HUGE disappointment. Way overhyped. Don't waste 500 WII points on this DOG.
Here are the issues I encountered:
- First and foremost the text is unreadable unless you zoom in at like 200% or more. So you can only read a small section of any given web page.
- Second it was significantly slower loading pages than a PC-based browser. While using the WII browser I was using my PC at the same time, and the WII browser was on average 50% slower loading pages
- Third there were many websites that just didn't work right with the WII browser. In particular YouTube XL (which is supposedly optimized for the WII browser) would not play a single video for me. There were other websites which did not work right including Facebook, Chase Bank, Bank of America, and Weather Channel. In addition, I had to switch back to Classic Yahoo Mail because the current version of Yahoo Mail won't work with the WII browser. Some websites did work though.
- Fourth, the keyboard intergration is terrible. Yes, it does work with a wireless USB keyboard, but MANY basic keyboard conventions are not supported. Once you've entered values on a web page if you press Enter, nothing happens. You have to use the WII remote to point-n-click the button on the webpage. Also when using the keyboard to type in text, pressing Enter does not implicitly click the OK button. Instead it inserts a CRLF character in the text. Also when editing text using the keyboard the cursor keys do not work. So either you use the Backspace key to move around (and re-type stuff) or you use the WII remote to point where you want to move in the text. Also using shift with the cursor keys does not allow you to highlight text. In addition, pressing the cursor keys while viewing a web page does not scroll up and down.
Fifth, the WII browser does not have an AutoComplete feature like any other modern browser. If the keyboard integration was better, then this wouldn't be such a big issue. But it's a royal pain to re-enter the same stinking logon id and password at each and every site I visit regularly.
Sixth, the WII browser does not have a Find feature to search for text on a web page. This is especially a big problem because web pages are unreadable unless you zoom in close, and then you have to scroll around the whole page to find what you're looking for.
Seventh, the WII browser does not support a tabbed interface, so you can only have one web site open at a time.
Finally, the WII browser does not allow you to select, Copy, Paste text. This is a real pain because I use this feature very often when browsing. For example, when I first tried to logon to Chase Bank, it detected my WII as a different PC. So it made me go through the process of getting a new "Activation Code" (which was sent to my email). So I had to leave Chase, go to my email, write down the long Activation Code, go back to Chase, and manually type in the long Activation Code. A seriously major pain in the butt.
In conclusion, the WII Internet Channel is the BIGGEST waste of $5 I've ever encountered in my life.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY ON THIS DOG!!