Rating: Summary: Wondering why Review: 1. I do wonder why more folks don't use this very easy way to access the internet.2. I wonder why there is no way to repair the unit without going through many hoops.3. I wonder why there is no retailer in my major metropolitan area to buy a new unit.I bought a replacement through Amazon from J and R. Delivery was prompt via UPS.
Rating: Summary: Simple and reliable Review: After previously owning two piece of junk computers (the second of which now lies at the bottom of Tampa Bay), I went back to the tried-and-true WebTV (now MSNTV) internet terminal. It's great not to have to hunch at a computer desk for hours on end surfing the 'web. Immunity to viruses is another great thing, and I love not having to dump $$$ into a WebTV just it keep it running. People can trash the 'Yugo of the internet world' all they want, but simplicity always wins out in the end.
Rating: Summary: Just like the Yugo.......... Review: Do you remember the Yugo? It was the cheapest car that you could buy in America, and it was proof that you got what you paid for. This is the same with MSNTV. There really isn't very much wrong with hardware. It does what it was designed to do. The problem is that the software does not permit it to do very much. WebTV came on to the market back in 1996 and I had the service for several years. More recently the product has been re-branded as MSN TV. The only thing that has changed is the name on the box. The technology, I am sad to say, is virtually obsolete. Look at it this way: if you enjoy watching television on a 5 in. black-and-white TV with poor reception, you'll love MSN TV. With generosity, I give the service one star. By the way, this review is being dictated using the IBM ViaVoice software that I have installed on my iMac.
Rating: Summary: Looking for Feedback of This (anti-) technology Review: I am considering purchasing this product for one reason. I hate the constant barage of ads, popup screens and unsolicited streaming video of aggressive marketers that weedle into my computer via cookies and/or "sucker lists" that I get on because I have shopped on the net. WILL THIS SOLVE MY PROBLEM? I am bout ready to throw my computers out the window I am so sick of the pop-up screens and constant pitching for viagra, matchmaker.com and other such rubbish.Beyond Annoying!As long as I can do e-mail, e-bay and some basic stuff , I would be more than willing to sacrifice some of the bells and whistles in exchange for NO ADS. Feedback, anyone?
Rating: Summary: No Viruses Review: I bought a new MSNTv (the RCA 2100) for my parents. I was hoping to replace their computer which has become too much for them to manage, and they needed to downsize as well. They also have an MSN dial up account and this allows them to use this account for MSNTv and not have to pay any additional monthly fee. I called MSNTv before I bought this unit to ask if their "@msn.com" e-mail account could be transfered over to the "@webtv.net" domain and they said "yes just call us when you hook it up". Well this turned out to be a lie. You can access your MSN.COM e-mail on your computer, but your new domain will be WebTV.Net and the two are separate. Then it turns out that many SPAM bocking programs (including SPAMCop) block all WebTV.Net e-mail as SPAM. Appearently the device lacks support for certain e-mail features which validate the e-mail origin and therefore it is thrown out (depending on how the e-mail admin handles SPAM). So my very first test e-mail to my sister never went through, no error msg no nothing, just off into the ether. Also, since MSNTv has its own list of incoming SPAM sites, it regularly blocks e-mail from some very popular domains, including 8 days where they blocked MSN.COM e-mails! The unit is very slow, much slower than a regular computer over the same dial up line, and if you want to surf any web site other than the ones MSNTv picks for you, good luck, you will be there all night. My Sister-in-law likes to send e-mails with pictures embedded in word documents. Obviously this unit can't handle that, but it did not even strip the doc file and let the e-mail through, it just never showed up, no error no nothing. So this unit has very unreliable e-mail capabilities, and is painfully slow at web surfing, and I ended up returning it for a refund. Some time in the coming months a new MSNTv unit (the RCA4100) will be out that will work over broadband and have more support for e-mail that hopefully will fix some of these issues, until then I'd say forget this current product.
