1. ccrx's Avatar
    It just confuses me why Opera is just so much faster. I usually use both at the same time depending on what site I'm at simply because sometimes on Opera its really hard to click small links. But using Opera makes everything blazing fast for me. Sometimes I think its even faster than my desktop. Its incredible. I want to use the BB browser exclusively because of the different features I've grown accustomed to such as the multiple zoom and the cursor, but its just so darn slow.

    Anyways its just a quick rant and question if anyone has any insight to the matter. Also if anyone has any info as to when a more compatible Opera should come out, it would be nice to know as well.
    12-18-08 10:40 AM
  2. rw6497's Avatar
    I couldn't agree more. I know om is def not rendering pages exactly. It kinda takes shortcuts. If you notice, it only uses a few basic colors and fonts are almost always the same from page to page. But ill take that any day for its shear speed and simplicity.
    12-18-08 10:48 AM
  3. paulmike3's Avatar
    It's because all data is being processed by the Opera proxy servers, then sent in optimized form.

    from here:

    "When a user browses the web using Opera Mini, the request is sent via the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) to one of the Opera Software company's proxy servers, and that server retrieves the web page, processes it, compresses it, and sends it back to the user's mobile phone."
    12-18-08 10:59 AM
  4. mkleiman's Avatar
    The page rendering for Opera Mini takes place primarily on Opera's servers, where your page requests are pulled, rendered and translated into a dumbed-down snapshot which is sent to the phone. All the phone does is display the snapshot. Opera Mini is more like a picture viewer than a web browser ... it simply displays the "image" that it receives from the rendering server. This does result in faster display of many pages. The tasks of retrieving the pages and rendering the code are performed by Opera's powerful servers.

    By contrast, the Blackberry Browser pulls the page code and does the rendering itself. But, because the Blackberry Browser is a real browser it can also deal with things like dhtml, javascript and ajax. Opera Mini cannot.
    12-18-08 11:03 AM
  5. BlackCuse8830's Avatar
    I always used Opera on my 8830, but it is too difficult to click on the links on the Storm. Although it does load alot quicker, I've been sticking with the BB Browser. It seems to work well enough.
    12-18-08 11:08 AM
  6. ccrx's Avatar
    The page rendering for Opera Mini takes place primarily on Opera's servers, where your page requests are pulled, rendered and translated into a dumbed-down snapshot which is sent to the phone. All the phone does is display the snapshot. Opera Mini is more like a picture viewer than a web browser ... it simply displays the "image" that it receives from the rendering server. This does result in faster display of many pages. The tasks of retrieving the pages and rendering the code are performed by Opera's powerful servers.

    By contrast, the Blackberry Browser pulls the page code and does the rendering itself. But, because the Blackberry Browser is a real browser it can also deal with things like dhtml, javascript and ajax. Opera Mini cannot.
    Did not know this. Thanks for the info.
    12-18-08 11:14 AM
  7. trevormcfar's Avatar
    Is it better to use one or the other from a security point of view? In other words, is one safer than the other to keep out virus's?
    12-18-08 04:52 PM
  8. bigman2's Avatar
    Is it better to use one or the other from a security point of view? In other words, is one safer than the other to keep out virus's?
    Well, first you would need there to be viruses/worms/trojans that attack the BB platform, of which I don't think there are any... Yet at least.

    However, if we were to assume that were a clear and present danger.. I would say that Opera's system is probably safer at the expense of some privacy. Opera can always data mine the logs of sites people visit using its software, and it's not too far fetched to think they could peg results to your specific phone. There's also not much stopping Opera from inserting their own ads or other content into pages before they're sent on to you, and if that system were ever compromised by some ne'er do wells, it could lead to some serious problems.

    I also think another part of why Opera Mini is considerably faster is Opera is pretty much only in the browser business. That's really all they do, is make web browsers. RIM is developing a full fledged smart phone OS that just happens to include a web browser. Opera's developers can sit around most of the day working out ways to improve performance on the browser, while RIM developers have to worry about the rest of the BB OS as well.
    12-18-08 05:09 PM
  9. ccrx's Avatar
    Well, first you would need there to be viruses/worms/trojans that attack the BB platform, of which I don't think there are any... Yet at least.

