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Franklinnoble
06-25-2005, 11:59 PM
I know this has probably been mentioned in other threads, but I figured I'd make my own topic of it.

Anyone using the Avant browser? It's basically a tabbed version of Internet Explorer. I'm using it at home because my NetZero dial-up accelerator isn't Mozilla friendly. Because Avant is just basically an overlay for IE, I get the tabs I enjoy in Firefox while still having the higher speed connection.

The only major downside is the lack of third-party plugins for it. I really miss the adblock feature.
Franklinnoble
06-26-2005, 12:00 AM
Dola... sorry... should have provided a link:

http://www.avantbrowser.com/
the_meanstrosity
06-26-2005, 01:47 AM
FYI, I believe the next version of IE will have an add-on option that will allow tabbed browsing.
dawgfan
06-26-2005, 01:15 PM
Aren't dial-up "accelerators" simply changing settings to cache more info? Am I mistaken in thinking that there is a physical limit to how fast data can travel on regular phone lines, i.e. something slightly under 56K? Are they something more than just a gimmick?
sovereignstar
06-26-2005, 01:23 PM
Aren't dial-up "accelerators" simply changing settings to cache more info?
Pretty much. You also have the groundbreaking option of loading images at a lower quality though!
Easy Mac
06-26-2005, 01:31 PM
eh, porn looks the same.

Supposedly the new google web accelerator kicks ass though, but I think I read it works best with broadband.
dawgfan
06-26-2005, 01:55 PM
Pretty much. You also have the groundbreaking option of loading images at a lower quality though!

That's what I figured - it's a gimmick.
sovereignstar
06-26-2005, 01:58 PM
That's what I figured - it's a gimmick.
Careful. NetZero Hi-Speed 3G Mach 10 v16lmnop is about ready to shock the world with it's 56k prowess!
dawgfan
06-26-2005, 03:34 PM
Careful. NetZero Hi-Speed 3G Mach 10 v16lmnop is about ready to shock the world with it's 56k prowess!

Riiiiiight. I think I'll stay with my cable connection...
sovereignstar
06-26-2005, 03:46 PM
Riiiiiight. I think I'll stay with my cable connection...
How about if I throw in a spam filter and pop-up blocker?
dawgfan
06-26-2005, 05:13 PM
How about if I throw in a spam filter and pop-up blocker?

If you include a spam-filter how will I ever get those wonderful offers to enlarge my penis and to help various rich Africans reinvest their money in America through my bank accounts?
Franklinnoble
06-26-2005, 05:28 PM
Look, asswipes... the accelerator does help... and I can't get broadband out here, or I'd have it already.
dawgfan
06-26-2005, 05:34 PM
Look, asswipes... the accelerator does help... and I can't get broadband out here, or I'd have it already.

I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just pointing out that there is a physical limit to how fast your connection can be on dial-up. All those accelerators are doing are little tricks to try and speed things up like better cache'ing of previously viewed sites, reducing image quality for faster loads, etc.

Maybe they've gotten better, but my experience with them when I tried it was that the benefits were outweighed by the irritations. YMMV of course...
sovereignstar
06-26-2005, 05:51 PM
Look, asswipes... the accelerator does help... and I can't get broadband out here, or I'd have it already.
Hey, jackass, I have dial-up.
Franklinnoble
06-26-2005, 07:41 PM
I'm not trying to be a smartass, I'm just pointing out that there is a physical limit to how fast your connection can be on dial-up. All those accelerators are doing are little tricks to try and speed things up like better cache'ing of previously viewed sites, reducing image quality for faster loads, etc.

Maybe they've gotten better, but my experience with them when I tried it was that the benefits were outweighed by the irritations. YMMV of course...
I've been a computer systems engineer for over ten years - I know modems aren't really getting faster than 56k... in fact, out here, I average 26.4 when I log on.

My observation is that the accelerator does reduce image quality (hardly noticeable), but I also think it does some other compression as well. All I know is that there is a remarkable difference with it on, and that's worth the price of admission until I can get Wi-Max or something.
daedalus
06-27-2005, 03:15 AM
Avant is pretty nice to have to add the tab functionality to IE. Also pretty good (as far as IE layers goes) is Maxthon/MyIE2 (http://www.maxthon.com/). I actually like it a bit better than Avant.
ZXTT
06-27-2005, 12:22 PM
I use Avant for my IE-necessary browsing. And it has an ad-blocker built-in, although I don't know if it works exactly like Firefox's Adblock extension.
hhiipp
06-27-2005, 12:30 PM
I use Avant at work but FF at home now. Tabbed browsing >*.