Rating: Summary: Nice Idea, Poor Execution, Poor Support Review: I bought a new MSNTv (the RCA 2100) for my parents. I was hoping to replace their computer which has become too much for them to manage, and they needed to downsize as well. They also have an MSN dial up account and this allows them to use this account for MSNTv and not have to pay any additional monthly fee. I called MSNTv before I bought this unit to ask if their "@msn.com" e-mail account could be transfered over to the "@webtv.net" domain and they said "yes just call us when you hook it up". Well this turned out to be a lie. You can access your MSN.COM e-mail on your computer, but your new domain will be WebTV.Net and the two are separate. Then it turns out that many SPAM bocking programs (including SPAMCop) block all WebTV.Net e-mail as SPAM. Appearently the device lacks support for certain e-mail features which validate the e-mail origin and therefore it is thrown out (depending on how the e-mail admin handles SPAM). So my very first test e-mail to my sister never went through, no error msg no nothing, just off into the ether. Also, since MSNTv has its own list of incoming SPAM sites, it regularly blocks e-mail from some very popular domains, including 8 days where they blocked MSN.COM e-mails! The unit is very slow, much slower than a regular computer over the same dial up line, and if you want to surf any web site other than the ones MSNTv picks for you, good luck, you will be there all night. My Sister-in-law likes to send e-mails with pictures embedded in word documents. Obviously this unit can't handle that, but it did not even strip the doc file and let the e-mail through, it just never showed up, no error no nothing. So this unit has very unreliable e-mail capabilities, and is painfully slow at web surfing, and I ended up returning it for a refund. Some time in the coming months a new MSNTv unit (the RCA4100) will be out that will work over broadband and have more support for e-mail that hopefully will fix some of these issues, until then I'd say forget this current product.
Rating: Summary: great for a start Review: I have had my webtv for a year now and like most others who purchase it I am ready to move on to the computer but I would reccomend MSNtv to anyone who is just starting out on the internet and only needs email and to surf the web(it also has instant messenger) but If you want all the bells n whistles do yourself a favor and get a computer When I purchased this I needed a way to stay in contact with family and friends who live far away so this was perfect but now my needs have changed and there are a lot of websites I want to visit and the Msn tv cant get access to these websites because it isnt up to standards this product is okay but you will get bored with it sooner or later probably sooner
Rating: Summary: Perfect for most people Review: I have had this unit for 6 months. I worked with computers for years and years and grew to hate them. This little unit does ALMOST everything you could want, and the few things it won't do (streaming and some Java stuff) don't matter to most of us. It is VERY user-friendly. I find the ease of operation well worth the lack of a few needless bells and whistles. This is a dark horse...Bill Gates knows what he's doing. For me, it's perfect...I am using it right now!!
Rating: Summary: No Viruses Review: I own 7 computers and I buy used computers all the time. I have to go in and clear out all the viruses and then load programs into these older systems to once again make them useful. My friends are forever suffering from viruses, trojan horses, and all sorts of other fun problems. I can custom build a computer from scratch without thinking twice on how to do it. You know what? I will not put one of them on the internet. I don't want to have to go in and clean out more viruses and spyware and a host of other junk that will clog up your system. I clean them out once and that is it. Free software comes with free spyware. I don't need that. Computers are also very easy to hack. Try hacking someones webtv system. Good luck there. Yes the system has short comings. It was not designed to act like a computer. Some very ingenious folks have figured out ways to make it act a lot like one though. Do some homework and you can do just about anything with these systems. Especially the plus systems. And yes, I can even burn CD's with it, but then again, I'm a wiz at hooking stuff up to make it all work. I have used other internet access only devices and yet I still stay with this MSNTV box. I have read other's reviews and can only say, they did not do their homework before critisizing these boxes. An example is that one person tried to link an MSN e-mail account to the box, said he was lied to and could not get the account linked, I am useing a hotmail.com address that I have linked into this box. Don't know what he did wrong except maybe fail to use his passport access. If you want safety and the best of both worlds, don't give up the computer, just keep it off line and surf the web with one of these boxes and use it to communicate through e-mail with others. These systems are simple, cheap, reliable, no crashes, and a lot of fun. Not perfect when comparing to a computer, but they were not designed to be compared to a computer. Slow? Yes, but I can live with slow instead of virus attacks that could cost me lost hours, files and even a couple of thousand dollars because I have to buy a new system.
Rating: Summary: MSNTV Review: I recieved my msntv as a birthday gift after my old computer died.I kid you not when I say that this product is the best kept secret the internet has.It will do 90% of what a computer will do,only alot easier and alot funner.If surfing the internet sending and recieving email having a big address book and a bunch of other goodies is what you're looking for,look no further and get msntv.It's the best investment I've made in ages.Make sure you know what you want a computer for before you spend lots of hard earned money.MSNTV is awsome!Lou
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