unclejung

(I posted it in the wrong forum, so I am reposting it in the Palm OS App forum)

If you haven't heard, it was officially released yesterday. To run in you have to go to operamini.com and download the app. You also need Java Virtual Machine software free from Palm for the Treo which also appears to work on the Centro. Here is the link: http://www.palm.com/us/support/jvm/

Here are my tips:

1. You should go to Palm Preference app and adjust the size of buffer and memory for the IBM Java VM. On my Centro, I set the max mem to 8MB, Java Thread Stack Size to 32kb. I am still experimenting with these setting.

2. This version of Opera Mini 4 user interface was designed for 9-key phones, so your best bet is to lock the numeric keypad for navigation. This let you use the numeric key for paging up/down/left/right, plus using other combo of # and * plus number for other actions. You can also use the 5-way navigator for fine scrolling and link selection.

3. Hitting ** let you change the browser screen between full (no menu/title bar) and normal (with menu/title bar). On a small screen like the Treo, you need all the screen space, so full screen browsing is the way to go IMHO.

4. Try the Mobile View. This format the page so you don't have to scroll left/right. Hitting 1 will bring up this option under a context menu.

5. Hit * or # and wait 1 second to see a listing of all the available commands for *number and #number.

What I like:

1. Nice page rendering.
2. Awesome full screen view. Combine this with Mobile View you end up with more viewing and less scrolling.

What I don't like:

1. Stability. It froze my Centro several times already. I can't yet figure out what action trigger that. As other have pointed out, the problem may be with the Java VM. May be you have better luck than me.

2. Annoyance confirmation: Opera keep asking me if it can use airtime the first time it need to establish a http connection. This happens every time the phone need to connect to PowerVision. This should be a preference setting. (installing j9secpol.prc to get rid of this. Search the forum.).

3. When you enter a url, the edit action put the cursor before the "www." so you have to move it to the right place before start typing.

unclejung

If you haven't heard, it was officially released yesterday. To run in you have to go to operamini.com and download the app. You also need Java Virtual Machine software free from Palm for the Treo which also appears to work on the Centro. Here is the link: http://www.palm.com/us/support/jvm/

Here are my tips:

1. You should go to Palm Preference app and adjust the size of buffer and memory for the IBM Java VM. On my Centro, I set the max mem to 8MB, Java Thread Stack Size to 32kb. I am still experimenting with these setting.

2. This version of Opera Mini 4 user interface was designed for 9-key phones, so your best bet is to lock the numeric keypad for navigation. This let you use the numeric key for paging up/down/left/right, plus using other combo of # and * plus number for other actions. You can also use the 5-way navigator for fine scrolling and link selection.

3. Hitting ** let you change the browser screen between full (no menu/title bar) and normal (with menu/title bar). On a small screen like the Treo, you need all the screen space, so full screen browsing is the way to go IMHO.

4. Try the Mobile View. This format the page so you don't have to scroll left/right. Hitting 1 will bring up this option under a context menu.

5. Hit * or # and wait 1 second to see a listing of all the available commands for *number and #number.

What I like:

1. Nice page rendering.
2. Awesome full screen view. Combine this with Mobile View you end up with more viewing and less scrolling.

What I don't like:

1. Stability. It froze my Centro several times already. I can't yet figure out what action trigger that. As other have pointed out, the problem may be with the Java VM. May be you have better luck than me.

2. Annoyance confirmation: Opera keep asking me if it can use airtime the first time it need to establish a http connection. This happens every time the phone need to connect to PowerVision. This should be a preference setting.

3. When you enter a url, the edit action put the cursor before the "www." so you have to move it to the right place before start typing.
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markdinh

On annoyance #2, do a search for j9secpol.prc.

Great article. I'm going to tweak my JVM settings now. I've had Opera crash on me twice so far. Annoying! Especially with how hard it is to reset the Centro.

unclejung

Thanks for the tip about j9secpol.prc. It worked.

bayareastank

Is opera that much better than Blazer? It's a lot of storage space and such to burn up for a browser to replace something that's already in the phone. That being said, blazer is like a 3 out of 10 on a rating scale for a browser. But it works for basic stuff.

Just wondering if it's worth it to install Opera. I don't really like Opera on the PC so that's why i'm asking.

quickstang

Personal opinion.... I think it sucks. Or at least it hasn't gotten any better.

For one, version 4 doesn't show up any images on my 700p Did a fresh install and nothing.

Second, I hate that stupid mouse deal on the screen, and it showing everything zoomed out real tiny. Its not needed.

Third, I still dont like not having the cut/copy/paste function

I think in all honestly 3.1 worked best for me.

I've tried installing every new version they come out with hoping it will be better than the last, and every time I delete it with-in a few minutes.

I think you'll have better luck with blazer and skeezer or using Xiino and skweezer, or just the browsers in itself. Overall, they will do much better than Opera, and you can cut/copy/paste as well.

unclejung

It is not as stable as Blazer is on the Centro. It froze on me a few times today, forcing me to reset the Centro. This is the only app so far that does this to my Centro.

