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| Home >> Handheld & PDA Reviews: Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watch for MSN Direct (AU4000) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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MSN Direct is the subscription service that broadcasts data to the Smart Watch via an FM signal. The first thing you have to do when you get your watch is set up an account and customize your information channels. It's a fairly quick process, though you have to jump through a few Microsoft hoops (like getting a .NET Passport). Immediate gratification junkies should be warned, however, that you most likely won't start getting any data until about 12 or more hours after set up. Also, the channels are very much a work in progress--the news I was getting initially had a random quality to it, but more recently the watch's timeliness has compared favorably with CNN.com in breaking major stories. Information delivered to your watch includes:
The need to recharge frequently--a single charge will last two to seven days, depending on usage--has some users unhappy, but for me it is a non-issue. You charge the watch by simply placing it on its cradle, so if you set the cradle up wherever you stash the watch at night, the watch will always be charged. There are a few real drawbacks, however, most prominent (literally) being the size of the watch, which is on the humongous side of fashionably chunky. Another downer is the strap which is hard to close and, since it contains the watch's antenna, tends to spring open. The most serious complaint however is that reception can be sporadic--there were entire days that I got no new data at all. When MSN Direct improves service--and it has shown signs of doing so since the watch launched--they will have a truly revolutionary product on their hands (and the nation's wrists). --David Stoesz Pros
Cons
User Submitted Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watch for MSN Direct (AU4000) ReviewsDate: 2007-05-04 MSN still supports this watch MSN Direct still supports this watch; personal info gets sent to me just fine. Date: 2006-11-27 Discontinued support? It looks like MSN Direct may have discontinued support for this particular watch. They had disabled my watch even though I still had about 9 months left on my account. Then, when I tried to re-add my watch, I lost access to the msn direct website. Now everytime I try to go to the website, with the watch listed on my account, I get an error and it won't let me do anything. If I delete the watch from my account, I can access the site fine. Can't ever get a hold of MSN Direct to find out what's wrong. I wouldn't buy this watch if you want the customization features. Date: 2005-11-04 great watch for 8 months Great watch for 8 months. No problems until this week when it would not hold charge for more than 6 hours. Seems the battery or charging ciruit is not functioning fully. Called FOSSIL for help: send the watch in (my cost~10$) and include a money order for 10$ return. Seeing that the watch was only worth 50$ it hardly seems worth it, except for the 4 months remaining of my ~25$ year suscription to MSN direct. Like the watch, hope it would have lasted longer... RIP ABACUS. Date: 2005-07-23 It worked. It failed. It worked. The watch set-up seemed to take too long. It didn't get the signals, etc. but finally began working. It worked fine for about a month. Then after taking off a jacket that occasionally generates static, the watch stopped working. It had a blank screen. That's when I found out the hard way that static drives it crazy. I waited, hoping the watch would cure itself. It didn't. I tried to charge it. It didn't help. I read that some people take out the battery to reset it. After a few months of having a blank screen I opened the watch. Messing with the battery looked like too much of a job. So, I closed up the watch and put it on the charger. Nothing, again. I stick the watch in a drawer for a couple months. I put it on the charger. Nothing. I put in the drawer for another few months. I notice from my credit card bill that I am now getting charged $10 a month for the "service." Before cancelling the service. It put the watch on the charger and amazingly enough it started charging. The first charge and use was wierd, but after the second recharge it began acting normally. Well, it has now been about six weeks and it seems to be working fine. And I have no idea why. My guess is that the battery had to go totally 100% dead before it would "reset." So to me it is a fine watch when it is working, and a pile of junk when it isn't. Date: 2004-12-28 Bad Idea, Bad Implimentation This is just another gadget that MSN and others have come up with to make some easy money. If you really think that this is a good idea by these companies just send them money directly for R & D. Most likely the money will go toward stock options and more marketing hype. Don't bother with the S&H and the frustration of the junk you just bought. Hope they can get a better product in the future. The huge watch is quite useless. You can get the same information easily on the net or over the radio w/o the $60 per year fee. Only works where there is the FM signal. Needs to be charged every other day. btw, you must remove it do recharge with magnetic coupled charger. Not guaranteed to work where you live. You have a local area, so if you travel you can encure more fees like a cell phone. The only nice thing is that you do not have to set the time (usually). Other watches do that as well. Gee, I bought an alarm clock for $14 that does the same. And, oh yeah, it gets PRI and NPR as well for the information I need within ten minutes. One star only because I had to give it some rating.
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