I don't mean to fixate on you in particular, but since you were nice enough
to respond to my emails the past few days, I thought I'd let you know some
things: First of all, I called a million (seems like) numbers and sent a couple
of emails to msn addys you gave me and asked some questions and here are the
answers I got from different "experts":
Expert #1. No, you can't c/c/p with msntv-2
Expert #2. Sure ya can but need to hook up a mouse to the back of it to do
it (a USB mouse)
Expert #3. Ya just need to do a few steps with your ctl button (but then I
found out you have to have a mouse in order to highlight certain areas....but
they didn’t tell me that.)
(msntv-2 doesn't have a "Cmd" button as the
older units did. That "Cmd" button was the one you used to copy and
paste, eg; Cmd+A, Cmd+C, Cmd+V, Cmd+X. It was also used with the "Find"
function, eg; Cmd+F, Cmd+G, Cmd+B)
Regarding getting my
rebate which they offered, each person at MSN passed me from one to another to
another, also gave me websites to fill out forms (didn’t work)
and finally
passed me on to someone who said I'll connect you to someone else, then dropped
me. Regarding getting my two months of free msn service coupon which they said
was enclosed with my msn 2 (because I was transferring from one webtv to another
webtv ), I’m finding out that they seem not to enclose these at all (though the
receipt they sent with the items distinctly says "Coupon for free 2 months of
msn service enclosed"...seems like I'm not the only one who is complaining about
this. And the websites they give you to fill out a form for this, also just
leave you hanging or just shut down instead of accepting it.
Just want to say that in talking to msn people, they were nice to me
(because I am nice to talk to and respectful plus I speak well)...but someone
else, on Amazon.com....says they will make you sorry if they don't like you and
will screw around with your service if you're not careful (it's possible that
this person was rude to them, however that's not really an excuse for them to do
that).
Let's see, anything else you'd like to know....hmmmm......Oh yes,
there seemed to be some things you can't find on your home page "Help" and
"Settings" listings, but I learned that when you turn your on button on, but
BEFORE you do your sign in thing, up at the top there is another "settings"
listing that I bet most people won't notice, click on it and you can set up your
call waiting and do some other stuff which I haven’t checked into yet. Oh, and
there is going to be an update (upgrade, I call it) tomorrow so maybe things
will get better. Also, no one has a working email alert light to let you know
you have mail waiting. Seems they somehow neglected that little item though it
is supposed to be there (in their advertisement). That will become a working
reality in the spring of 2005 so they say. Man oh man, do not buy these things
til the bugs are ironed out or you'll be swatting flies and roaches til the cows
come home.
1. Just purchased this item and had my local cable hook up broadband
and it works excellent. None of the below mentioned keyboard skips in
other reviews.
I have noticed computer snobs have gone out of there way to
trash this product and I’m confused.... I wanted to email and use the
internet sitting on the coach with no worries of viruses etc. I hooked my canon
sd 110 digital camera up to the box and it works great also.
This product
was made for entertainment and im entertained,
2. The keyboard
interface does not function well. As most of the buyers have reported here, it
skips letters, and is impossible to use for writing emails or other text (like
this) without constant fixing.
As a multimedia unit it has severe
limitations as well, not being able to access many popular video and audio files
if they are not Microsoft.
No ability to do CCP from web pages, though
if you buy a mouse you can do it...sometimes. Scroll feature on mouse not
enabled.
The MSN TV 2 does surf faster than the old Web TV did, even on dial
up, though display of some webpages is eccentric.
Photo features a scrapbook
which is limited to 100 low resolution pictures. With the addition of a card
reader, digital memory cards can be read and images printed.
BTW, I am on my
second unit, the first one was so faulty I couldn't even register it.
In
summary, this unit is not at all ready for market. Caveat emptor.
3. They are NOT going to transfer your existing MSNTV subscription
if you paid by check, rather than credit card. I cannot as yet rate the product,
only the service. Zero stars on that one.
