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| Tuesday, December 11, 2007 |
Paz's Lift-Off Rocket |
 Trying to find toys that interest my kids for more than 5 minutes can be challenging. Finding toys that are not the run of the mill toys can also be difficult. It is a rare toy that meets both criteria. When I saw that the Parent Bloggers Network was looking for people to review Paz's Lift-Off Rocket, I thought that it was a toy that looked like it had a lot of potential. Right away my kids loved it. Although it is marketed for the 3+ group, my 17 month old enjoys playing with it as well.
It's a red rocket that comes with 4 astronaut animals: Paz who's a penguin, Dog, Pig and Rabbit. It also features a lunar explorer buggy and a moon crater. When you press the button, it counts down to take off and the boosters flash. The interior of the rocket is designed to create a hospitable environment. The top compartment is the control room and has nonmoveable dials and steering wheels. The middle compartment has a permanent microwave oven, coffee pot, cups, canisters, toaster, washing machine and drawers. There's even a murphey bed in it! In case your saying "what?", a murphey bed is a bed that folds into the wall when not in use. So what's under the bed then? Why a toilet complete with a roll of toilet paper of course! The bottom compartment is a roomy compartment for the lunar explorer buggy.
Why do I like this toy? First of all, it's red which is my son's favorite color. In all seriousness, I do think that the color is a nice touch because it's bright and inviting. I also liked that the toy is made out of tough durable plastic. My 4 year-old likes to fly the rocket around the house, but unfortunately it has frequently fallen back to earth. It looks none the worse from its travels. The carrying handle is also well built. Most importantly, the rocket passes my one big test: in addition to a volume control, it has an off switch! I'm often not a huge fan of toys with batteries, but this one is a very nice compromise because its compartments and gadgets offer so much room for creative play. Plus, you can turn the sound off if you have a migraine.
I think that the astronauts are cute, and that they are animals. It makes it a little different from the norm, and my boys enjoy it. I find it really cute. The rabbit's space helmet even allows for his ears. This toy is a big hit with both of my boys. It's one of the few toys that makes it out of the toy bin on a daily basis. It also has been a hit with almost all of our playdates.
There are a few minor things that I don't like about this toy. My 4 year-old had no interest in the moon crater. While the animals are cute, they often fall out of the rocket. That's not to say that my kids didn't play with them, but they are as often riding around the parking garage in Matchbox cars (or sometimes flying in outer space in Matchbox cars) as they are riding the rocket ship. My only other complaint is that the top door always falls off of the rocket. This appears to be a safety feature to prevent little fingers from getting caught and to keep the plastic from snapping. Because of the way my boys play with the toy, the door is rarely on the rocket. They don't seem to care.
My overall opinion is that the toy is a good one. My kids really seem to like it, and it is very popular. I think this is a good gift for a relative to give. It's different, fun, will make you the cool relative and you're not the one looking under the couches for the door. I can't honestly say that this toy is a favorite of mine, but it is a favorite of my boys. |
posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:19 PM
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| Thursday, December 6, 2007 |
That Baby DVD and That Baby CD Review |
I have to admit that I'm not that into kids music. By that I mean, I'm not into it at all. Sure at times when I'm feeling like a "good mom" I'll turn it on in the house and in the car. However, after a few days of it, the music becomes forgotten. Honestly, it gets on my nerves.
My sons have a CD player/alarm clock in their shared room, and they listen to kids CDs at quiet time and at bedtime so it's not like they are being deprived. Yet, I still feel slightly guilty about it, particularly when my four year-old, older son (OS) starts requesting favorite top 40 songs on the radio. I wanted to review That Baby CD and That Baby DVD because they seemed to offer a good compromise between kids music and my music. Both discs feature non-kids songs, but they're acoustic and sung for families, not just kids. In other words, there are no annoying character voices. For example, These are the Days by 10,000 Maniacs is sung by Stephanie Schneiderman on the CD and DVD to the familiar words and tune.
Who is Stephanie Schneiderman? She is a long-time friend of the founders, Lisi and Rob Wolf. They initially created a line of CDs and DVDs for Jewish babies and kids called OyBaby, which featured her singing. When they found themselves successful, they decided to make DVDs and CDs for all kids, and they again reached out to Stephanie to create the music. Her sisters also performed some of the songs. In thinking of the many times my friends and I have come up with our "big marketing ideas", I am impressed that the Wolfs and Stephanie Schneiderman had the chutzpah to turn theirs into reality.
10,000 Maniacs are not the only source for the tunes in the collection. Songs by other popular artists, including Fleetwood Mac, Neil Diamond and The Beatles are also featured. I find the songs catchy and upbeat, and my kids really like them. It is nice to listen to albums for them that don't make me feel like I'm going to tear my hair out when listening to them.
I think the DVD is a great idea for little kids. The songs are paired up with video images filled with kids, nature scenes, puppets and animation. My 17 month-old younger son (YS) particularly loved watching the images of the babies and kids. I particularly appreciated the fact that he was getting a multiple sensory experience. OS even enjoyed watching it, although not as much as YS. Even though the target age is zero to five years, I think four is getting a little bit old for them.
