Entered CNET Catalog: 10/21/2004
SKU: SUHB100
Manufacturer: Swatch Group Inc.
Product summary
The good: Easy integration with Outlook Calendar; stylish and comfortable; water resistant to 100 meters; Swatch City channel provides content on local entertainment; affordably priced.
The bad: Requires a monthly or yearly service fee; backlighting washes out screen.
The bottom line: While other MSN Direct watches are designed with business users in mind, the Swatch Paparazzi is perfect for younger users who need more entertainment-oriented information.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 02/11/2005
Coming in at around $150, the Swatch Paparazzi offers users a relatively inexpensive way to give the service a test run, whereas the Suunto N3i costs $300 and the Tissot High T runs more than $700. Young hipsters will also appreciate the company's proprietary channel, which provides them with local information about clubs and DJs, in addition to the stock, news, sports, and weather information that we've come to expect from MSN Direct.
The Swatch Paparazzi is most definitely not for the faint of fashion. The plastic timepiece ships in four color schemes: orange and blue, red and black, black and silver, and blue and beige. On the hardware side, the Swatch Paparazzi is light, thin, and comfortable, unlike the Fossil watches, which tend to be bulky and heavy. It also falls in line with the company's appeal to the younger market, as it rocks a sportier look and feel compared to the more-classic lines of the Fossil, Suunto, and Tissot. Like all other MSN Direct watches, the Paparazzi ships with several faces (seven, to be exact), and there's room to download two more. The large face makes it easy to read content, and you can turn on a green backlight for darker environments, but we weren't all that impressed by this as it tended to wash out the display. To surf through the various menus, there are five navigation buttons along the outer ring of the face.
The Paparazzi is water resistant to as deep as 100 meters, and it boasts a rechargeable battery. While the charger is nowhere as big and cumbersome as those that ship with the Fossil watches, you can't charge the watch's battery via a USB cable connected to a computer. This is a feature that sets the Suunto watches apart from the rest. Thankfully, we experienced fantastic battery life with the Paparazzi, lasting almost a week between charges, longer than the N3i. Other basic watch features include the time (with two time zones), two alarms, a timer, and a stopwatch.
We had no trouble getting a signal with the Paparazzi. In fact, on a family trip to Yosemite, our Paparazzi still received a signal. Once you establish a connection, the Paparazzi downloads content from the various channels. We received news headlines, sports scores, and daily horoscopes without a hitch. And for kicks, you can wax poetic with the Quote of the Day or sharpen your vocabulary with the Word of the Day (all found under the Diversions menu). Where Swatch differs from other MSN Direct watches is with its Swatch City channel. Sticking with its younger, hipper demographic, Swatch City, by partnering with Time Out, gives users entertainment information that's specific to their hometown. For instance, here in San Francisco, we were told about upcoming DJ and club events--but don't expect to get into the hippest clubs just because you're wearing a Paparazzi. If you're into this sort of thing, this feature is pretty nice.
Having your Microsoft Outlook Calendar sent to the watch is extremely easy to set up. You simply install an applet that hooks into Outlook, then pushes your information to the watch. The applet only works with Windows-based PCs, so unfortunately, Mac users can't benefit from the Calendar feature. In addition, you can set up the watch to receive instant messages from contacts via MSN Messenger. You can't, however, send messages yourself, thus limiting the true usefulness of this feature. Still, this feature had been slow in the past, but with the Paparazzi, we had no problem receiving messages.
As we've said before, the only real drawback to MSN Direct is that you have to subscribe to the service, which will set you back $10 per month or $59 per year. This subscription is what allows you to have your Outlook Calendar sent to your watch and to receive instant messages via MSN Messenger. Your subscription also grants you access to 12 channels that offer everything from stock information and sports news to weather updates and horoscopes. If you don't need the Outlook synchronization, Microsoft now offers a Smart Plan for $40 per year that gives you access to just the information channels.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5out of 5 user reviews
WHAT A CONCEPT!
Pros: It's like a little Palm Pilot on your wrist! I love this thing! You can customize it to the max!
Cons: It is big. It isn't a con for me, I love big watches but not everyone will agree.
I have not had this watch too long so I cannot really put too many things on here. However, I am already in love with this watch!
out of 5 user reviews
A good way to stay connected with the world
Pros: News, sports, weather, etc. updates wherever you may go
Cons: Limited coverage area. Delayed transfer times (esp. weather). Minor issues with story delivery.
My biggest problem is the coverage area. In Michigan, only Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Grand Rapids are covered. Nothing in the northern parts of the state. Given that it works off of FM radio, I would expect coverage no matter where I am. I think this is an area that MSN dropped the ball.
Bottom line, if you're realistic about what this watch can do, you'll not be disappointed. If you think you'll have the ultimate link to all things information based, you'll wish you had spent you monies elsewhere.
One more bad mark. There is a tendancy to receive the same news story several times, leading to a lot of scrolling through to get new material. This is especially true if you have two sources selected that feed off each other (for example, Reuters and MSNBC World). I wish MSN would recognize that the same item is being sent twice and cut it off at the source. Ah well, maybe in the next version...
out of 5 user reviews
Great, but flawed
Pros: Feature packed. Great buttons.
Cons: Plastic crystal, Inflexible watchband.
And this one isn't close. The band crushes your wrist. And I have a very small wrist. The face of the watch is plastic, so it scratches prettey easily. Weather is not updated consistently in Portland OR. I'll get morning temps at noon.
But it does what it does REALLY well. Keeps me up to date on every thing from my OUTLOOK appointments to the times at my favorite movie house. It beeps when there's a disaster. I suppose I would even get IM but I don't IM anyone so I have no idea if that feature works.
The watch is huge, but as I wear it sideways and on top of my clothing, it really stands out. I'd recommend it. With reservations.
out of 5 user reviews
For the price nothing could be better
Pros: Great band design, cool look, nice faces
Cons: Plastic face is too exposed and prone to scratches
out of 5 user reviews
this watch is fresh, swatches are really enjoyable watches
Pros: gives off that classy vibe while you are sauntering about
Cons: not quite as stylish as a casio calculator watch but hey..
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