comparison between Opera 9.7 and Opera Mini?

racedog · #4 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:09 PM

I just downloaded and installed opera mini 5 and it runs fast and is very usable. Problem is, after it installs it asks if I want to run it and I answer yes. When it runs its pretty nice but once I close it I can't find it again. When I run Opera mini it goes to 4.2. Should I have removed 4.2 first? If so, how because I looked for it under "Remove Programs" and its not there. So, here I am with a version that I find completely usable but don't seem able to find it on the phone after the first run after install.

A little help would surely be appreciated as it means the difference between keeping the Imagio or going elsewhere and I would like to keep it.

R

chrysalis · #5 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:42 PM

Have you tried Start->All Applications to find the newly installed Opera Mini?

racedog · #6 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:49 PM

That's the first thing that I did and it has Opera Mini in there but when I select it it brings up Opera Mini4.2. I have no clue what happened to or where mini 5 is/went. I a lot baffled right now by the whole thing and my Imagio is riding on getting mini 5 in there and running.

I know its there somewhere because immediately after it installs it asks to run it and it runs and works great. But, after I close it and go looking for it the only thing I can find and bring up is mini 4.2.

R

Humpa · #7 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fwaits

Try Opera 9.7 beta located here:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=486502

Specifically build 35461 which is the latest. It has improved speed over the 9.5 builds for me. Not lightning fast, but noticeably better. And it should improve further as newer builds come out.

Was I supposed to remove the original Opera first? Because I didn't, and Opera 9.7 seemed ok, but it took WAY too long to load initially (to launch the app). So I uninstalled it, which also removed Opera as my default browser. The origianl Opera stayed as the default even after installing 9.7. But once I uninstalled 9.7, then PIE was made the default (the original Opera still works though).

racedog · #8 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 03:37 PM

Humpa, looks like you and I are making a big mess of it today!

You ought to try Opera mini 5 as it seems to work great on my phone when I install and first open it. I've looked at the jbed instructions and I'm getting more confused by the minute but if we can figure this out it looks like we might end up with a good, fast and usable browser.

R

fwaits · #9 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 04:03 PM

Opera Mini shows Mobile versions of web sites which is less graphic than the full versions of the sites which Opera Mobile shows. It's probably good to have both if you want to just get simple quick results go with Mini, and if you want the full web site experience then use Mobile. Mobile has a Turbo mode which basically works similar to Mini, but it's not 100% clean yet and does not auto wrap the text to fit the window correctly when in use. Once they get that fixed, you can just toggle between Turbo mode or not depending which view mode you want to use.

racedog · #10 (**permalink**) 10-20-2009, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fwaits

Opera Mini shows Mobile versions of web sites which is less graphic than the full versions of the sites which Opera Mobile shows. It's probably good to have both if you want to just get simple quick results go with Mini, and if you want the full web site experience then use Mobile. Mobile has a Turbo mode which basically works similar to Mini, but it's not 100% clean yet and does not auto wrap the text to fit the window correctly when in use. Once they get that fixed, you can just toggle between Turbo mode or not depending which view mode you want to use.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully, Opera will have 9.7 working right with the turbo mode soon. I prefer a full browser usually but I needed something working right now or the phone was going bye-bye. I'll download 9.7 also and check it out. From what I gather this will not overwrite 9.5 but will end up being another additional application in the app list, is that right?

R