RCA RM2100 MSNTV Internet Receiver
Limitations of WebTV
While useful for basic browsing, emails, checking stocks, etc., serious users will be quite frustrated at the limitations of WebTV, which should be considered only an entry level device.  I have found the following limitations:1.  No .pdf reader.  Many websites, such as the Agriculture dept, FAA, IEEE, and many universities publish forms and papers only in .pdf form.  While WebTV claims there is a work-around through the Adobe site, one must know the URL of the specific document, and there is no way to access this.  (You can't look at the HTML source code.)2.  Video and Audio clips not supported.  While there are many tempting links in MSNTV news stories, clicking on them will only get you a bumping sound and dialog box that says, \\"Your browser does not support this format\\", or some such message.3.  No ability to download plug-in software from 3rd parties.  The above limitations cannot be overcome by downloading software. You are pretty much at the mercy of your WebTV service provider for updates and they have pretty much decided to dumb down the device.4.  Very basic word processing and limitations on character set.  You can write emails on the mail site.  You can even go to a word-processing site and type up a page of text to print out on you printer.  However, if you want to READ a scholarly paper with math symbols in it, such as greek letters, integral signs, or the common symbols of vector analysis, the HTML versions of these will probably be garbled.  And as I said before, the .pdf solution is unavailable.5.  No Mouse or on-screen cursor.  Screen navigation is by keyboard pointer keys that move the highlighted border to hypertext boxes in a more or less row-column structure. The resulting graphical interface feels clunky and jerky. There are also up-down scroll keys, but these move an entire page. Oh, how I would love to have a thumb-pad or track-ball and scroll bars like my Macintosh has.  In summary, I would recommend that you buy a used computer rather thanspend several hundred dollars on WebTV, printer and accessories such as S-mode cables and switch boxes.  Older generation computers are cheap, yet allow you to upgrade to new features by downloading plug-in software to tailor it to your needs as the internet changes.  The MSNTV box can only do what it was designed to do... like a toaster.