Customer Reviews

Philips Magnavox MAT976A1 Webtv Plus

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Phillips sells what they refer to as a receiver. You buy either their box or Sony's, hook it up to your VCR, dish, and TV and then subscribe to the WebTV service. Its a bit like buying the cable box and then paying for cable. The receiver is quiet and easy to setup. I have had problems with it using my Sony VCR and no longer use it to record. In particular, twice during the first couple of weeks that I owned it, I programmed the box to record programs a week in advance. During both times, it recorded some programs and then it seemed that the box reset and all the additional programming was lost. Further, it did not change the VCR channel. I verified that I had set it up correctly several times. I am an engineer and have no problems with these matters. I reported this problem to the WebTV service and a week later, they informed me that I should contact Phillips. I have not done so.Regarding the software, if you want to listen to real audio or run java programs you will have problems. They currently do not support the latest real audio version so most internet radio stations are not available. In addition, the box automatically discounts after 10 minutes if there is no keyboard or remote input. This cannot be disabled. Thus, tunning your box to an internet radio station and then working in the house is essentially impossible. With those limitations aside, I say this is a great product. It allows you to surf the web, buy products, etc while watching TV. A nice feature when watching TV is that as your surf TV channels, you see the name of each program currently playing. Most programs have a synopsis quickly available to find out about the shows. WebTV says that they have concentrated most of their efforts on the TV integration and it shows. Very nice product in spite of the negatives mentioned above.

You can spend your time integrating different components of a pc and troubleshooting it them when the crash or you can own and use a webtv (plus). The plus has the ability to capture photos from your video camera or from the television channel you are watching! See something on the local news and want to send it to your relative in another country , no problem!It has call waiting , and several mailboxes you can set up. I tried computers time and again and allways came home to webtv. My back would ache sitting at a computer and my eyes would strain. A television has a much quicker refresh rate than a computer monitor , so you can compute indefinetly. With a computer you have limits because of eye strain which has displaced carpal tunnel syndrome as the leading health woe related to computers..The sony model is more responsive to input from the wireless keyboard. The sony models are more expensive for a reason. There is a slight delay between the keyboard and the receiver on the phillips. This can at times cause unnessary retyping. We own both models and love them. I once tried to set up a computer to do all the things web tv can do and I could not do it. I could not read the print on the system from my couch they way I can with webtv ..One problem is webtv plus is very hard to find now because they are not making them anymore..If you can get one buy it .

WebTV Plus not only allows going to Internet sites (saving on file your many favorites), it allows searching for info when you do not already know what site to access. I use secure Online Banking to send e-checks to pay all my bills without postage cost. I did all my Christmas shopping this year online without leaving my house. UPS and FedEx carried all my purchases to my home. I will continue to use secure online ordering via WebTV as my first choice for everything that does not melt (unless they also promise cold shipment for food, flowers, etc.). Send e-mail to friends, take part in chat rooms, write your own Congressman, and visit manufacturer sites to check product specs. E-mail problems to companies you have business with, getting their advice. Avoid having to use 800-numbers and endless voice mail options. Shop in the middle of the night, Sundays, holidays, and hours when retail stores are closed. Order from home when the weather is rainy or cold. Ladies feel safer shopping online than in mall parking lots. Visit eFax.com and sign up for their free incoming fax service, which allow you to also receive faxes at home at no cost to you. You can forward copies of those faxes to anyone else as an attachment to your own e-mail. You can attach most Canon or Hewlett Packard brands color printers (using a printer cable) to WebTV Plus and print out whateveryou wish online that you see. Many credit account files can be accessed online (like American Express, MasterCard, VISA) so you can see your bill before you receive it. Online banking lets you monitor every transaction on your checking or savings each day as it develops, compared to only a monthly summary mailed to you. WebTV Plus also allows you to watch TV programs (using picture-in-picture even if your TV set does not already have PIP) while you web surf, order goods online, write e-letters, or pay bills by e-check (they get a bank money order in the mail, with the bank paying the postage). WebTV sends out regular upgrades online to improve your system. You also get a free guide onscreen to TV programs, local news and weather, movies showing in your city, and access to NBC News bulletins with photos as soon as you go online everyday. WebTVchecks twice daily to seeif you have incoming e-mail. It checks daily at 3am by itself and you choose the other time (I picked 5pm, so it would have checked just before Iget home; if the red message light is not on,I eat supper before going online). You are always immediately notified by the red light and a chirp sound if e-mail arrives while you are already online doing something else. WebTV Plus allows up to 6 e-mail users/names in your home, and allows the parent to limit children access to G or PG-13 level web sites free of charge, all done with passwords you set; parents know the children's passwords, but kids do not know their parent's access unlimited passwords. Parents can review e-mailsent and received by the kids to protect them, as well as favorite web sitesthey are visiting.You can set up your own free personal web page.You can visit web sites ofnew movies released, and learn more about the moviesbefore you go to see them.WebTV (add the optional under-$50 wireless keyboard) is much cheaper than a computer, with automatic upgrades from WebTV at no cost. I use WebTV to help in every part of my life, from business matters, to personal shopping, to look at charge accounts, to pay bills via online banking, and to send personal e-mail letters and to make new friends. WebTV has made my life a better place to live.

