Best (non-laptop) portable WiFi surfer?

Question

Short of bringing a laptop (or a behemoth like the Archos 705 WiFi), what is today's best portable WiFi surfer?

- To be clear, I'm not interested in WWAN, and I don't want to limit my surfing to handheld-optimized sites. Email access is not paramount (otherwise I would have gotten a Blackberry).

My understanding is that it comes down to either iPhone/iTouch or one of the Archos 605 variants?

- iPhone/iTouch offers the benefits of ultra-pocketability and intuitive finger-controlled zooming/scrolling, but is not flash-capable out of the box.

- Archos has the advantages of larger screen, higher resolution, and flash support, but it's bigger/heavier, and its touch screen control nowhere as intuitive as iPhone/iTouch.

Other products (including all the PDAs, Smart Phones, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, etc) may offer additional benefit, but cannot come close when it comes to the general surfing experience?

Am I missing something major in my understanding?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'd say the simple choice would be an internet tablet.

If you are ready for something more complex (much more customizable but also much more error-prone), try to get a powerful Windows Mobile PDA with Opera Mobile 9.5

It works incredibly well, supports flash, maybe even youtube (otherwise you can install apps for viewing youtube vids).

Try the Dell Axim X51v, as they go for as low as 200$ new on eBay. Add 25$ for Opera mobile and you are ready to go.

I have a Pocket PC with a lower resolution screen and slower hardware than the X51v and it's wonderful when my laptop isn't around.

Answer 2

Your understanding is pretty on target other than the fact that the Archos requires extra plugins for flash and web browsing, but from what I hear the browsing experiences is very good.

Well there is also the Nokia N800 and the newer N810 with keyboard. They both are 4in devices that are running a linux based os, and are using an Opera based browser and latter on mobile version of Firefox. If I am not mistaken there is flash support for websites also.

There is also the Cowon Q5. This is a little larger a 5in, but it is running windows ce and you can run opera mobile for it and you also get flash support for web sites. The nice thing is if you need an mp3/pmp this is the best sounding device out of all them listed and has the best codec support out the box and possibly via third party(as it supports a version of VLC).

Also any phone that supports Opera Mobile 8.5 and up will give you desktop style browsing, granted it would be on a slightly smaller screen that on the Touch if it is a cell phone. But there are slightly older devices like the Dell X50/X51, which come in a 3.5in qvga model and a 3.7in vga model. They both can surf full web pages with Opera 8.5 and up(granted you need the vga version for the 3.7in Dell model). There are also a few HP devices that also fit your need.

There are also a few other windows ce based devices with wifi out there, but they are harder to find than these mentioned,

Answer 3

Hello, i strongly reccomend that you get the Nokia N810, it has the claimed 'Web 2.0' experince. this means watching YouTube in full blow, browsing the internet just as it would be on your computer, and even playing flash games with the pre-loaded Flash v7.0(i think....but i know that there is some kind of flash player on the device). The web browser also features the same scrolling effects as the iPhone/iPod Touch, along with a slide-out, hardware keyboard for easy typing.  It runs on its own version of linux(might be unix, but its most likely linux), that is loaded into the ROM, so that you can load any version of linux onto the device as you please. And with a very strong TI OMAP 2420, 400Mhz processor, (wich i must say i am very proud of, cause my daddy helped make that awsome chip!! w00t go daddy!). Along with WiFi, this device also has Bluetooth, to connect your stereo system, bluetooth headset, even your phone so that you can use stereo speakers as a loudspeaker or use your phone to gain data access. It really is a great device, my mind goes blank just thinking about the d**n thing.... Also one more thing............because there arent a lot of 3rd party programs for the device, you can download the Palm OS Emulator for the device, and install thousands of apps onto that program. Links are below. Keep a lookout for the WiMax version of the device.