Sega Pico-A Toddlers Introduction to Computers
Written: Jul 10 '01
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Pros: Durable, Educational, Fun, Attractive, Expandable
Cons: Replacement parts only available via the web, Difficult to find unit & books
The Bottom Line: Durable and Educational the Sega Pico is a great way to introduce children to computers.
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| jubrismom's Full Review: Pico |
Originally bought for my now 10 and 12 year old sons, our Sega Pico is a much treasured toy in our house. It is very entertaining for children. What they may not know is while being entertained they are also being educated.
WHAT DO YOU GET
The unit comes boxed up with everything you need to start playing. Except, of course, for the television.
*Main Pico Unit-Brightly Colored and ready to entertain. This is the unit that will be connected to the television.
*Pico Pen-Used to control the game play, the pen is included with the Sega Pico unit.
*Richard Scarry Book/Cartridge-So play can be started immediately, Sega includes one cartridge book in the box.
*Power Plug-Included is a power plug.
*TV attachment-This is a biaxial cable. You will need to plug it into the back of the unit and to the television set. It is color coded with a yellow end for picture, and a white end for sound.
APPEARANCE
Brightly colored the Sega Pico is sure to capture the attention of children, and adults, before they even know what it is.
When folded the unit is rectangular in shape. Except, all edges are rounded, not pointed like on a rectangle.
The front half of the unit is teal and the back half is purple. On the teal front is the Pico and Sega logos. This part is mainly flat, with two small bumps for holding the unit when unfolded. The purple back is shaped to hold the unit in place once unfolded.
On the right hand side is a red clip to slide up and down to turn the Sega Pico on and off. There is also a yellow button to push to open up the unit. The power cord and biaxial cable attach to the Sega Pico unit on the right hand side.
On the top of the unit is the tab used for removing the cartridge books. More about this later.
Once open both the top and bottom sit at an angle, the teal portion making up the "keyboard" like area (there is not a key board however), and the purple portion making up the "screen" like portion (there is not a screen on the unit).
On the teal portion is the work area. There is a recessed area to secure the yellow pen in on the right hand side. In the center is a bright yellow "mouse pad" with red polka dots. On the left you will find another directional control portion consisting of a round bright red button, and four smaller oval buttons. The four smaller buttons are each a different color: white, green` orange, and purple, going clockwise.
The purple portion will standing upright still. This is the part that holds the cartridge book. It is pretty much filled with just the book.
HOW DOES IT WORK
*Connecting it to the television
The biaxial cable just needs to be plugged into the Pico unit and the television. Since it is color coded this is an easy task. Just plug the yellow end into the yellow port on your television (will be on the back, some even on the front) and the white end into the white port. After plugging in the system, and connecting it to the television set you are ready to play.
*Opening and Closing the Unit
To open the unit, you push on a small buttton on the right side of the unit. This releases the green bottom portion of the Pico.
*Inserting and Removing Cartridge Books
Then insert a cartridge book into the cartridge slot. To do this, you hold the book at an angle, and insert in into the cartridge slot. Then, just gently push the book to the back of the purple portion until you hear it click into place.
To release the cartridge when you are done playing just lift the purple tab on the top of the unit, just above the book, and pull the book out.
Please note the unit needs to be turned off when inserting and removing the cartridge books.
*Turing On and Off the Power
So easy even a child can do it. Truly! Remember that red slide button on the right side. Just push it up and you have power.
*Beginning Play
Once turned on, with a cartridge book in place, the game begins.
AVAILABLE CARTRIDGE BOOKS
There are many cartridge books available. These are not books that you read to children. They include activities but not stories. I do not have them all. I will tell about the ones I have and then list the ones I do not have. Please remember there may be more books that I do not know about.
Each cartridge book is about 10 pages long (that is counting the front and back of each page). As a result there are five tabs on the side of the book when the book is closed. Just lift at each tab to turn the pages in the book.
The books are not made of paper pages. They are a more durable plastic that the children will not rip.
The last page of each book is dedicated to allowing the child to create their own masterpieces. They can draw, use stamps, and even animate thier own pictures.
*Magic Crayons-Colors, Shapes, and Spacial relation activities are included in this cartridge. The story with this one is that the evil Color Miser is vacuuming up all of the color. As you turn to each page the screen is full color, until the Color Miser appears with this vacuum and sucks away all of the color. Activities include coloring, drawing, animating your own cartoon, and shape matching.
*Richard Scarry Busy Town: Huckle and Lowly's Busiest Day Ever-This is the cartridge that comes with the system. Your child can play in the town, making the fire truck ring it's bell as it travels down the street, decorating ginger bread cookies at the bakery, play at the park with Busy Town characters, or create their own pictures.
*Mickey's Blast Into the Past-Mickey Mouse is going to give your child a history lesson. He will take you in a rocket shaped time ship to visit the prehistoric dinosaur age, Leonardo Da Vinci's studio, Edison's Laboratory, and The Wright Brothers Workshop and Air Field. There is also a coloring, drawing, cartooning page, as with all of the other books. Along the way you can play with everyones inventions as you learn cause and effect relationships, and a little about each invention.
*Dalmations-It is time for a math lesson. Whether a child is just learning to count, read numbers, or able to add and subtract this book has activities for every level. Before beginning play you choose either "easy" or "hard" level of play. Then you can practice counting to 5 or 20 or 50 or 100 with the dalmation puppies and Pongo and Perdita. Your child can save the soot covered puppies from Perdita and not even make a single soot mark on you floors.
These are some titles I do not have.
*Pocahontas
*Lion King
MOTOR SKILLS
This is a great opportunity to develop motor skills in a child. Manipulating the pen, and the mouse controls will help develop fine motor skills. You will be surprised at how well even young children learn to use the mouse pad or pens to control the curser on the television screen. My two year old (soon to be three) is quite good at this.
DURABILITY
Our Pico has been through three children, and numerous friends. During that time it has been dropped, tripped over, even thrown once. Despite that it still works perfectly. It even looks brand new.
EXTRA PARTS/REPLACEMENT PARTS
The only item we have ever had to replace on our unit is the pen. And, that was just in the year 2001! We were unable to find replacement parts in toy stores. The replacement parts are available through an authorized Sega website that sells replacement parts for Sega products. For $20.00, including shipping and handling, we were able to replace our pen. And, it took less than one week, and was very easy.
PROS
*Chunky pen is easy for toddler and preschool hands to grip.
*Blunt edges on the unit and pen to eliminate the risk of injury due to sharp edges.
*Durability is extremely high.
*Replacement parts are available.
*Bright Colors are attractive.
*Pen connected to unit by short cord, so it will not get lost.
*No batteries required!
*Portable! We have taken our unit on visits to grandma's house, or even to hotels.
*Long term use! My ten and twelve year old's still enjoy sitting down to create their own cartoons.
CONS
*Replacement parts only available via Sega replacement parts website.
*Difficult to find the Pico unit and cartridge books in stores.
*Cartridge books can get expensive if you are paying the full price, which can be $14.99 to $39.00 per book.
MY THOUGHTS
"I can do it too!" That is my daughters favorite phrase. She sees the rest of us use the computer, her brothers play their video games, and she wants to play too. Now she can. And, she learns while playing.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 79.99
Type of Toy: Educational
Age Range of Child: Whole Family
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jubrismom
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Member: Brenda
Location: Southern Michigan
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"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are" Dumbledore-J.K. Rowling
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