FRmobile!

Self | 06/30/06 | phoenix0468

[phoenix0468]

Well on a lark I decided to browse to www.freerepublic.com/ with my new Motorola V323 picture phone. What surprised me initially was how simple it was to browse the site. Logging in was simple, browsing messages was fairly easy. I must say, it's nice to know I can check into FR on the road from time to time. Now, unless you have a more functional device than my little picture phone, I will say that responding to posts or posting new threads might be a bit cumbersome, but not at all impossible. Finally, I would like to commend the FR team for presenting the site on mobile technology in a way that loads quickly and is easily readable.

[phoenix0468]

Thanks Jim, now I'm really hooked, LOL.

Just an fyi to other mobile users; at least on my phone, you must put the / at the end of the URL for it to browse, otherwise you might get a 401 page not found error.

[martin_fierro]

Finally, I would like to commend the FR team for presenting the site on mobile technology in a way that loads quickly and is easily readable.

FWIW, Treo's Blazer browser often hangs up while loading the Forum page.

[lowbridge]

Aint modern technology cool?

[phoenix0468]

Well, that could be a browser specific issue. The site loaded fine on my Motorola, and I had the option of loading images or not, which in the case of FR you probably know my option.

[phoenix0468]

BTW that's a cool pic.

[phoenix0468]

why you little!!

[A CA Guy]

What are the monthly costs for that feature with the phone?

One monthly price, or by use?

Is it a dime per 10,000 bytes or what?

[phoenix0468]

I added the unlimited bandwidth option for $9.95 a month plus the nWeb browser for $4.95 a month. So, about $15 a month for mobile web access.

[A CA Guy]

Is it any faster than a 56k modem?

I hear they are about twice as fast. Would that seem true for you?

[phoenix0468]

It's ok. I have had DSL and Cable so long now I really forget how slow dialup really was. But this is fairly slow. It took about 30-40 seconds to load the homepage. But once it's cached it's fairly speedy.

[RandallFlagg]

Oh, I have GOT to get me one of these!
Thanks for the thread!
Bookmarking.

[A CA Guy]

That would be about 32k IMO.

[phoenix0468]

Yeah, probably about that. Not outstanding, but not bad if you're just downloading text and leave the images out.

[A CA Guy]

You have the ability to block images then, OK!

That would make it operate fairly well then I would think.

If not at home or stuck somewhere, I can't think of much better ways to find out what is happening in the world.

Sounds like you get great use of that.

[phoenix0468]

Yeah not bad. i am replying from my phone now, and it's not too cumbersome.

[A CA Guy]

Wow, if you are doing this on the phone, that is pretty darn good IMO.

[phoenix0468]

I do need to report that to get the best performance out of the site, I had to set my preferences to the lowest settings. I.E. 20 posts per page, no 100 word brief, etc.

Now it loads in about 20-30 seconds. Which is not bad at all.

[A CA Guy]

Makes sense, your setup is best meant for text reading.

[phoenix0468]

Absolutely. I am back on broadband now, and it loads in less than a second. So you see, the setting really help!!

[A CA Guy]

Still, for the phone that is really good.

I can see you leaving Email for family and you are not limited this way to national calls.