Customer Reviews

Comfy Easy PC Play & Learn Keyboard

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I work from home a lot and when ever my son sees me at the computer he wants to climb up on my lap and play with the keyboard. So I was really excited to get him his own keyboard (which he couldn't damage by pounding on or accidentally hitting ESC). In that sense, this product works very well. there are buttons for colors, music, weather, and a few character buttons. My son is now 2 (we got it when he was 18months) and it still holds his interest.
The problems I have with the product are that it isn't very interactive or educational. the software program that came with the keyboard is really poorly made. the graphics are cheesy and the music is really basic. there are 3 levels to the program: beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Even at the advanced level there is not much to interact with. The phone on the keyboard isn't even attached. It is just a receiver that sits in a cradle and after you pick the receiver up the phone rings.

when I purchased this, I was trying to decide between the LeapPad system and this; and I chose this because I liked the look of the keyboard. I'm now going to buy the LeapPad - which I've heard great things about and I think is a much better introduction to the computer.

August 2008 update: We kept this keyboard and purchased 1 additional software package. We got the time travel one and that was so much more fun educational and interactive than the "First Steps" software that came with the keyboard. My son really did love this toy. I think if I could do it all over, I wouldn't buy a separate keyboard type of computer toy, but would just buy age appropriate software for my existing computer. But, since we did have this, it was a good toy and my son had a good year of fun with it. If I could figure out how to change the # of stars, I'd upgrade to 3 Stars.

By the way, the picture posted shows Elmo and the name on the picture is "Elmo Computer Phone". The Comfy EasyPC Play and Learn Keyboard has NOTHING to do with Elmo - the picture does not represent the item described.

My daughter loves this product! It covers her 2 favorite things the PC and the phone! Whenever I am on the computer she is always on my lap trying to push whatever keys she can, but with this I can put her in her highchair and put her in front of the PC and she will entertain herself for at least an hour! She espicially loves the phone aspect on the side and what I love is there is no cord to worry about. I would definitely reccommend this to anyone with a toddler, I started using this with my daughter when she was 12 months old, she is now 15 months and loves it more now that she has gone up to another level!

I have to say, the first time we played with this I thought it was going to be a dud and I was thinking I would send it back. It's very simple and not much interaction to it. But it turns out my 2 year old daughter loves it. She gets a kick out of it and it's all she needs in a toy.

(This is the Comfy PC and not the Elmo toy.)

Great creative gift for a grandchild that will offer many hours of learning as well as feeling of accomplishment!!!