AOL/WebTV advice

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

OK, my parents decided it’s finally time to get the Internet at home. We’re gonna get the 250 free hours of AOL (yes, I know AOL sucks, but I’m not picky).
My dad also wants to get WebTV. I’m against this, because it would be installed in their bedroom. Now, If we got web TV, would it be possible to install it on more than one TV in the household? If not, does the system come with a floppy drive, or some other way of getting my .wavs, lyrics, and pictures of [strike]Catherine Zeta-Jones[/strike] cute widdle puppies back onto my desktop computer?
Many thanks for the input.

JMcC, San Francisco, JJM’s page from the Bay
“The world is a dungheap, and we are maggots that crawl on it!” -Aldonza, Man of La Mancha

2

go with anything but webtv
if you have a computer

i wouldnt recommend aol at all… but if you must then oh well
you should switch asap!

Chief’s Domain - http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~ravi

3

JJ,
I’m not so sure about web TV, but do you have a computer of your own? If so, you could try a free service for yourself.
Try: http://www.netzero.com http://www.freei.net

Both are free services and work pretty good :slight_smile:

Work a little bit harder on improving your
low self esteem, you stupid freak!
Click here for some GOOD news for a change Zettecity

4

I’ve been online since '94 (not continuously), and when my old 386 blew up in '97 I got a WebTV, since I couldn’t afford a new PC at the time. I used it for a couple of years, and it’s not that bad. It works on one TV at a time (though it’s easy to move around) and the wireless keyboard and remote work just fine.

Pros:
It’s cheap, and you get up to six usernames for free, so you can have your own passworded home page bookmarks, mail, etc.
You can view most websites, though it distorts the layouts of many.
Play .wavs, MP3s, and MIDIs, and RealAudio up to version 3.0 (out of date because of problems between MS and Real)
It gives you e-mail and Usenet capabilities with decent interfaces.
You can build a simple website with it; there are many online utilities so you can nab clip art, backgrounds, etc.
Works just fine with the SDMB :slight_smile:

Cons:
You can’t upload to it or through it or store anything of your own on it; you have to have a computer for that.
You are stuck with its software and interfaces; zero flexibility.
It doesn’t support anything much more complicated than an animated GIF: No Shockwave, no Java, no Javascript, no nuthin’.
Snobs will flame you for using it; never bothered me, but it may you.

I wouldn’t recommend it if you can have a computer instead, but if you have to go with it, it’s not that bad.

Catrandom