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Thoughts on the MSN Web TV Device?

Posted by Cliff on from the what-do-you-want-to-watch-today dept.

elmore asks: "I was watching television tonight and saw a commercial for the new MSN web TV device. Normally I completely dismiss anything Microsoft comes up with but this seems pretty nifty. I like this device because my grandparents and my mother are fairly...'challenged'...when it comes to the internet. Sticking with my gut, I'd like to ask the Slashdot community what web TV devices you've seen and/or given to your internet 'challenged' family or friends."

2 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. is this what you mean? by BigBir3d · · Score: 4, Informative

    I found it here the other day, but I haven't seen any real advertising push for it yet...

  2. I bought one for my grandmother by Gaijin42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    I bought a WebTV for my grandmother. Its great, she can get on and send email around, surf the web, shop for her antiques on ebay and do cool stuff.

    The downsides : No local storage for images or emails. She has to re-download stuff every time. And her email gets purged after a while, so she can't save that new grandchild picture forever

    No games (not a big deal for my grandmother, but dont buy it for your 15 year old cousin!)

    No wordproccessing/excel/etc. My grandmother would have some use for Word, so she could write letters to her lawyer, or to different companies/groups, but she doesnt have this.

    The deal with WebTV, is know what you are buying, and what you need. If its just for email, and surfing, its great. If you want more than that, go buy them a 300$ computer at best buy, or (shudder) a mac!

    Oh, and make sure you buy the keyboard, it makes everything MUCH easier than typing with a remote control