My original Web TV unit finally gave out after 7 years, so I replaced it with MSN TV 2, despite reading more than a few negative reviews here. Biggest consumer mistake I've ever made. Heed the warnings, folks, they are not lying! First my email account didn't exist for several days. Videos WILL NOT PLAY unless you have high speed service, which I don't. In fact, the screen just freezes up and you must unplug the unit and reconnect any time you try this. The screen freezes up CONSTANTLY, in fact, whether you are trying to do ANYTHING. What a nightmare. Tech support was very helpful, I can't complain there at all. But after awhile, you just get sick of the problems and surrender. I sent it back, got a refund, and bought a REAL laptop computer.

After using the original MSN TV receiver for a few years, I decided to upgrade to MSN TV 2. I was very pleased-at first. It could play videos, surf the net more quickly and seemed to work better. Things went fine for about a month-then the video player stopped working. (The system froze completely when I tried to play a video, and I had to unplug it to turn it off.) The rest of the features worked fine for a few more months, then it started having trouble connecting to the internet. Tech support was able to help with this at first, but the problems kept cropping up. Soon it was almost impossible to connect to the internet at all, and when it did connect, it was totally paralyzed when it was online-I could not surf the net at all. Tech support was no help at this point. I was getting plenty ticked off, and finding I would have to pay $90 to repair the thing did nothing to lighten my mood. I spent $200 to buy a brand new MSN TV 2 unit in January. By August it was totally crippled and went to the dumpster. Rather than have it repaired, I just hooked my old original MSN TV receiver back up, which still works good as new after three years. It does not surf as quickly as MSN TV 2 (in its better days) but at least it connects without fail whenever I turn it on and doesn't give me constant error messages. (FAR more than can be said for its higher-tech successor!) The first MSN TV receiver is a great way connect to the internet if, like me, you don't want to go through the expense, bother, and viruses of a computer. The original MSN TV machine is a great product, and it is really a mystery why the same company made such a shoddy product to succeed it. In short, I highly recommend the original MSN TV unit. But don't touch MSN TV 2 with a ten-foot pole.

I ordered this MSN TV2 Internet and media player for my mother who refuses to use either of my two computers because of difficulty in seeing the screen. She had the earlier model which she sold when she moved in with me. I installed this model so that she'd be able to view the screen on my 34inch TV. I was impressed with the newer version which seems to move from screen to screen quicker than the earlier model. Mother doesn't like it because she can't make out the white lettering on the blue function keys. I still feel this is a superior model, so I give it a four. I have a feeling when I get it moved into her room, she'll be more impressed with it.

those 2 items...are all you need for photos

this works great. i haven't had problems like others clam to have. the only reason i don't need it anymore is i use aim more then msn. since this unit doesnt accept downloads aim and yahoo cant be added. i ended up getting windows xp full version since my ME crashed. its not a bad product. it gets 4 stars only cuz you cant download or update things like flash. if you dont want to spend a ton of money for a 2nd or 3rd computer for only $9.95/month (assuming you have high speed already) its a good alternative. thats what i used it for. 1 more important thing. there are a couple usb ports on the back. you can hook up a usb mouse to it if you like to click on things rather then use the remote.