What's it like to browse the web on a cellphone?

Probably my next cell phone is going to have a “mobile web” feature because now pretty much all the phones have this.

I’d have to pay five bucks a month to use the feature though.

My question is, what’s it like? Is there a website somewhere that sort of demonstrates it or anything?

Do cell phone web browsers run javascript?

-FrL-

I do it – it’s limited because of the small screen, but more and more sites have web browser enabled (and Google has a search that renders its results in a way that’s cell phone friendly, even if the original isn’t).

It’s not great for posting or anything interactive, but if you need to check something out, it can be useful. For instance, when I’m in a video store, I can check the IMDB rating for any movie I’m unfamiliar with.

I’d also suggest you get the Opera web browser. It has tabbed browsing (IE for mobile doesn’t even allow you to open multiple windows).

How do you install a new web browser on the phone?

-FrL-

You use your phone’s built-in browser to navigate to the home site of the browser you want to install. It will give you a link to click and the new browser will be downloaded wirelessly as a Java application. Alternatively, you can have the browser link sent as a text message or download it to your PC and transfer it using either Bluetooth or USB.

Here’s a link to Opera’s mini browser site explaining the features of that particular phone browser.

I’m not sure what kind of phone you’re getting, but I have a Blackberry and the internet gives me a resounding feeling of meh. It’s ok, but most websites either take FOREVER to load or they end up not being formatted in a way that’s really readable on the phone.

I’ve never used a web-enabled phone like the iPhone, but this site has what apparently is a pretty good representation. It’s fairly tolerable if you hit the button that changes the orientation to horizontal.