Jr. can have his very own Palm...well, sort of- The Pixter Plus Blue
Written: May 26 '03 (Updated May 26 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: More details, more cool features and expanded memory.
Cons: Very Delicate; definitely needs the case to keep it protected.
The Bottom Line: The Pixter Plus is perfect for the child who loves to draw and create.
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| patch3boys's Full Review: Fisher Price Pixter Plus: Blue |
By the time I became interested in purchasing a Pixter, Fisher Price had already upgraded twice. Going from the original Pixter, to the 2.0 version and to most recently, the Pixter Plus. The Pixter Plus does everything that the first two models do and so much more. The Plus version has more detail, more neat features and a greater enhanced memory.
The Pixter Plus comes in either Puple/Silver or Blue/Silver. Of course we went with the Blue because I just had a feeling that the Purple would not fair too well in the Patchen House. What can I say, my boys just wouldn't make very good poster children for the "gender neutral" toy advocates.
What exactly is a Pixter?
Basically the Pixter is a hand held electronic drawing and creativity system. However, I must say that I truly was surprised with how advanced this little system is. I came into this with average expectations in regard to exactly what this system would do, but the Pixter Plus has far exceeded what I expected. This really is a nifty and complex little system that offers a lot for your early grade school child.
The system works in the same sort of way as a regular palm pilot where you use your stylus to touch the screen to run the system. After you choose an activity from the home screen, you will have a tool bar that pops up on your screen that gives you all the tools you will need to run your Pixter. You simply touch your stylus to the tool you want to use and you are ready to go. (Make sure that your child understands that he/she cannot use any other pencil or pen on the Pixter except the stylus. Using anything else will ruin the screen.)
Your Pixter Plus will come with the actual system and a flexible screen light. Although the system itself does several things on its own, you also have the ability to purchase many different games/programs separately. Also, for a fairly reasonable price you can purchase a Pixter Case to hold your Pixter and keep it in good condition.
What all does it do?
There are many cool features and fun things to do on the actual system itself.
Personalizing your Pixter Plus
Among the many new features added on to the Plus version, personalization is one of them. You get to pick your favorite screen saver (from the choices they give), you get to customize your opening screen by choosing a back ground and typing in a caption or your name, and you get to choose different sound effects for each of your drawing tools. It really is a lot of fun just setting up your Pixter. Just like we like to personalize our computers, kids (at least my kid) LOVES to personalize his Pixter. He tends to have a new set up every week.
Create Stamper Designs
This is a neat little feature. You are able to create 6 of your own stamps. After you select the Create a Stamper tool, six boxes will pop up. Touch your stylus to one of the boxes and a drawing board will pop up. Draw your picture (with your stylus) and save it. This will be saved into one of the 6 boxes. Then you can use the picture you just created at any time, with just the touch of your stylus. You can erase and recreate whenever you would like but the memory only allows you to store 6 at a time.
Activities
Your Pixter itself has 4 different activities. Ones that you can play without having to purchase any of the additional game cartridges.
Freestyle Drawing where you can draw whatever you want using the pencil tool, straight line tool, shape maker, your stamps and the special effects. Funny Faces where you choose from a number of different outlines of faces and then you finish the face yourself using the tools provided. Connect the Dots where you will, well..... connect the dots! There are several different connect the dot outlines to choose from. Once you find the one you want, just click on it and begin connecting the dots. And last but not least (Because I think this is the most fun) is the Scene Starter. Here you choose from the choices of Scene starters and then you add different effects to make a complete scene. Like you can click on the house for the scene starter and then choose a bird to add to the sky. Once you finish all the details you push play and your scene will play out, complete with the bird will flying by and all. It is really neat!
Whenever you are done with an activity and want to play another you can easily find the little icon that looks like a house to bring you right back to your homepage to start again. The Pixter is very easy to get around on. My 7 year old took his Pixter up to his room and 2 hours later he came down with a full understanding of how everything worked and taught us the ropes. It was nice that he was able to sit down, challenge himself and figure everything out on his own.
