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Technical Details
- Brand Name: Griffin Technology
- Model: GC30002
- Item Package Quantity: 1
- Weight: 0.1 Kilograms
Product Details
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Product Description
Lets User Create With Favorite Crayola(R) Colors Within The Colorstudio(Tm) Hd App On An Ipad(R); Safely Interacts With Ipad(R) Multi-Touch(Tm) Display, Allowing Colorstudio(Tm) Hd App To Differentiate Between Child'S Input (Finger Taps, Swipes, Etc.) & Input From Imarker; Allows For Intuitive, Creative Play With Accuracy & Ease Of A Stylus
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
138 of 151 people found the following review helpful
Let's start with something positive: It is a pretty package and a wonderful concept. Now on to reality.
The App for the iPad installs without a problem and the device package, compared to many packaging "systems" is pretty simple and easy to open. Now the tricky part ... follow the quick-start instructions. Did you buy a micro phillips head screwdriver? do you have one laying around? Ooops, you're gonna need one to put the battery in, so grab something sharp to take out the microscrew that holds down the battery compartment. Great, once you have the battery in and the App installed, it's time to turn the stylus on. One end is a silver cap with the universal symbol for "power" ... the circle with a short radius line. Go ahead and push the button and try out the pen. How is it working? Are you able to select colors and different types of things ... pens, markers, pencils, etc? Does it color well? Okay, if your experience is/was like mine ... nothing happened or is happening. The thing doesn't seem to work. You could go into settings and change it to "finger mode." Sure, try that one first to see what making a mark should be like. Want to try the stylus that you paid $30 for?
Okay, lets try it again. Is it on? Yes, I know the button neither clicks or seems to move at all, but that is the ON button. Is it working yet? Oh, by the way, here is a quick tip that is not explained anywhere... on the side of the stylus there is the name "Crayola" on a grey oval background. When the pen/stylus is ON that oval will light up. Is yours lit? Probably not, so break out that sharp knife point, take out the screw and replace the provided cheap battery with one that you surely bought along with the iMarker device and try that one out. With the new battery in, go back and start coloring ... selecting colors, ipens, imarkers, etc. How is it working as compared to using your finger? Wait, is it working? Is the light on at all. Okay, the light is on and you still are not able to color or make any virtual/digital marks? Look closer ... see what looks like a scratch? That may be what your stylus did. Try holding it differently. Try a different angle. Working? Go back and try using the finger mode and see how it should work. Now try the stylus again. Anything? Did your kids try it? Have they moved onto a different toy? Probably so.
So that is/was my experience. I had the thing out of the box for about 5 hours. My kids were really interested in it and I had decent hopes. MY KIDS WERE FRUSTRATED WITH IT. My 6 year old was screaming that it kept stopping and wouldn't work. I saw her "drawing" over and over an area trying to color in a space and nothing would happen. On occasion a few scratch marks would appear. About 20 minutes later somehow she figured out how to hold it differently or something unknown happened, but she was able to color in fairly broad strokes but nothing in any detail. SHE complained that it was easier to use her finger.
I couldn't imagine that there would be something on the market for around $30 carying a usually reputable name like Crayola (although made by "Griffin Tech") that doesn't work. I would think that if it didn't work that Crayola would pull its name from the item or consumers would return so many that stores would stop selling it.
With the kids off to bed I sat down to try and see what the issue was. An hour into it and I got the iMarker to work, but it's neither percise or consistent. Did I just get a bad one out of the batch of perfectly working ones? Perhaps. However, there were enough initial reviews on Amazon that pretty much said the same thing I experienced, that I can't place all my hopes in just an isolated incident.
If you are okay as an adult having your attempts at coloring looking like you were on crack or were completed by an infant, go ahead and make the investment. You may also succeed in having your children creatively regress, start hating Crayola or choose to start using their fingers again for other tasks like eating; (remember teaching them to use a fork - perhaps you should have waited till they were a teenager)
This iMarker could be the perfect example of company (Griffin) who had a decent idea that they could never get to work, but some executive realized that if they pay a well known company (Crayola) enough to use their name, perhaps people just wouldn't notice whether or not their kids used it. But if that is the case, the box is neither big enough or interesting enough for kids to scrap the toy and just enjoy playing with the box.