I am one of the very earliest of WebTv users and for years I talked people into buying what was a wonderful product and service.Unfortunately WebTv was purchased by Microsoft -- a company I like for its software products. One of Microsoft's largest competitors is the Java software language. WebTv's home units and probably their own mainframes cannot support your access to MANY websites. And the problem is growing worse every day as more and more web companies switch to Java.I can no longer bank by internet; I can not longer communicate with a Senator from my State; I frequently cannot shop at very popular internet web site stores.The folks at WebTv continue to avoid answering my rather straight forward questions. They will not make a pubic committment to increasing their capacity or allowing its users to buy boxes with the larger memory capacity that is required in today's world.And with their ever decreasing service WebTv had the gall to raise its monthly service charges.This could be a wonderful product. It is especially suited for older folks or people like me who have a disability and can't sit at a computer terminal.But until MSN (this week's name) WebTv start to tell the truth and then work to solve their huge problems, I suggest you purchase an inexpensive computer.Truly, it breaks my heart to write this because WebTv has provided me with access to worlds I wouldn't have seen without it.But the Company is behaving disgracefully and this has been the situation for at least a year.

I'm fairly computer literate; my husband is not. Both of us can use and enjoy this. We can sit back in our comfortable den chairs and have a large TV screen display our e-mail, search results, etc. WEBTV offers all we could want right now except creating a web site for commercial uses. It is possible to do this but prohibited by usage agreement

i highly recommend the webtv plus. it is a gift from technology of today and tomorrow. this product is my godsend. i wanted a computer once, but not anymore now that i have my webtv plus. i recommend this product to school kids,grandparents aunts,uncles, for the whole family. i can travel the net,send and receive e-mail. this is a dream come true. thank you very much PHILIPS MAGNAVOX.

Sending e-mail is very simple and quick. It's also a quick way to check sports scores, stocks, weather, etc.Surfing the web can be a strain on the eyes. It's better to use a computer for detailed internet surfing. It's nice to be able to use your own ISP through WebTV and save $10 per month.The wireless keyboard is the only way to go!

I spend at least a few hours a day on my WebTv. Why? I'll be glad to tell you. In 1998 I became disabled. Even after my medical problems were no longer critical I felt isolated from the rest of the world, I wanted/needed to be connected. I am one of a minority of WebTv-users in that I own a computer & was computer literate when I started using my WebTv-many are not. Which is my point, Webtv is easier to use, more fun to use, than a computer, & most important you become PART OF A TIGHT KNIT COMMUNITY of users. Once I looked around-I came across Websites made for, & By, WebTv-Users-& made on WebTV receivers. Since I've been a User-(since 12/99) we've had at least four upgrades. That is-at least four times a major improvement in service was given to keep up with the new technology. That was in one year! and it keeps getting better. Besides, being able to do all the usual things like use Chat rooms, & have six different e-mail addresses, you can do all sorts of things. Build Websites, create Photo albums that anyone with e-mail or web-access (that you want) can view. I believe that the "marrige of TV & computers is the way things are going. AOL & MSN are both coming out with systems that do this. WebTV has a jump on them-they've been at this since 1994 or 1995 I believe, They have the experience and soon boxes that connect the Internet-Satllite or Cable progamming all being produced with 5.1S Surround-Sound will be common-place. Webtv will be leading the way! So why WebTv rather than a computer? Well, there's the ease of use-(VERY easy) andthe E-Mail, & Chat-rooms, but MOST of all for me it's the Community of WebTv Users. Like I said I have a computer, but I seem to spend most of time with my New Friends on WebTv.

If Magnovox sells web-tvs, they should stand behind their product and offer upgrades as the computer world does. I
just gave my daughter and her family one of their web-tvs, not knowing that they would not be able to gain access to all the internet and games. The one I gave her has a place for a "smart card" (what is that...I can't find out) and a port for "future
additional parts", whatever that means. IF there was a way to use a printer, and hook up a cd-rom drive, it would be wonderful...my grandkids couldn't crash it! So why don't you get off your duff, Magnovox, and fix the thing?!! And ohhhh Microsoft, you knew what was going on, why didn't you do the right thing by your subscribers when you bought this stuff out? Either offer them a VERY REASONABLE TRADE-IN, in exchange for an updated model that will use IE 5 and 6, or Netscape at the latest level??? Better Business is only better if it WORKS, guys.

I have a Phillips Magnazox.Plus.LOVE IT.Couldn't Live without it.They dont make these any more,Buy one you WONT be sorry.