    However, if we were to assume that were a clear and present danger.. I would say that Opera's system is probably safer at the expense of some privacy. Opera can always data mine the logs of sites people visit using its software, and it's not too far fetched to think they could peg results to your specific phone. There's also not much stopping Opera from inserting their own ads or other content into pages before they're sent on to you, and if that system were ever compromised by some ne'er do wells, it could lead to some serious problems.

    I also think another part of why Opera Mini is considerably faster is Opera is pretty much only in the browser business. That's really all they do, is make web browsers. RIM is developing a full fledged smart phone OS that just happens to include a web browser. Opera's developers can sit around most of the day working out ways to improve performance on the browser, while RIM developers have to worry about the rest of the BB OS as well.
    Yeah I get the whole 'Opera is in the business of browers' business, but its just such a wide gap in performance. What was said earlier in this thread though makes complete sense and pretty much sums it up. I just hope they release an update for the Storm soon. One that allows the click function to work as well as better zoom.
    12-18-08 05:15 PM
  10. LuckyPar's Avatar
    I cant even download it. It gets to the end then it says unable to connect.
    12-18-08 05:16 PM
  11. cray1000's Avatar
    Because Blackberry for some dumb reason makes all your email and web browsing to go through their proxy servers. it makes no sense to me.

    plus if you are on BES, you BB browser is using your companies internet, which could slow you down1`
    12-18-08 05:16 PM
  12. bigman2's Avatar
    Yeah I get the whole 'Opera is in the business of browers' business, but its just such a wide gap in performance. What was said earlier in this thread though makes complete sense and pretty much sums it up. I just hope they release an update for the Storm soon. One that allows the click function to work as well as better zoom.
    I just meant it as an additional component to the much larger part of Opera's servers doing a lot of the heavy lifting before it ever reaches your phone. Something like 10% what I said and 90% the other part.

    But yes, it would be nice to see a more Storm oriented version, though I suspect it's rather unlikely. It'd be nice if RIM just licensed Opera's rendering engine from Opera Mobile and replaced their home grown one for the BB browser. Something else I don't see happening any time soon, but it'd be nice.
    12-18-08 05:18 PM
  13. s54's Avatar
    opera may be faster, but it sucks ***. It can't properly display 80% of the pages correctly. That's annoying as ****. The blackberry browser is only slightly better at displaying pages, but still sucks and it's much slower.

    In either case, the browsers available for the Storm currently are beyond what I would refer to as horrible.
    12-18-08 05:25 PM
  14. buxleyp's Avatar
    Because Blackberry for some dumb reason makes all your email and web browsing to go through their proxy servers. it makes no sense to me.
    I'm guessing for the same reason all Opera mini traffic goes through Opera's proxies: speed.

    Of course, I find Opera's implementation to be a lot faster than RIM's.
    12-18-08 05:39 PM
  15. SVTPERFORMANCE01's Avatar
    opera may be faster, but it sucks ***. It can't properly display 80% of the pages correctly. That's annoying as ****. The blackberry browser is only slightly better at displaying pages, but still sucks and it's much slower.

    In either case, the browsers available for the Storm currently are beyond what I would refer to as horrible.
    Regardless if they suck or not, they are still huge steps compare to the older browsers. They may not be at a computer's range but one day they'll catch up to it. Next big step is adding flash, now that is something that im really looking forward to!!
    12-18-08 06:25 PM
  16. ccrx's Avatar
    Regardless if they suck or not, they are still huge steps compare to the older browsers. They may not be at a computer's range but one day they'll catch up to it. Next big step is adding flash, now that is something that im really looking forward to!!
    Ahhh. Flash. Its like a freshly squeezed cup of OJ.
    12-18-08 06:27 PM
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