Using Wii for the Internet

[Math You]

Hi. I've been thinking about getting rid of my PC and buying a Nintendo Wii for both games and internet use. Can anyone tell me if using a Wii browser is as easy or good as using a PC or Mac browser?

 

Thanks

 

Matt

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Well...you still need your ISP and a wireless access point to use the internet on the Wii. And after the first of the end of this month the browser will then cost $5 in Wii points, which is 500 Wii points.

 

On the note about the internet browsing itself. The Wii can and will never replace your PC for internet usage. The main reasons are that navigation still isn't as easy as with a mouse on a PC. You will find yourself constantly zooming in and out of spots on websites as you view to read text and see the whole page. In addition, the browser on the Wii can only support Flash 7 and below content. As a result, many sites with movie trailers and anything with quicktime or real media, or windows media like online streaming is pretty much a no go for the Wii. It doesn't contain any plugins to support most online streamining media.

 

I only use the internet channel on my Wii to look up a couple quick things. Like more indepth weather, ebay browsing, and checking listings for movies here locally. I don't look at Youtube mutch so that feature isn't as handy to me as it is to others, but the Wii can handle Youtube files easy enough and play them nearly full screen nicely. Still, I don't think any console can really replace the PC for overall internet use.

[BydoEmpire]

What Crossbow said. I do use the Wii Browser occasionally when it's convenient, but it's not a substitue for a pc.

[+remowilliams]

Unless you're a raging self masochist, keep the PC for browsing the web.

Edited June 24, 2007 by remowilliams

[Scumdogg]

If all you use the Internet for is YouTube, this would be a great plan. Since you post here though, you will obviously need to be able to type...this makes the Wii a poor choice for your browsing needs.

[liveinabin]

Low resolution, no keyboard, single window untabbed browsing, limited flash support, no support for any other movie codecs.

It's a fair trade up for a phone browser but no contest for a PC.

[Jess Ragan]

Still, it works great for YouTube. You don't NEED a high resolution because YouTube videos actually look better without it. Plus, you can watch the clips on your television set... it's as simple as turning on your TV and Wii. I did this to show my first two video reviews to my mom when she came over for a visit, and that alone made it worth having the system around.

 

JR

[Math You]

Well...you still need your ISP and a wireless access point to use the internet on the Wii.

It sounds like the wii makes a useful second browser for youtube etc. I was hoping I could just plug it into the phoneline like you can with some of these internet tv boxes without signing up with an ISP.

Edited June 25, 2007 by MRB

[+-^CrossBow^-]

No...the Wii is basically wireless only. There is a wired LAN adapter you can purchase to plug into the back of the Wii, but it would still require a DSL or cable modem to use it. Basically, the Wii is pretty much broadband only. There are users here using Dial-up with their Wii, but they are doing this by using their PCs as the gateway device and then using a router from the dial up connection off the PC to transmit to the Wii. However, they admit that some of the channels flat out won't come up on their slow dial-up connections. The Wii is not an all in one set top box for internet and was never intended to be that I can tell.

 

You're gonna have to keep an ISP to get the Wii online...period.

[rockman_x_2002]

No...the Wii is basically wireless only. There is a wired LAN adapter you can purchase to plug into the back of the Wii, but it would still require a DSL or cable modem to use it. Basically, the Wii is pretty much broadband only. There are users here using Dial-up with their Wii, but they are doing this by using their PCs as the gateway device and then using a router from the dial up connection off the PC to transmit to the Wii. However, they admit that some of the channels flat out won't come up on their slow dial-up connections. The Wii is not an all in one set top box for internet and was never intended to be that I can tell.

 

You're gonna have to keep an ISP to get the Wii online...period.

 

I hate to further add to the bubble-busting, but I am such a user, and what he says is correct. The Wii can technically work with dialup if you rig it up. But that requires a PC, a compatible wireless router, a crossover cable, and a dialup ISP internet connection. Even then, the Wii Shop Channel won't load at all on dialup (all the other channels will load (Weather, News, etc.), and you can still get updates, but speed is very slow). Since you'd need the Wii Shop Channel to download the web browser in the first place, you're still pretty much stuck, unless you can download the web browser at a location where broadband or wifi is available.

 

I haven't done that, so I don't have the browser and I can't review its performance, but if it's like the other channels, it'll work but it'll be slow as sin.