On the other hand, it is the best browser I have seen on a mobile device outside the IPhone, and one could argue that the Mobile Device Mode which format a page into a single column provides a better browsing experience than the IPhone browser. I don't like the idea of moving a little magnifying glass around a micro full page and call it a full page browsing experience; it's too much panning for my taste.

The pages are rendered beautifully on Opera. Scrolling is much better. One thing about Blazer that bugs me a lot is the fact that it would show a page with a page break in the middle of an image and there is no easy way for me to scroll to the top of the image without using the stylus.

EeZeEpEe

Things I like:

I had the images not showing up problem too but after I adjusted the IBM Java JV to unclejung's settings and then Opera Mini's settings to medium resolution pictures it's been fine. Looks good for FaceBook and MySpace.

I actually like the cursor a lot. The best way I use it is lock your key pad and scroll around quickly with 2,4,6,8 and then zoom in and out with 5. And fine tune with the 5 way nav. It's so fast it's really not a problem for me.

It's been more stable than the previous few betas I've tried. It does have the occasional freeze but not nearly as often.


Things I don't like:

Copy/paste/cut functions would be nice.

Another downside is how there's so many steps to DL a picture. You have to go over it with the cursor, press 1, open, bottom left is a "download image" button, opens up in Blazer, click and hold the pic until the save image option appears, then finally select device or card to save.

I'd also like it to keep my last page viewed so I don't have to go through the history.

Weird black light issue. Sometimes the back light of the screen doesn't turn back on. A simple power button twice gets it back. This also includes the keyboard backlight night working sometimes.

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quickstang

I may try to readjust some of the Java settings or at least look at them again. I know I messed with them right before the final release to try and get the other one to load, so it could be the problem. I was told too if you select mobile view the cursor goes away.

d1hamby

This is not working for me on the 700P.
I loaded:
J9JavaVMMidp20.prc
JavaVMCheck_enUS.prc
WebServices.prc
WS-Security.prc
It still doesn't work. Am I missing something else?

peterlemonjello

Keep in mind if you have the mem max set to 8MB and you don't have very much free mem on your treo it'll cause problems. Disabling visual effects in opera seems to help too.

Here's the most stable settings on my 700p:
4MB memory max 8Kb stack size.

markdinh

I'm pretty close to ditching Opera Mini all together because of the crashes/hangs. The crashes combined with the difficulty opening the Centro battery compartment really sucks :-)

It's the best browser I've seen on a handheld. It's just what I've been looking for (well, I think a proxy server that I can install on home server to use with Blazer would be better).

unclejung

I agree with you about the crashes. It's a pain having to take out the battery to reset. Also I notice that pages take longer to down load than in Blazer. As far as setting go, I have 44 mb memory left so setting aside 8MB for Opera can't be the cause of the crashes.

It's too bad because otherwise it's a great browser.

pool_shark

I personally don't think it's better than blazer but it has its uses.
I've tested them against each other with regard to everyone saying how fast it is. Opera launches faster than blazer but loads pages at pretty much the same speed in my opinion.
This new version halts my Treo 700P quite often, so I don't use it much. I did find however when it does freeze, just pop out the SD card and put it back in and it is no longer frozen.

Opera serves one purpose for me. Blazer can't go to sho.com/boxing, but opera can.

unclejung

I find Opera slower than Blazer on my Centro. But going from the 650 to the Centro I am used to slow speed so Opera speed is quite acceptable to me. Blazer on EVDO is just blazingly fast.

NickDG

Here's a tip for GoodLink users. GoodLink uses crap load of DB cache space, and I found this made Opera very unstable. I had around 4MB of DB cache RAM free with all my programs running. I exited GoodLink and got my free space number up to 11MB. Opera works great.

So if you use GoodLink, be sure to exit from the application to use Opera. You can find the exit option under the Good Messaging drop down menu.

canosatien

I've already posted this same questions on several places, sorry if you've read before. I didn't get any reply to the posts so here it is again -
Anyone have success installing OperaMini 4 on a Treo 650 with T-Mo Tzone using the proxy setting? Does Opera need a certain port to be opened or it just doesn't work with Tmo Tzone setting? Anyone got it to work with Tmo's unlimited internet? When I tries to install it, it will does it about 3/4 of the way then crap out and said I don't have internet access. I installed J2ME from Palm's website prior to installing OperaMini. Am I doing something wrong? Any help would be great. Thanks.

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Littledragon

Not 650 but it works well on my 680 with Tzone using the same Java proxy setting: 216.155.165.50:8080. I guess it will work on 650 just the same.

stuartr

Me too. I like the browser but after trying it twice during the beta and now after it's "released", it's just not stable enough (on a T700P at least) for me to consider. (Not that Blazer is much more stable). Opera "hangs" the Palm OS while Blazer will just crash it.

Wonderful.

TomD

The Alt key is disabled with Opera Mini 4.

That means I have no way to enter those URLs with a ~ (tilde).

Any suggestions?