[b00001]

Video: BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone Web Browser Showdown (It Gets Ugly)

[Shaun]

When you are done with that, take some time to read this:

Debunk: BlackBerry Bold's browser on WiFi actually not that slow - Engadget

Edge vs Wifi ?

[b00001]

Originally Posted by shaun27612

@b00001: Bad Link

Video: BlackBerry Bold vs. iPhone Web Browser Showdown (It Gets Ugly)

Just redid link. try now. I just tested.

[mortys11]

ok

got my bold today and a buddy came over to see it, he has a curve.

we tested the browser on both to see how much faster the bold was.

the curve was faster!

WTF????

[TroyDBrown]

Originally Posted by mortys11

ok

got my bold today and a buddy came over to see it, he has a curve.

we tested the browser on both to see how much faster the bold was.

the curve was faster!

WTF????

A test like this is so hard to run. It has to be very controlled.

Both devices need to be configured as close to the same as possible. Java Script, no third party apps, etc.

I would test them one at a time and time it not head to head to allow for QoS issues or latency from the remote site.

This is just all so subjective. Free memory also plays into this.

[pokey]

Originally Posted by troydbrown

A test like this is so hard to run. It has to be very controlled.

Both devices need to be configured as close to the same as possible. Java Script, no third party apps, etc.

I would test them one at a time and time it not head to head to allow for QoS issues or latency from the remote site.

This is just all so subjective. Free memory also plays into this.

I tried the same today and 3G was slower loading a web page. I don't understand either.

[b00001]

Originally Posted by pokey

I tried the same today and 3G was slower loading a web page. I don't understand either.

Sounds like there may be something here.............

[b00001]

Originally Posted by shaun27612

When you are done with that, take some time to read this:

Debunk: BlackBerry Bold's browser on WiFi actually not that slow - Engadget

Edge vs Wifi ?

Nice rebuttal link!

I have an iphone (blah) I have been playing with for a bit and tried this myself. I ran the above vid, waiting for the bold to actually begin loading the page (blue bar in browser saying "loading"), I then started the iphone browser to load the same page (which I did not preload of course) on my home wifi.

Result-starting my browser AFTER the Bold's, the iphone was completely finished loading the page 11 seconds earlier than the Bold.

Obviously BB is not known as a "media phone" and I am certainly a BB fan. I have been waiting and waiting on the Bold. I was hoping the browsers would be a little closer matched though.

[mortys11]

need to run some more tests

rogers claim of fastest network could be BS

[BerryBlacky]

Some Apple fanboy attempting to be cunning, fooling only the demographic stated in my signature. :D

[test54]

not impressed with the speed shown or the comments from the people using it. I thought they overhauled the browser?

[b00001]

Originally Posted by test54

not impressed with the speed shown or the comments from the people using it. I thought they overhauled the browser?

That is what I was thinking as well. I was all pumped on getting one of these but now I am waiting to see how the dropped calls and the browser deals pan out. We'll see.

[wildlemon747]

When the bold is released for At&t I will do tests between the bold, iphone 3g, and Cingular 8525 Tilt-one test using wifi and the other through the phones 3g radios.

[denning]

I have both.

Web is faster and possibly better looking on the Iphone, but actually less usable on the Bold.

The zoom feature and higher resolution screen making reading easier, plus the keyboard makes searching more of a reasonable option.

[santo]

Here's a scoop.

After playing with Bold settings, I couldn't get the Bold browser much faster than 54 seconds when loading the Mobile Computer - the essential guide to technology on the move website, like in the comparison. I downloaded the Mini Opera 4.1 browser to the Bold moments ago and tried loading that site. First attempt was a 14 second page load. The slowest page load was about 18 seconds and my battery is dying. Unfortunately, I don't know what I used to load the page. I'm not sure it actually used WiFi because that option is turned off in Mini Opera. I think it may have actually been on 3G. To be sure, I turned off Wi-Fi but it's still fast (as quick as 8 seconds). Does anyone know how to clear the cache in Opera Mini?

I think that if there is a problem in interpreting a page in the Blackberry Browser, it's processing Javascript and DOM manipulation. The Mobile Computing site has lots of Javascript and CSS that makes use of DOM manipulation which is new in the Blackberry Bold. Simple sites with little to no Javascript take seconds.

IMHO, it's RIMs first crack at a decent browser. With Apple having several years of additional experience in browsers and the newer standards, it was a good attempt by RIM. Mini Opera levels the playing field a bit and actually shows what the Bold can do. It will be very interesting once RIM figures out how to build a better web browser. In the meantime, I'll be playing a little more with Mini Opera, I think.

Santo

[santo]

After looking into it, Opera Mini is not a good comparison. As stated in the Opera Mini FAQ, "Opera Mini uses a transcoder server to translate HTML/CSS/JavaScript into a more compact format. It will also shrink any images to fit the screen of your handset. This translation step makes Opera Mini fast, small, and also very cheap to use.". I was wondering why it was so fast.

On trying the site this morning, I get between 38-40 seconds now on the Blackberry browser. I don't think that trying that website is the most scientific way of testing browser speeds.

Santo

[Flare3]

I think really to do the test, it really needs to be done in a dry environment.

On Wifi accessing a server on the local intranet. The same web page could be used, really it's just controlling the load on the internet connection and the server.

My question is: from what I've been reading the BOLD uses its mobile network connection even when accessing sites via WiFi. So what is it actually doing? What traffic is hitting the mobile network? DNS? Is WiFi only used for data transport and not name resolution?

Anyone know?

Rob