Games, Games, Games
All that I described above comes standard on your Pixter Plus Although I didn't go into great detail on all the many things it does, I gave a brief overview of what it is capable of. However, the Pixter is upgradeable. On top of what the system itself does, you are able to buy several different programs to play different games/activities on your Pixter.
As of now, we only have 4 but there are MANY to choose from. Available now are: Pixter Deluxe Story Composer, Pixter Deluxe Music Studio, Pixter Deluxe Action Art Pixter Sports, Pixter Dinosaur Dino Draw, Pixter Rescue Heroes Mission Masters, Pixter Barbie Fashion Show, Pixter Learning Fun, Pixter Cool Wheels and Pixter on the Go Games. Each game is between $12-$16.
Anything else that is worth mentioning?
Two things that I think were really nice additions to this system (especially since we are dealing with children who tend to be more on the forgetful side) has to do with the stylus and the light. The Stylus, which has its own storage slot, is connected by a string. Obviously Fisher Price knows children and knew that attaching the stylus to system was a must. I also like how the flexi screen light easily detaches for storage. I could just see that getting all bent up if you weren't able to take it off when you put your Pixter away.
The travel case is sold separately for $15 and I suggest this as a "must have" for this system. Although the Pixter Plus is made well with the wonderful Fisher Price quality that you need for a child's toy, it is still a delicate electronic devise and CAN be broken!
Out of all my 7 year old's Birthday gifts, his Pixter Plus was his most treasured gift of all. He is very proud of it and plays with it a lot. He has grown to love it so much that it has even taken the place of his much beloved Game Boy. So when the following happened, you can only imagine the trauma that followed. A very valuable lesson was learned that day and one that he didn't forget over night. He learned that you don't ever leave your Pixter on the ground in the toy room!
I had just finished mopping the kitchen floor when I heard screams of torture and agony coming from the play room. As I headed in that direction the door flew open and my boys came running out of the room like a stampede of antelopes. I, at first, thought that this was just a small, minor trauma like a TV falling on top of one of my children... silly me. But imagine my shock when it actually turned out to be something as serious as a :::gasp:::: broken Toy! There stood my 7 year old in tears with a crushed Pixter, broken glass and all, in his hands screaming, "Joe Broke it! Joe Broke it!" (something in which we hear a lot of around here.) Apparently his little brother, who had been jumping around the room, accidentally jumped on top of the Pixter and smashed it into pieces. It was totaled, there was nothing that could be done to save it.
So yes, I highly recommend, spending the extra money to purchase the case if you are going to be buying your child a Pixter. The case is a hard covered case that will totally protect your child's Pixter when it is not being used. Kids are kids and are going to forget leaving it on ground, so at least if you have the case you won't have to go through what we did. Ours now stays in the case and up on the shelf when its not in use. After that episode, we don't want to take any more chances.
As far as the age recommendation goes, it is listed on the Fisher Price web site for ages 5 and up. I myself do not feel that 5 years old is old enough for this. It is too delicate and complex. My youngest son is almost 5 and at least for him, he is not ready. Maybe a more "mature" 5 year old would do good. He is not mature enough to take care of it or old enough to understand how everything works on it. 6-7 years old seems more like the perfect age to me.
Do I feel that Pixter is worth the investment?
Yes, Yes and Yes, it definitely was for us! The Pixter Plus is awesome, I highly recommend it if you have a child who loves to draw and create. My 7 year old has had so much fun with this system. (Yes, I am a big softy and went out and bought him another one!).
Right now he is in the process of collecting all the different games. We only have four so far but I will be getting him more this Christmas or whenever another "gift giving" opportunity arises.
The Pixter Plus has become one of our more favorite toys and is definitely a lot more productive than a video game ever thought of being. My son has been able to learn a little bit about technology at the same time as being able to do what he loves to do most, express his creativity. We are very happy with our Pixter.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 49.99
Type of Toy: Other
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patch3boys
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