1999-2000 ulTRAX@webtv.net - Updated slightly by: MattMan - WebTV Plus Derby


 
 THE WEBTV PLUS DERBY 

In fall of '98 it was learned WNI was beta testing a new Plus code named the "Derby".
 
To avoid confusion I will refer to the original Plus as the Old Plus and the Derby as Derby. It seemed
 
at the time WNI was determined to introduce a new box each year. There was also talk of a box that would run on Windows CE.

The Derby was to have a faster CPU and more memory than the Old Plus, and would have a softmodem.

By the late spring of '99 WNI talked of a new Plus... this one without a hard drive. For purposes of 

this discussion it will be dubbed the New Plus. This begged the question: what happened to the Derby?

As it turned out a variation of the Plus (Derby) was quietly introduced in early '99.

The Derby obviously started out to be more ambitious.... the replacement for the Old Plus. What resulted 

was a box with the new modem, but the CPU speed increase was negligible and there's no evidence of any increase in memory. 

In fact Sony, for one, did not even even bother to issue a new model number on the system retail box, 

looking on the back of the system it's self you can see the model number int-w200 CND indicating it's a derby. 

Also of note some systems may have the CND covered with a little white sticker.(Originally from Canada?) 

Not all Derby's have the CND so the only real way to tell is to open the box and look on the motherboard near the power supply for the word derby or if it has the RM5230 chip it's a derby.

So not many, if any consumers would have even realized they were getting a updated model.

WNI may have feared that to announce the upgrade would have forced a price cut on the older Plus. 

No one in their right mind would have paid the same price for a discontinued model. 

If you are unsure what box you have you can find out using the 411 Power-Off code. If there is mention of a "soft modem" 

on the TechInfo Page, it is the newer Derby box. If one had to speculate about Derby's strange journey it might be safe 

to assume the Derby was too far along in development to scrap, but WNI had decided to create an even newer replacement for the Plus. 

It was to have 16 megs of ram, not just 8. It would have a soft modem like the Derby. Also of note: unlike the Old Plus and Derby, 

it would not have HD. WNI claimed many users did not like the HD's whine and noise. In an era of dropping memory prices, the HD was also more costly. 

Not counting the DishPlayer, only the Old Plus and the Derby had hard drives. The question was... what was on them. 



Update: This question was answered back in 2005 witch by then eMac had fully mapped the Plus HD and unlocked all

it's secrets but it wasn't until 2014 a year after the service had shut down did anyone actually bother to do 

anything with this knowledge.