Experimental MumScience + Children = Fun + Mess

I am totally frustrated with my ubisurfer I am 90% sure that I will return for a refund. I do not think it is capable of doing what I want it to do….facebook and msn messenger…I have found it extremely SLOW whilst connected to either wi fi or the ubisurfer connection.

I was one of the very first ubisurfer purchasers; I was delighted because I took it to Australia for the family holiday of a lifetime – the plan was to use it to find nearby attractions as we wandered up the coast from Melbourn to Brisbane. Problem was that it didn’t work once over GPRS. Staying at YHAs I got it to connect to the wireless but it was so very very slow that it was unusable (paying YHA by the 15 minute block).

Now I’m back in blighty I have tried it several times and maybe visited 2 web pages (www.metcheck.com and bbc) successfully but very slowly still. I tend to use wifi when I can which completely defeats the point of having the ubisurfer

[Yes I have updated with the first two released upgrades]

really miffed. Can’t recommend the unit at the moment – it feels like it could be good once the software and manuals is finished.

My experience is similar to yours and when I wrote to the manufacturers I got an almost instant response stating a new suite of software is shortly on the way and many of the issues you state (fonts etc.) will be fixed. Here’s hoping!

All these problems have now been fixed with an update to the software. All new Ubisurfers come already loaded but early Ubi’s can be fixed easily with the patch from Datawind and then the device works very well. If you are unable to download the patch, contact Datawind and they will supply you with the upgrade on a free USB memory stick.

i had the update patch from datawind pluged it in stoped working compleatly after nit loaded the patch reasan for patch coss i could not pick up gprs siganal so sent it back to the shoping chanel so they could decide on what action to take not at all in pressed with the surfer just a load of hipe should be renaimed useless surfer.

i bought the surfer because i had sean it on ideal world and thought it would be a faire replacement for my self to use coss my own computor had crashed on me so at the time thought it was a good idea . took out of box followed instructions but could not get gprs siganal . spoke to daterwinds suport they checked it out and said it could be that it needs a patch to update the system and promised to send one out to me 4 weeks later and 3 phone calls to diferant advisers i finaly got the patch once i colected it from the post office . i switched it on inserted the patch which was on an usb stick it loaded up then froze then just completly went blank so i disconected it just about stoped my self from froing out of the window and sent it back mto the shoping chanel in hoping that they exchange it for me with one that works to be fare to the surfer it worked ok on my own internet conection but not gprs or wifi and certainly not after incerting the usb patch notpresed at all …..

just bought ubi today (for £142 with vouchers) from Maplin and agree wi-fi is extremely s-l-o-w and configs not remembered between sessions so need to keep entering pass codes’ssid and configs to access my home wi-fi. The gprs internet feed is slightly faster and more usable but (to save tine and typing) would second all that experimental mum has said above – except was able to change date/time. Am I going to return my Ubi? Not sure yet, will review situation over the next few days. But, for now, my initial observations are none too positive…

Glad to see I not only one having problems i was starting to think I was stupid. Got my unit yesterday, very kind present from my dad. But I have no sound, and when trying to save/find/delete documents, which is really why I got it, I cant do it. Spoke to Support people but they were not much help. and now the whole thing has just died on me.

Hope I can get used to it, as I think it is too late to send back for refund, he brought from Ideal World before christmas.

I’ve just bought one of these and when I try to use it on my wi-fi I cannot load any pages. it takes quite a while to connect but does connect first time most times. I get the message ‘page load error’, dont know if this if my wi-fi connection as it worked with the inbuilt connection but where I live i do net a very good vodaphone signal, this is extremely frustating as i would like to use at home not just out and about.
Haven’t contacted Datawind yet but will probably do so if this happens with other wifi areas.

I actually quite like my Ubisurfer, but not as a machine for surfing the web…

As others report, it’s very slow. It’s fine for checking your email, and good that it can connect pretty much anywhere, but it’s far too slow for browsing.

What the machine works really well for though is light word processing and viewing pdfs. The three things that really work for it here are (a) the keyboard is very good for a machine this size, (b) it’s very light and portable, and (c) the screen is bright and legible.

I had a Pocket Surfer 2, which was light and very good for picking up e-mails on the train from London to Portsmouth, a trip that I do a few days each week. This instrument lost most of its paint and other bits fell off too. I was offered the upgraded version at a reasonable price, but it never appeared. Finally I was offered Ubisurfer for £99. It looked good and felt good in the hand (but weighs 750g). Everything that has been said about Ubisurfer on the downside is true for me too. I finally decided that I would use it for reading/editing material on a flashstick while on the train – but it won’t read my flashsticks. So I am left with it only reading e-mails during my journey, which the Pocket Surfer 2 did anyway. A good looking product that seems incapable of doing what it says on the tin. I really want to like this product, but the Ubisurfer makes it really hard for a user to like very much about its performance.

The most frustrating thing is, it will not save added favourites in ubisurfer mode, although the firefox browser in wi-fi mode does save the bookmarks.
I am just trying to sort this one out for a friend, personally I wouldn`t have one of these given to me.
It`s so slow I feel like throwing it, if it was mine I probably would.

Must say i connected to my wireless network easily enough, once I realised that you need to click the little arrow to choose the correct key encryption.

thought this looked brilliant on the tv demo so i ordered 2 one for me and one for him activated one and went through registration but to get on the internet after that was hopeless also wi fi was hopeless it would not pick up my wireless router after a phone call to customer services they were very helpfull but they couldnt get it to work either so they phoned me back 6 hrs later and still couldnt get it to work now they going to phone me tomorrow if it still doesnt work i will send them both back
thought this was really good on tv but now very dissapointed

I ordered my Ubisurfer on the 20th April im still waiting for it to arrive (now 24 th May). Apparently the delay is caused by the ash cloud, (Yeah Right). Not bad considering when i ordered it i was told 10 days. Ah well no point in complaining to Datawind they never answer there emails.

both e mailed and wrote to datawind
ignored on both counts
paid for extra subscription and insurance
on new years eve but received no
acknowledgment cannot set correct time either
painful to use most of the time would not recommend

Had been considering buying a Ubisurfer each for myself and my daughter as I had been quite impressed with the Pocket Surfer which I bought a couple of years ago to use in the Maldives (it worked brilliantly there!) However, having read all the reviews I have changed my mind and consider myself lucky that I wasn’t talked into buying them. So thankyou all you honest users, you have saved me some hard earned money!

The ubiserver is crap. it does not live up to its promises.it leaves you frustrated and angry. please do not buy this product.and waste your money.