Black Boxes: Sony WebTV+ INT-250

by Jim Martin
Spring 2001

INT-W250 WebTV Plus Internet Terminal
Manufacturer
Sony
(800) 222-7669
www.sel.sony.com
Price: $250
WebTV seems like the natural new gadget for any self-respecting couch/mouse potato. If you're like us you have television right next to your computer and watch TV while you surf the Net and/or chat. WebTV puts television and the Web on the same screen and, in most cases, out in the living room.
The Sony INT-W250 is a true "black box." About the size of a VCR, the INT-W250 is all black and has no knobs, switches, doors or inputs on the front. The only things on the front of the modest looking unit are three small LED displays and a Smart Card slot. The LED displays indicate if the power is on, if you're connected to the Internet and let you know you have e-mail. The Smart Card slot is for future use. Developers are designing Smart Cards with embedded computer chips that you can use to make purchases over the Internet.
On back of the receiver we found composite, S-video, stereo audio and RF inputs and outputs. The INT-W250 also has a 25-pin printer port, a serial port, a microphone input, an IR Blaster output (so it can control a cable box, VCR or satellite receiver), and a telephone (RJ-11) jack. The video, audio and the microphone inputs are for capturing video, still pictures and audio clips to insert in e-mail.

Easy Setup

Hooking up the INT-W250 took only moments. After starting up, the INT-W250 connected to the WebTV network and advised us there was an upgrade available for download. We went ahead and downloaded the upgrade, which took about 30 minutes.
You can control the INT-W250 with a handheld remote (much like a standard TV or VCR remote) or an optional wireless keyboard. Although we tried out the handheld remote, we quickly switched to the keyboard. It is an option you won't want to be without. The remote IR keyboard is a lot easier to use. In addition to the normal letter, number and function keys, the keyboard has a number of shortcut keys for often-used locations on the WebTV service.

Interactive TV and Web Surfing

While watching full screen television you can press the option button and three choices - Today's Listings, Program Info and Go Interactive - will pop up on the bottom of the screen. We found Program Info pretty handy. It gives the show's title, times, rating and a full description. If a program has an Internet site, WebTV will display a link that automatically connects the WebTV receiver to the Internet and goes to the site. The INT-W250 was only able to make the connection to Web sites twice in our tests. We tried many times, without success, whether already signed on or not. We wrote down the address the INT-W250 gave us when it didn't connect and went to Web home page by pressing the View button on the keyboard. We pressed the Search button, entered the address and started a search. The INT-W250 went right to the site with no problem. We noticed that when some commercials came on, a small graphic at the bottom of the screen would come up with a link to the advertiser's Web site. This never did work for us.
To test the interactive mode we tuned in to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. We found these interactive programs to be a lot of fun. We were able to play along with the contestants on the show, trying to answer before they did. A couple of times the INT-W250 disconnected us in the middle of a show and made us start all over. This was disappointing, especially when we had a good score.

The Keyboard

One of the things we liked the most about the Sony INT-W250 was the keyboard. The Sony optional keyboard had two shortcut buttons (the handheld remote had similar buttons). One button called PIP (picture-in-picture) placed the television display in a small box at the bottom of the screen while Web surfing. The other button, PIP Loc (picture-in-picture location) moved that box from one side of the screen to the other. We found this feature very handy while surfing from site to site and especially while using WebTV's TalkCity chat feature.

Overall Impression

We found the Sony INT-W250 WebTV receiver to be a handy unit that put our Web and TV watching activities on one screen. The two mediums complement each other nicely. We would like to see Sony work out some of the glitches with connecting and disconnecting links, and perhaps they already have. The INT-W250 is a classic "black box" that brings the Web and TV programming together.

Service Fee: $24.95/month
Inputs and Outputs
Video In: S-Video, Composite Video RCA
Video Out: S-Video, Composite Video RCA
Audio Line In: Stereo L/R RCA (1 pair)
Audio Line Out: Stereo L/R RCA (1 pair)
RF In: Cable Ready F-Connector Female
RF Out: F-Connector Female
Telephone: RJ-11 female
Printer Port: (DB25)
Serial Port
IR Blaster Out
Mike In
Dimensions: 14 x 2 7/8 x 8 7/8 inches (355 x 73.5 x 226 mm) (w/h/d)
Weight: 6 lbs. 10 oz (3 kg)