Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard

by Comfy

Product Features

• For ages 1 - 5
• Dimensions: 10.62 X 4.72 X 16.53 inches
• Develops cognitive, motor, social, emotional, language and multi-language skills
• Interactive keyboard and software
• Colorful buttons and friendly animations

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 11 x 16.5 inches ; 4 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• ASIN: B00002970M
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,992 in Baby (See Top 100 in Baby)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

Product Description

From Children's Software Revue® -- "Subscribe Now!"

This toy phone/software combination does a nice job making young children believe that they can really "talk" to Elmo or Big Bird on the phone. This is because the voices actually come through the phone's ear piece. The phone does not have speech recognition capacity, however, as the packaging implies. The device is easy to plug in, with three plugs for the game port, microphone and speakers. The software contains about 50 carefully designed vignettes that are right on target for children in the two- to four-year age range. At any time, children can press any of the 12 keys to instantly launch a short skit, see the screen change colors, or watch Big Bird count up to four. One of our testers' favorite activities is launched by a button with a present on it. When it is pressed, a box appears on the screen, which opens up with a fanfare of colors and sounds. An opening setup menu lets adults choose from three challenge levels and record custom messages for kids to hear. This is a nice feature that we would have liked to see expanded in the product. So does it work? Yes. The folks at Comfy, a company in Israel, have a proven track record in making simple, highly responsive computer experiences for young children, and this phone is a good example. If you're looking for an activity for a toddler or young preschooler, this is a solid choice.
Teaches: colors, shapes, numbers
Age Range: 2, 3, 4 Copyright © 2000 Children's Software Revue

Product Description

The Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard enables both infants and toddlers to enjoy fascinating interactive games. This educational toy is designed to suit the capabilities and the interests of the children between the ages of 1 and 5. The Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard has software that enables the child independence and allows for comfortable control. A kids computer game that fits well for both infants and toddlers, the PC Play & Learn Keyboard is easy to use. Keyboard buttons allow the child to introduce different characters and musical instruments into a scene. The child can also change colors, control the speed of moving objects and also change the weather and time of day for the on screen characters. The Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard requires the computer to have a Pentium III 300 MHz processor and should feature Micorsoft Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP. The computer should also feature at least a 32MB ram and at least 30 MB of free space. Speakers are also a must.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Description incorrect - no Elmo, but a good product anyway, January 31, 2006

By 

Mrs. R "KR" (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard (Baby Product)

We received the comfy keyboard as a gift for my 20 month old son for Christmas. The description and product reviews here on amazon talk about an Elmo phone and that is incorrect. The Elmo phone is a separate product and I don't know why they have combined the two here. I have contacted amazon about this, but no changes have been made. I would contact them directly if you are interested in purchasing this item to be sure you are getting the right thing.

That being said, by son loves his comfy keyboard. I wanted this for him because he has always been facinated with the computer and I wanted him to be able to play on the computer himself on a level that was appropriate for him. You can see the picture of the comfy keyboard here. You simply plug the keyboard into your computer, pop in the cd that comes with it and after a few driver installations, you are ready to go. The child simply presses the buttons on the keyboard which of course makes different things happen on the screen. The kids can learn a few shapes, colors, animals and musical instruments.

There are three different levels to choose from and a ton of languages too. On the first level, when the purple button is pushed for example, a purple circle flashes up on the screen and some music plays. On level two, the same thing happens but this time a voice says "a purple circle". On level three, the same thing happens, only now dots appear on the circle and it becomes a spotted balloon and a voice comes on describing it.

My son just loves playing with this. I am glad that he enjoys it too. To me, the characters are not very endearing - I wish Disney or Sesame Street had come out with this product - but my son doesn't know the difference. I think all the different language options are great.

A few words of caution. We installed this on an old laptop we don't use anymore. Within a few days, my son had pulled all the keys off of the main keyboard when we weren't looking. I would recommend installing this on a desktop and removing the regular keyboard where little hands can't cause trouble. Also, my son has taken the cd out a few times and "played" with it. Thankfully, it wasn't damaged, but we have learned that this product isn't really something that the kids can play with unsupervised.

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars We had the original Comfy Key Board from 1998, July 8, 2005

By 

M. J. Madfis (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard (Baby Product)

This product was very innovative when introduced in 1997-8. It sold at FAO Schwarts for about $100 and we got it for our 18 month old daughter. She used it until she was at least 3 (we then moved to Reader Rabbit). The way it worked then - you plugged the key board into the printer port and the sw was on two CDs. The keyboard did not require mouse skills, just visual selection of very large buttons. Very interactive, very educational for the toddler/preschool set. The developer was Israeli and they did not have good US distribution. It now seems that they finally found someone to distribute it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great for babies, a bit too simple for toddlers, October 15, 2006

By 

Pavla Jakobs (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard (Baby Product)

I bought the keyboard and a few of the games for my son when he was 2. He couldn't use the mouse yet but was always interested in the computer so this allowed him to play. He really loved pushing the buttons and watching the characters and other things appear on the screen. A few months later though he learned how to use a mouse and there was no going back. The games that you can buy for kids who can use a mouse are way more interactive and fun than this (and much cheaper). The keyboard is great for a baby or very young toddler, but too simple for older toddlers or pre-schoolers.

Although many of the games say that they're interactive in the descriptions, I was a bit disappointed by the level of interactivity. The introductory game that you get with the keyboard for example, doesn't ask the child to do anything. I was hoping that it might ask them questions like "what color is this tree" and they'd have to push the green button on the keyboard to answer, but that's not the case. You just push buttons and little animations appear. Some of the other games have a bit of interactivity, but it's very limited.

Like I said, great for babies, not so much for toddlers.