Home > Consumer Reviews > Fossil Wrist Net Smart Watch for MSN Direct (AU4000)

I purchased this watch after a 3 year lack of a wrist watch. My Phone was too clumsy to look at time, and I wanted a tech saavy watch. This is my first delve into MS Watches, but so far I am impressed. Set up was a breeze, Once it had charged (overnight) the morning, it was ready with all my calander and news and stocks right there. I did purchase the extended warranty, why not its an expensive little new gadget...I want to be covered incase something happens...

One drawback...not water proof per say...it can get splashed...but you have to take it off to shower or swim... I have a big wrist so the watch is the right size, though it will be big on some people.

I love this thing so far...and no issues yet.

Works great here in Richmond, VA, Watch works great even in a 40 mile + radius. The signal won't work right until it is chaged the first time (about 6 hours) Time from activation on MSN website to geting information on watch was on <30 minutes and not 12 hours. Using the section on MSN website to personalize your watch, you can also select to receive local news in your area from whoever provides news on your local NBC channel. The watch will even beep when theres is late breaking news in your hometown or across the world! Great for people who are somewhere with no Internet, Television, or Radio, (like at work, the mall, etc.) Great product for those who want to be informed in minutes, not waiting hours later for the local news to come on to find out what's happening either locally or globally.

I read all the reviews and thought this was going to be a scary ride. I decided to get the cheap version vs the Suunto as the technology is really new.

The first thing you have to do is to adjust the watch band, this is easily achieved by using a tiny screwdriver or thumb tack to pop the pin. I'm not sure it will size for everyone. The band looks and feels like something that would be OK 1000ft under water and yet the watch is hardly splash resistant.

The watch looks Ok on my arm, a little big but not too out of place. For a fairly big sized guy it passes , if you're a petite female it might look very out of place.

The watch activated and charged OK and began receiving its signal. I tried sending messages to myself, this has up to a 10 minute lag. I altered my content and found that it changed within half an hour.

I have found that it loses all signal when I'm using my wireless laptop. I put the laptop down and it regains itself.

Overall it works better than I hoped for given the rest of the reviews.

+++> latest update
I've now had the watch for about 4 weeks, I went on a long trip to LA and managed to pick up local weather all the way. The battery lasts a good 3-4 days and seems not to be a problem. So far the watch has performed as advertized. People at home and work send me messages, I regularly track my stocks. I often compare notes with people whose watch only tells the time.

I heard about Microsoft's Smart Personal Object Technology (SPOT) devices a while back, and it intrigued me. Although as a certified gadget geek I have a number of wireless devices that can receive news, weather, and sports, I had always thought that the perfect device would replace my existing watch. While this first generation device isn't perfect, it's not bad.

Opening the box containing the Abacus Wrist Net Smart Watch for MSN Direct (there's a mouthful!), you'll find two small manuals, the watch, and a two-piece charger. The charger consists of a plug (thoughtfully made to fold flat) and a rather clunky charger with an "arm" that rotates into place to hold the watch. You just lay the watch onto the arm and it starts charging through induction - no charging port or contacts to get dirty!

You need to activate the watch through MSN Direct to get your news, and it's best to take the $59 one-year subscription rather than go with the $9.95 monthly plan. You will need a credit card to subscribe. Once you've entered your unique watch ID and personal information, you get to pick the type of content you want sent to your watch. At this time (1/7/04) the sports channel powered by ESPN isn't available, but it's supposed to be ready soon.

It takes about 10 minutes to get a confirmation message on the watch telling you everything's OK, and then it can take up to 12 hours for all of your info to show up.

There are five buttons on the device that are used to turn on the white backlight (rather uneven, I thought), change channels, and navigate (enter, next, and previous). The buttons seem a little spongy, but not too bad. The Abacus AU4000 isn't waterproof but will survive splashes. If you're used to very expensive thin watches you'll hate this, but anyone who likes clunky multifunction watches will love this. From a design standpoint, the $299 Suunto N3 sure looks a lot nicer, but functionally it doesn't do anything different than this watch.

A charge is supposed to last 2 - 3 days, and I think I may just put my watch on the charging arm every night when I go to bed. Heavy use of animated screens will drain the battery faster; like any first-generation electronic device, battery life is an issue.

So far I'm fairly impressed, and find the display to be clear and easy to read. Just showing the Weather Channel info to friends has been good for a lot of positive comments, and folks have been sending me MSN Messenger "pages" just for fun. If you're an early adopter, you'll probably want to get one of these new watches; if not, wait for the second generation devices.

I was going to get the Abacus version of the new MSN Direct watch, but I noticed that almost all the customer reviews of the Fossil versions complained of hardware problems, and none of the Suunto reviews did.

The Suunto is shockproof and waterproof, while the Fossil watches are not. The battery life is 5-7 days instead of 2-4 days for the Fossil watches. The antenna is integrated into the watch face, so it can't malfunction the way many complain that the Fossil watches do. And the watch uses an ordinary buckle and a strap with holes in it, so there's no issues with having to get extra hardware to use to adjust the watch strap, as many complain they must do with the Fossil watches.

I think the Fossil watches look better, and, obviously, they are cheaper, but it is definitely worth the extra money to get something that you can rely upon, if you're going to buy it at all.

$299 in addition to $59 a year for service may seem like a lot for a watch, but I know lots of people who pay thousands of dollars for their watches, and those watches don't really do a whole lot. If you were looking to spend $19.95 on your wrist watch, then this one isn't for you. But if you want to spend a little money to get a nice watch, then there are a lot of much more expensive watches, but I don't know of any nicer ones.