4. I had the Philips
Webtv/plus unit before I "upgraded" to this piece of junk. The keyboard is the
biggest problem,it misses keystrokes ALOT, The new OK button is in the same spot
the scroll down button used to be in. Websites download a little faster, but not
fast enough to bother changing if you have a classic webtv unit. And you can
acsess a few more sites that you could'nt before, also not worth changing over.
You can watch wmv files now, but you lose the ability to download zip files. It
took me 10 times as long as it should have to type this review, I have to go
back and add all of the letters the keyboard missed. Don't buy unless you have
excessive amount of patience.
5. I have owned the RCA Msntv2 receiver for all of one week, and must
say that compared to the Webtv classic receiver & service, it is very
dissapointing.
The only good points I can find are more memory/storage
space, and the log-in music is more pleasing.
The cordless keyboard
misses just as many keystrokes as the old one, page loading is just as slow as
before, and the changes to the keyboard are definitely not for the better.
Someone decided not only to remove the command key, making highlighting
text a thing of the past, but also moved he escape key to the bottom left-hand
corner, the power button to top center, and added a redundant 'OK' key less than
an inch frm the enter key, which does the same thing. This key is now in the
position formerly occupied by the page down key.
Navigation usualy
requires two to three keystrokes & page changes to accomplish the same task
as one keystroke did before.
Making something more complicated does NOT
make it better. All in all, I would reccomend that you stay with your trusty
classic receiver, if you have one. For simplicity and convenience, it is still
better than buying a PC, and better than the MSNTV2 receiver, too.
I
would be surprised if this review remains viewable. After all, this site's job
is to sell you this stuff, good or bad. And be advised, critical complaints to
MSN support techs can result in your account being sabotaged. I speak from
personal experience.
6. As a longtime Webtv customer with a Classic receiver, I'm not
adapting well to the new MSNTV 2. The keyboard, the onscreen images, the
features are all different, but not particularly improved. Even though the unit
goes on immediately, you have to sign in, then "OK" connection, then wait while
it checks your "Passport Credentials" before you get the home page. Then
(because the blue message light isn't functioning yet)you have to check the
"mail" and wait, only to (perhaps) find out that there are no emails. The
customer support person said there is no way to bypass the "Passport" check. I'm
a hunt-and-peck typer, so I hit each key slowly and solidly, but still, lots of
letters are skipped and I'm constantly going back to fill in missing letters.
The onscreen images are totally changed and, to me, not in any logical manner.
Just to check, read, save and/or delete mail is a confusing ordeal. When
printing, there is no "Print Screen" feature. I will miss this very much. Also,
most of the compatible printers are no longer available in the stores. I'm
finding out that I still cannot access my bank and other accounts. OK, so there
are many great new features but I personally will never use them. So far, I'm
not sure I'll keep the new MSNTV 2. I might just unpack my old Webtv Classic.
7. I have many PCs in my house and I also have broadband access. I
decided to get this box for two main reasons:
1) Quick and rich access
to email and internet on my bedroom TV, either through a remote control and/or
with a wireless keyboard, how cool is that?
2) So that I could access all my
MP3s and digital photographs from my MediaCenter PC which is in another room.
The experience has been amazing, the hardware and the setup was a breeze
and quite a pleasure. I enjoy the one button quick access to music, photos, the
internet and email!
You can access pretty much any website, quickly page
down and read all the content, you could even be browsing while listening to you
favorite internet radio station or MP3 music.
I can't say enough about
how great this product is, well done MSNTV!!
8. MSN TV 2 turns on instantly and can connect via broadband or modem
to the internet. No viruses, popup ads, or spyware to worry about. It's as easy
to setup as a VCR.
It's great as a 2nd Internet access device (who wants
the expense and hassle of a 2nd PC?) and can act as a media hub that can share
photos, music, and video from your PC to your TV.
Techniguy’s
Newsletters
To see other Newsletter articles, JOIN the mailing list, or
be REMOVED from the list go to
http://www.techniguy.com/Newsletters
PLEASE NOTE: Email addresses used for this
newsletter are not authorized for use in group
mailing lists from your address
book under any circumstances. Thank you for your
cooperation. You are welcome to post Techniguy's Newsletters to
groups and forward them to others on your mailing list.
http://www.techniguy.com
|