Not only do I like the content and quality, but I also like supporting a mom and pop (and friend) production team. The three of them do all the the work. If you are doing holiday shopping now, there's a 20% discount on That Baby CD and That Baby DVD. The code is PBN. There's a no questions asked money back guarantee and you can get a lifetime warranty that will replace either product if something goes wrong. A sample video may be found on their website.
I think this is a very good gift idea for the holidays. |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 12:27 AM
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| Sunday, December 2, 2007 |
HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer Review |
I was very excited when I was selected to review the HP Photosmart A626 Compact Photo Printer. This printer was so popular, that PBN had to randomly pick reviewers. My experience with printing at home is using either my HP Photosmart 7960 or Kodak Easy Share. Honestly, while I love taking pictures and even uploading pictures, I'm terrible about actually printing them. One of my friends always includes a current picture of her child in thank you notes. If someone gives her child an outfit as a gift, she'll take a picture of her child in the outfit and enclose it in the thank you card. I love that idea! I'm great about taking the photo; it's just printing it that's the problem.
When I got this new printer, my first concern was that it looked so professional - would professional mean complicated? The answer is no. As soon as I pulled it out of the box, my husband commented that it was "cute". It really is. It's small, compact and somehow dare I say it, almost pretty looking. It comes with a manual as well as a piece of paper with very easy to read step by step instructions on how to install and set up the printer. There are even good photos. These are not like obscure directions for putting together kids toys; these directions are very easy to follow.
Likewise, the printer itself is easy to use. I am usually good about reading the directions before using a new product, but this printer is so easy to navigate, I did not bother using the manual to print directly from my memory card. I only referenced the manual to try to print from my computer. The printer itself comes with an introductory set of paper and ink cartridge.
The printer has a lot of features and functions. My second favorite is the stylus that can be stored differently depending on whether the printer is traveling or sitting on your desk. In the former configuration, the stylus is securely locked into place. In the latter configuration, it is pointed up and easy to reach.
My favorite feature is the touch screen. Yes, really and truly it's a touch screen printer. There are only five main buttons so you don't feel overwhelmed. Basically you choose your photo and then you select the options. If you want the options, there are a lot of them! You can choose the standard options of cropping, rotating and getting rid of red-eye. For cropping, you actually use your finger to drag the borders of the photo. You can also choose to adds frames (and they have a decent selection), writing using your stylus, greetings, or clip art. When adding greetings, you can choose the font, color, and placement of the greeting with a touch of your finger. Other options include black and white or sepia printing or making a photo "slimming." The options were all easy to use, although unfortunately the anti-red eye function did not always work.
If you have (or purchase) a USB cord, the printer can connect to your computer giving you additional options. For example, HP sent me the materials to be able to put together a 5"x7" and 8.5" x 11" HP Photobooks. Once you install the software that comes with the printer onto your computer, it allows you to select from a list of album types (travel, parties, etc.). Then you pick your desired page size and add in your pictures and text. I selected a travel album that had a template with cute travel-related designs on the pages. I then made a small album for my son with pictures from our recent Disney World trip. Once I picked the pictures, the computer built an initial version of the album for me, placing one photo on some pages and multiple photos on others. I found it easy to play around with the photos. However, when I reviewed the albums before printing, I had a hard time reading what I had written. My album did end up with a typo. Also, some of the text that I thought I had added did not actually print. On the other hand, the results were pretty good given how little time I spent figuring out the process. I suspect both of these problems are just learning curve issues.
Once the pages are printed, I found the book itself very easy to put together. I bent the cover of the album back and slid the pages into the book. The "fold" is not permanent, so I can add more pages later if I choose (or reprint the page with the typo). I'm planning on making a larger album about our Disney trip for all of us.
If you check out Snapshot Chronicles, they are offering a 20% discount up through Dec. 31, 2007 using the code AC8595.
The printer also can do more than basic photos and photo albums. It can create panoramic prints photo stickers, passport photos and CD/DVD tattoos. Each of these requires special paper, so I didn't test them, but the process appeared to be as straightforward as creating a photo album. You can also "share" your photos via the internet with other people. However, you can only share your original photos; you cannot share the photos that you have edited (or at least I could not figure out how to share edited photos). You will thus have to take my word for it that the slimming effect worked, since I can't show the before and after.
Despite a couple of small challenges that I described, I was impressed by the breadth of functions, ease of use, and quality of output. This printer is a nifty device that can do a lot without requiring much up-front learning. |
| posted by Alex Elliot @ 10:17 PM
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My Profile
| Name: | Alex Elliot |
| Home: | MA, United States |
| About Me: | Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 6 year old and a 3 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe. |
| See my complete profile |
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I love toy recommendations from other parents. That way I know whether or not to waste my money.
Nothing worse then shelling out a lot of cash for the supposed must have toy and having your kid hate it!