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

If you buy this watch, be sure to save your reciept, because it will fail, and you will need to return it. This has happend twice to me.

The MSN service is fairly cool, but after a month or two, the watch starts to reboot frequently, and then it will eventually lock up with a blank screen, from which you can not reboot.

Had the Fossil watch for over a week now and it has performed flawlesly. Short of a wrist PDA, this is the next best thing. The screen is extremely readable and the backlight is very bright. Yes, the watch needs to be charged, but unless you insist on wearing it 24/7 this shouldn't be a challenge. The charging stand is well-designed - no wires to attach to the watch - just sit the watch on the ergonomic stand and you're set. The MSN site is well-designed and there is a good selection of data sources. One nice feature is that the MSN service provides a local news channel. I've had lots of static zaps over the past week with no problems to the watch. The band takes a little getting used to, but is comfortable. Basically, it's just a fun watch, and if you like the geek factor - it's there - but not THAT geekie that you'll be mistaken for a Borg. If you want data and appointments at your disposal without juggling a PDA or cellphone, this is an excellent alternative. The only small caveat is the coverage area, so make sure you go to the direct.msn.com website and check out your zipcode.

Mine stopped working in less than 2 weeks. Amazon will take it back, but Microsoft will not refund the $60 annual fee I paid, even though they confirm there are problems with the watch (hardware and software) that they are still trying to work out. My advice, if you decide to get this watch despite the neg feedback: only use the MSN Direct free trial period. Do NOT sign up for a year in advance.

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.

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.