Pocketsurfer (V.1)

There doesn't seem to be any independent review of the Pocketsurfer on any blog. I've had one (actually two - see below) for 6 months.


The idea of it is that it's linked to the internet but you can't make phone calls.

Some problems:

It takes a minute to log in. Also it switches off after 5 minutes. So if you get up to make a cup of coffee, you find it's switched off and you have to log in again. (Altho' you only have to press 2 keys to do so.)


This is probably because the battery is not very good. Supposedly it lasts 4 hours fully charged but 2 hours seems more like it and it's not clear when it is fully charged. But it's no big deal to run it from the mains.


It's quite cheap to run. You get 20 hours a month free, clearly inadequate, but it's only £6 a month, which compares very favourably with my mobile phone (the dreaded Orange network), which is £5 a week. And at times the mobile is unbelievably slow.


It doesn't do sound or videos. Maps are OK at first but the more you shift the scale or direction, the more confused the maps get.


When you're on the home page, it gives you 3 "news" stories. These appear to be chosen by a Canadian-Scots bureaucrat. (HQ is in Montreal). The "news" is never about Georgia or plane crashes, it's government waffle, frequently from the pages of the Scotsman about the government of bonnie Scotland. However, type anything in and it takes you to Google's home page. One problem is, if you use Google News and want to switch to another nation, say Australia or the new India:Tamil service, it's a matter of luck to do this. Quicker to go to Google.au.

Often the page you want is difficult to read. I abandon the attempt about a 1/4 of the time. Also, if you switch from one page to the next, the screen slowly changes from the 1st page to the next. This is a bit confusing. However the display of about ten lines at a time is OK and a lot easier than a mobile. As is writing E-mails or blogs - a bit slow, but still easier. Colour is variable - simple colours are quite bright, but complicated ones tend to be dinjy.

This is the second Pocketsurfer I've had. The 1st had to be taken back to the shop (Maplin) and they send it off to be repaired/exchanged. This took about 1/2 hour because the (non) assistant appeared to have been in Britain for about 2 weeks, barely speaking English and clearly unfamiliar with our alphabet. But I got a new one after about 2 1/2 weeks.

I'm not too good with modern technology - anything after 1990 basically - but there doesn't seem to be any way of saving pages or bookmarks. However you can get onto the wondrous Net 19 times out of 20, as against less than 1/2 the time with the ghastly Orange World.

When I bought it it was £180. It's now down to £150. To me it's worth about £60-80. (kr 600-800). But I do use it every day. Perhaps I'll get the larger Acer sometime, which is a small computer with internet, currently £200.