5tags

Two weeks ago I told readers that I had purchased a DS lite web browser from Lik-Sang.com. I received the package on Monday from Hong Kong. I was very excited to get it because this web browser was why I purchased the Nintendo DS in the first place.

Value

I bought the web browser from a Hong Kong company called Lik-Sang. Lik-Sang is an online store that sells import games to customers around the world. They sell these games at a higher cost, but offer free shipping, which balances it out. The web browser is sold in Japan for 3300 YEN or about $33 USD. I paid $49.90 from Lik-Sang.com.

When you purchase a new computer, a web browser is not something that you think of paying money for. Windows based computers come loaded free with Internet Explorer and Firefox is only a “free” click away. Opera tried to sell a browser for PCs but soon realized that people did not want to spend money to browse the internet, when they could use several free alternatives. Opera then switched their primary focus to “small screen devices” such as cellular phones and the Nintendo DS. Compared to Firefox for a PC the DS browser actually can preform a lot of the same tasks. The only reason somebody would want the DS web browser was if they did not have another mobile device that could browse the web or did not have a desktop computer. Compared to browsing the web on a computer the DS browser seems outrageously priced but when compared to other mobile devices it is a bargain.

Functionality

After using the browser for almost three solid days I know it inside and out. Since I do not understand Japanese I can’t translate the error messages but I do have translations of the menu and setting panel. The DS web browser can browse in two modes, dual screen mode, and single unified screen mode. Dual screen mode shows the full webpage in one screen and a zoomed in view on the other screen. The user then navigates around using the stylus and can click links or enter text fields by switching the screens back and forth. Dual screen mode shows the webpage in its true form. Most websites will load correctly in dual screen mode. The single unified screen mode strips out some of the images and CSS styles and formats the page to load amongst the two screens. This view makes the webpages majorly distorted but the content is served faster and more efficiently than dual screen mode.

Most people expect the browser to preform the same tasks as a computer browser but we have to realize that the hardware on the DS is not made for browsing the web. When using the browser a memory expanding option pack must be used. This option pack expands the RAM and saves your settings. Opportunity this version of the browser does not support Flash, audio, or video. Future releases may have these feature but until then it can only serve images and text. To save loading time you should use the mobile version of a website. Lots of websites have mobile versions including Gmail, Google, Digg, and Flickr. These versions are stripped down and load within seconds. Google’s mobile edition of their search renders mobile friendly websites, which are separated into pages for faster loading. Since these websites are meant for even lower hardware these website load extremely fast.If you only need the browser for checking email and a few other small websites like digg.com then the browser is perfect for you.

Instead of typing in you favorite URLs every time you want to visit a website you can use the bookmark feature. You can create folders and even select how you want the pages to render.

Looks & Design

The design of the browser is very nice. The navigation is always showing at the bottom and it is possible to use without knowing any Japanese. The browser renders the pages beautify, it almost looks like a print-out behind a plastic screen. Opera did a great job on this browser, making it accessible for people of any language. For some reason I am a sucker for anything bright and white. The box makes we want to use it so bad. The colors, the designers, and brightness, the box could sell the product to someone without a DS!

Actually Using It

I do most of my major browsing on my desktop computer but when I need to quickly check my email at odd times for want to see what’s new on Digg I can simply pop open the DS and see my mail in about one minute. Besides not being able to see flash content I have not seen a website that does not load correctly in dual screen mode, but then again I haven’t been to a lot of websites with it. Despite what others have said the browser has great load times. When using mobile websites whole page can load within a second but when trying to load whole sites like the full version of Digg it can take up to 45 seconds. You can digg stories, comment, and do pretty much anything you could do on a PC.

Like I said the browser works but it is not meant to be a replacement. If I am in a different room I find myself checking my email on my computer rather than my DS, even if it is with me. It just seems to be faster and more efficient for me.

The Bad

The DS does not remember your login information after you turn the DS off. This means that you have to type your login details every single time you want to login to a website, unless you have been there that session. There isn’t a lot of text so the Japanese does not bother me but you would think that they could have a setting for English. The programmers were probably English thenselevers and had to hire a company to translate the menus. I know that it was done this way to “prevent” exporting but why not?

Helping You

I would like to share some of my advise to owners of the DS web browser.

List of Mobile Websites:

• Digg River
• Gmail Mobile
• Google Mobile
• Flickr Mobile

DON’T FORGET ABOUT MY YOU TUBE VIDEO REVIEW!