What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good:Educational gaming system encourages creativity and problem solving The Bad:No option to use non-battery power with the console In a Nutshell:This unique game system promotes active play and makes learning fun At a Glance Ages:3 to 7 Requires:4 AA batteries and 3 AAA batteries (included); TV; PC to use V-link features

Includes everything you need to get started with healthy, educational fun.

Included "Action Mania" Smartridge features six types of games . View larger.

Easy to Setup and Control
Getting ready for your child's first game is easy. Simply insert the included AA batteries into the game console and the included AAA batteries into the controller. Then connect the console to your TV using the include A/V cable, slide a Smartridge cartridge into the game slot, and you're ready to go.

For each game, there are two control options. Kids can pick to use the joystick as a directional controller, or they can pick to use the motion of the controller itself. This means that tipping the controller left, right, forward, or backward inspires a corresponding motion on screen, letting kids get up and move around instead of staying stationary in front of the TV.

This is extra fun when your on-screen character is doing something fast-paced, like racing down a bobsled course. On the flip side, games that require more nuanced controls are often easier to navigate using the joystick. There's even a switch that lets you decide which way is "up," so the controller can be customized to accommodate right and left handed players.

Lots of Ways to Play Educational Games
It's easy to see why this system won the National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval and the Creative Child Seal of Excellence. A variety of age-appropriate games teach concepts like numbers, letters, and shapes for younger children and let older children work on skills like counting, vocabulary, and matching.

These games feature popular characters like Dora the Explorer, Spiderman, Kung Fu Panda, and Scooby Doo, and they include features that range from races to puzzles to sing-alongs. When kids want to play with a friend or a sibling, there's a two-player mode. And a switch on the bottom of the controller lets you ensure that signals aren't being crossed if the second player comes with his or her own controller.

The included "Action Mania" Smartridge means that your child will have six distinct types of games to choose from right away. One option is to engage in a bobsled race where passing through gates requires answering questions related to counting or more advanced topics like understanding greater than and less than. Another option involves using the controller to balance on a ball and select healthy foods, like pineapple, and avoid "unhealthy" snacks, like sweets. The third game is situated on a tennis court and does an especially good job promoting the development of hand eye coordination.

Club VTech lets parents and kids connect online and participate in a family-centered learning community. The included USB V-link device makes it easy to move data from your home computer to your Active Learning System. Web connect features allow for bonus gameplay downloads that keep kids excited about this learning system, and parents have access to educational advice and special promotional offers.

Overall, the whole Vtech experience is designed to promote interaction and healthy lifestyle choices while making learning fun. Our one minor complaint is the fact that the console uses battery power instead of having a wall adapter, which would eliminate the disappointment of batteries dying in the middle of a game. But if you don't have a convenient outlet, or you want to use the same console on several different TVs, this feature can actually be a bonus.

Super convenient and easy to use, the light has two mounting options--a clip for the seat post or a clip for a rear-side strut. The clip can also be attached to a bag or clothing so you can use it for night walking as well as riding. Easy to detach from the seat post mount, the light is small enough to fit into a pocket or small bag if you need to take it with you. Altogether, the Blinky is an economical choice that offers long-lasting visibility for night riding and lots of convenience.

What's in the Box?
Planet Bike Blinky Bicycle light, seatpost mount, seatstay mount, two AAA batteries

About Planet Bike
In November 1996, Planet Bike was founded in Madison, WI. In many ways, Planet Bike began as a social experiment that dedicated itself to doing business in a different way. Instead of being just another company that develops and sells products with profit as its end goal, Planet Bike wanted to help bring about positive change for people, their communities, and the environment.

Despite being a simple machine, the people at Planet Bike have always believed that the bicycle has great potential to help improve the world and the lives of the people in it. From the start, they have embraced an alternative corporate purpose which seeks to help get more people on bicycles by making communities friendlier places for the self-propelled. By donating 25% of company profits to causes that promote and facilitate bicycle usage, Planet Bike hopes to make an impact.

Features:

Out of the Box
The main part of the kit is the NXT itself. It's about the size of an iPod (though a bit thicker) with a a loudspeaker, a monochrome LCD, and navigation keys on the front. This is the controller for the robot--it's brain, if you will. It has three ports on top for connecting to the servo motors and four ports on the bottom for connecting to four different sensors: Touch, Light, Sound, and Ultrasonic (see detail below).

The NXT: the computer-controlled brain of the Mindstorms robot Touch Sensor: enables the robot to feel and react to its environment Sound Sensor: enables the robot to react to sound Light Sensor: can detect light and color Ultrasonic Sensor: allows the robot to measure distance and react to movement Servo Motors: ensures the robot moves with precision

The set includes Ethernet-like wires for connecting all of these to the NXT, as well as software and a basic USB cable for downloading programs from your computer. Then there are all the Lego parts, hundreds of them, and most are very small. It would be a good idea to get a plastic organizer for the different parts--it would not only make construction and storage easier but also part loss less likely.

Hitting the Bricks
The instructions for MNXT are simple, illustrated, and they gently take the new user on an introductory path through the system. The quick start guide promises a 30-minute robot building and programing intro, though for me it was closer to 50 (I'm a little old and slow). It starts with a simple diagnostic routine which shows you how to test the function of all sensors, then proceeds to step-by-step picture instructions for building a basic first robot. It's about as complex as building a piece of Ikea furniture.

Next, I installed the software. Be sure to check the system requirements (below). The software is well-designed and very intuitive. It comes with built-in video instructions on how to create your first simple program and download it to your NXT.

Bringing It To Life
Programming is the real gem in this system. It has a drag-and-drop interface using pre-programmed objects that you pull from a palette and snap to other objects. Each object is configurable. For example, the Sound object brings up a sub-window that allows you to choose between a tone and a list of sound files, set the volume, set duration, and so on. Little Lego bricks between the objects reinforce the idea that building a NXT program is like building a Lego model. Programming this way is much easier than, say, creating a web page from scratch. Lego even offers a software development kit for getting deeper into the programming.

Mindstorms NXT "challenges" from top: Tribot, RoboArm, and Spike.

There comes a genuine thrill from seeing something you've created--even something simple and silly as my first program--come to life in a robot. It's akin to seeing yourself on TV for the first time. I played that program a dozen times.

The software contains "challenges," which are similar step-by-step instructions for creating and programming more complex models, such as a robotic arm that can "perform simple tasks and react to different colors." Each challenge is divided into smaller tasks with step-by-step building, programming, and testing guides for each task.

Accessing your latest program once it's downloaded to the NXT is pretty easy. Lego has set it up so that you can execute it by pressing the big orange center button four times in a row after start-up. I was surprised to find out that you don't need a computer to program the NXT. You can program directly into the NXT Program submenu.

Bluetooth Ready
The NXT also has built-in Bluetooth wireless technology. If your computer has Bluetooth, you can test and download programs to the NXT without connecting the USB cable--a really handy feature if you're programming a complicated dance routine and you don't want your robot getting tripped up in cables. If your phone or PDA has Bluetooth, you might be able to use your device to control the robot. Best of all, Bluetooth allows you to create a network of up to three NXT devices. Think of the possibilities: three NXTs plus three sets of blocks and sensors equals bigger, more complex robots.

My one and only complaint is that I wish the sensors had more "studs," those little round parts that allows Lego bricks to interlock.--Porter B. Hall