RCA RM2100 MSNTV Internet Receiver

Rating:
Summary: MSNTV and the puter
Review: Webtv, now rebranded by Microsoft as MSNTV and known by many of it's users as a LBB (little black box), has been around since 1996 and despite several write offs by some pundits, it just won't go away. And rightly so. It's kind of like the little engine that could. It doesn't go all the places and can't do all the things that a computer can, but for general surfing through search engines and using e-mail, it does quite well. Some people have even made home pages that are right near the top of search engines. I have a computer. I also have Microsoft's MSN One Plan which allows me to use my MSNTV and the puter on MSN's isp service for one price. I find myself using my MSNTV unit much more often because of it's ease. If you have someone in your family you think might be interested in the internet or e-mail, think about getting them a MSNTV unit. And if it works out well, then tell a friend. While neither MSNTV nor even a puter is for everyone, the LBB has brought a lot of enjoyment to a lot of people.

Rating:
Summary: Limitations of WebTV
Review: While useful for basic browsing, emails, checking stocks, etc., serious users will be quite frustrated at the limitations of WebTV, which should be considered only an entry level device. I have found the following limitations:1. No .pdf reader. Many websites, such as the Agriculture dept, FAA, IEEE, and many universities publish forms and papers only in .pdf form. While WebTV claims there is a work-around through the Adobe site, one must know the URL of the specific document, and there is no way to access this. (You can't look at the HTML source code.)2. Video and Audio clips not supported. While there are many tempting links in MSNTV news stories, clicking on them will only get you a bumping sound and dialog box that says, "Your browser does not support this format", or some such message.3. No ability to download plug-in software from 3rd parties. The above limitations cannot be overcome by downloading software. You are pretty much at the mercy of your WebTV service provider for updates and they have pretty much decided to dumb down the device.4. Very basic word processing and limitations on character set. You can write emails on the mail site. You can even go to a word-processing site and type up a page of text to print out on you printer. However, if you want to READ a scholarly paper with math symbols in it, such as greek letters, integral signs, or the common symbols of vector analysis, the HTML versions of these will probably be garbled. And as I said before, the .pdf solution is unavailable.5. No Mouse or on-screen cursor. Screen navigation is by keyboard pointer keys that move the highlighted border to hypertext boxes in a more or less row-column structure. The resulting graphical interface feels clunky and jerky. There are also up-down scroll keys, but these move an entire page. Oh, how I would love to have a thumb-pad or track-ball and scroll bars like my Macintosh has. In summary, I would recommend that you buy a used computer rather than spend several hundred dollars on WebTV, printer and accessories such as S-mode cables and switch boxes. Older generation computers are cheap, yet allow you to upgrade to new features by downloading plug-in software to tailor it to your needs as the internet changes. The MSNTV box can only do what it was designed to do... like a toaster.

Rating:
Summary: Limitations of WebTV
Review: While useful for basic browsing, emails, checking stocks, etc., serious users will be quite frustrated at the limitations of WebTV, which should be considered only an entry level device. I have found the following limitations:1. No .pdf reader. Many websites, such as the Agriculture dept, FAA, IEEE, and many universities publish forms and papers only in .pdf form. While WebTV claims there is a work-around through the Adobe site, one must know the URL of the specific document, and there is no way to access this. (You can't look at the HTML source code.)2. Video and Audio clips not supported. While there are many tempting links in MSNTV news stories, clicking on them will only get you a bumping sound and dialog box that says, "Your browser does not support this format", or some such message.3. No ability to download plug-in software from 3rd parties. The above limitations cannot be overcome by downloading software. You are pretty much at the mercy of your WebTV service provider for updates and they have pretty much decided to dumb down the device.4. Very basic word processing and limitations on character set. You can write emails on the mail site. You can even go to a word-processing site and type up a page of text to print out on you printer. However, if you want to READ a scholarly paper with math symbols in it, such as greek letters, integral signs, or the common symbols of vector analysis, the HTML versions of these will probably be garbled. And as I said before, the .pdf solution is unavailable.5. No Mouse or on-screen cursor. Screen navigation is by keyboard pointer keys that move the highlighted border to hypertext boxes in a more or less row-column structure. The resulting graphical interface feels clunky and jerky. There are also up-down scroll keys, but these move an entire page. Oh, how I would love to have a thumb-pad or track-ball and scroll bars like my Macintosh has. In summary, I would recommend that you buy a used computer rather than spend several hundred dollars on WebTV, printer and accessories such as S-mode cables and switch boxes. Older generation computers are cheap, yet allow you to upgrade to new features by downloading plug-in software to tailor it to your needs as the internet changes. The MSNTV box can only do what it was designed to do... like a toaster.