Friday 24 October 2008

Discovery Channel Toys - gift idea, uncle milton


Before my purchase, I read mixed reviews about this product. Many of its purchasers loved it while others discovered their's to be defective. The first one I purchased did not project a rainbow at all. Apparently, there are five small bulbs that must illuminate to produce a rainbow and only three were lighting. Be sure to check your merchant's exchange policy for defective merchandise before buying this product as I ended up having to pay an additional nine dollars to return it which was not refunded and two additional weeks to finally have a working Rainbow in My Room.

The product projects a rainbow onto the walls, not through the air as displayed in the illustration, but I do have to say that my seven year old and my three year old are completely enchanted. Even my husband who tends to think everything is a piece of junk is impressed with it. I can see a lot of magical sleepovers at our house occurring in the near future. Uncle Milton Rainbow In My Room

My son really wanted this toy for Christmas. He LOVES rainbows. He has autism and loves most visual toys. It is much more compact than I thought it would be and it found a spot immediately on his dresser. You just hold your hand under the arc for a moment and the rainbow shows itself on the walls or ceiling depending on how it is positioned. He loves it. There isn't much more to it than that, but it is a beautiful calming thing to see on your walls in the comfort of your own room any time you want to see it.

I bought this for my daughter for Christmas... less than one month, and at least 3 battery changes later, the rainbow is not much more than a faint streak of light in her room. When I initially bought it, the colors were vibrant, and we were very happy with the light that it produced. Now, my daughter is back to wanting other sources of light in her room as this rainbow is hardly visible, even with new batteries. Certainly not worth the money.

I read through all the reviews currently for this product and it's easy to see that some people expected way too much from this toy.



It takes a bit of common sense to know that this thing's not going to light up a room with rainbows bright and sharp (even real rainbows are not super sharp and bright, depends on the water vapor and where you and the sun are), nor can it make rainbows that dance, move, etc- it just makes a pretty light that looks like a rainbow- that's it, nothing more.



Though in some people's cases, it may be less since some units don't work as well as the one I got as a gift. I have no complaints so far.



Mine works great and still does after my nearer-towards-rough handling (on purpose for durability reasons). It will break if you really try to, but it does hold up better than one might think flimsy plastic might.



It has two modes- instant on rainbow and one color at a time on rainbow (both modes turn off in the same manner as they turn on). It can take an AC adapter (search the net to find one, I didn't have much trouble) which will keep it on all the time. With batteries only, it turns off after ten minutes as the instructions say.



It's not a projector of any sorts (read the box, don't assume by looking at the box's art!). It's just a fancy nightlight with pretty colored LED bulbs that form a rainbow which are bright close up, but not far away.



It's good for what it is and only does so much. The art on the packaging is only there to grab your attention, not imply it can do all that 'projector-type' stuff when common sense tells you otherwise.



No where on the box does it say it's a projector. It does have somewhat deceptive packaging via the art, but we have to be smarter than that. Don't ever get tricked by assumptions of this or ANY product by what you simply see on the box. Always read first, then make your decision to buy or not.



So if you want a pretty nightlight to dazzle children (especially ones who love rainbows), you'll most likely make their day (or night as this light only works in dark rooms with lighter colored walls & ceilings, which my home is full of).



If you have a well-lit house with dark walls & ceilings- you probably won't get satisfactory results.



For me, I enjoyed my gift for what it is and have a pretty display of a rainbow arc on my wall near my computer desk at night whenever I want. :)

I recommend this but second the person who notes the mixed reviews and suggests you order from a company that has a good returns/exchange policy. This is fun if it works. Pros: small enough to fit on a nightstand (9" long and 4 1/2" deep at the base); an outlet allows the use of an adapter (not included); the rainbow is decent, good enough for a little one to enjoy. Cons: the rainbow is created by a set of 5 colored LEDs that project down from the arch onto a curved strip of reflective mylar, so it is not a refracting prisim and thus has little science-education value -but I think its main appeal is to kids who are too young for learning this; the mylar could be scratched with rough handling; the plastic housing is slightly flimsy -the round reflector unit and the arch torque about 3/4 inch where they join, so take care not to twist when changing the batteries located in the reflector unit. A bigger con with mine -and I've read another review elsewhere dittoing this- is that the red LED band is considerably duller than the other colors, even in a dark room. Also, just like another review elsewhere said, while there are two settings, one to turn on the rainbow instantly and one to turn it on slowly one color at a time, the latter merely turns on the red and then a split second later turns on all the others at once. Last, neither pro or con, realize that in nature a rainbow is formed by light refracting through water particles in the air (white light goes in one side of a water drop and gets bent going out the other, splitting into its constituent colors). Unlike the ad, this toy projects already colored light onto walls and ceiling, not into the air. But short of spraying a garden hose over your child's bed while she points a flashlight at it, or rigging up a white light and prism (there's a do-able science experiment), this toy handily substitutes. Overall, even with the defective setting to turn the colors on one by one, I think my 4 year old niece will like this alot and am giving it to her. - Gift Idea - Rainbow - Uncle Milton - Light-up Toys'


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