- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3.5 stars
"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.
Summary: MSN Direct and SPOT watch technology are two very innovative things that, unfortunately, probably won't get enough press to become absolutely viable. Despite complaints of network outages, lack of content, and such, these watches deliver a good service for a relatively low price (for the info only plan, only $40 a year). I have no experience with the Outlook sync function nor the messaging function as I use my PDA for such things, but if you want to stay connected to what is going on in the world, there is no better device. While I would prefer more choices in the news source category, what's there is solid and provides good overviews of important happenings. Movie times and the new Events function on the Calendar are appreciated. Weather is often delayed to the point of being worthless. Sporting events are usually an inning/peroid/quarter behind, but fine if you can't listen to/watch the game. Daily Diversions are semi-entertaining, but overall, weak. Horiscopes are terrible. Stocks are about fifteen to thirty minutes delayed.
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.Updated
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...
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