The App for the iPad installs without a problem and the device package, compared to many packaging "systems" is pretty simple and easy to open. Now the tricky part ... follow the quick-start instructions. Did you buy a micro phillips head screwdriver? do you have one laying around? Ooops, you're gonna need one to put the battery in, so grab something sharp to take out the microscrew that holds down the battery compartment. Great, once you have the battery in and the App installed, it's time to turn the stylus on. One end is a silver cap with the universal symbol for "power" ... the circle with a short radius line. Go ahead and push the button and try out the pen. How is it working? Are you able to select colors and different types of things ... pens, markers, pencils, etc? Does it color well? Okay, if your experience is/was like mine ... nothing happened or is happening. The thing doesn't seem to work. You could go into settings and change it to "finger mode." Sure, try that one first to see what making a mark should be like. Want to try the stylus that you paid $30 for?
Okay, lets try it again. Is it on? Yes, I know the button neither clicks or seems to move at all, but that is the ON button. Is it working yet? Oh, by the way, here is a quick tip that is not explained anywhere... on the side of the stylus there is the name "Crayola" on a grey oval background. When the pen/stylus is ON that oval will light up. Is yours lit? Probably not, so break out that sharp knife point, take out the screw and replace the provided cheap battery with one that you surely bought along with the iMarker device and try that one out. With the new battery in, go back and start coloring ... selecting colors, ipens, imarkers, etc. How is it working as compared to using your finger? Wait, is it working? Is the light on at all. Okay, the light is on and you still are not able to color or make any virtual/digital marks? Look closer ... see what looks like a scratch? That may be what your stylus did. Try holding it differently. Try a different angle. Working? Go back and try using the finger mode and see how it should work. Now try the stylus again. Anything? Did your kids try it? Have they moved onto a different toy? Probably so.
So that is/was my experience. I had the thing out of the box for about 5 hours. My kids were really interested in it and I had decent hopes. MY KIDS WERE FRUSTRATED WITH IT. My 6 year old was screaming that it kept stopping and wouldn't work. I saw her "drawing" over and over an area trying to color in a space and nothing would happen. On occasion a few scratch marks would appear. About 20 minutes later somehow she figured out how to hold it differently or something unknown happened, but she was able to color in fairly broad strokes but nothing in any detail. SHE complained that it was easier to use her finger.
I couldn't imagine that there would be something on the market for around $30 carying a usually reputable name like Crayola (although made by "Griffin Tech") that doesn't work. I would think that if it didn't work that Crayola would pull its name from the item or consumers would return so many that stores would stop selling it.
With the kids off to bed I sat down to try and see what the issue was. An hour into it and I got the iMarker to work, but it's neither percise or consistent. Did I just get a bad one out of the batch of perfectly working ones? Perhaps. However, there were enough initial reviews on Amazon that pretty much said the same thing I experienced, that I can't place all my hopes in just an isolated incident.
If you are okay as an adult having your attempts at coloring looking like you were on crack or were completed by an infant, go ahead and make the investment. You may also succeed in having your children creatively regress, start hating Crayola or choose to start using their fingers again for other tasks like eating; (remember teaching them to use a fork - perhaps you should have waited till they were a teenager)
This iMarker could be the perfect example of company (Griffin) who had a decent idea that they could never get to work, but some executive realized that if they pay a well known company (Crayola) enough to use their name, perhaps people just wouldn't notice whether or not their kids used it. But if that is the case, the box is neither big enough or interesting enough for kids to scrap the toy and just enjoy playing with the box.
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
The stylus is terrible. My 18 month old grabbed my targus stylus and started coloring like a champ! The Crayola stylus is too fat, barely worked and needs batteries!? Get a targus stylus for $20 and you can save money on batteries...and have something that works!
I give the app 4 stars, the menu is a little hard to tell what you have selected, it would be cool if the icon for the fill bucket would POP out instead of being highlighted..my four year old has a hard time telling that something is selected. Other than that its fun!
I give the app 4 stars, the menu is a little hard to tell what you have selected, it would be cool if the icon for the fill bucket would POP out instead of being highlighted..my four year old has a hard time telling that something is selected. Other than that its fun!
13 of 15 people found the following review helpful
By Ron Seybold
Amazon Verified Purchase
I had high hopes for this "digital stylus," but it's a plastic-riddled piece of junk. Crayola didn't build this; it's a Griffin Technology product. Just one more example of how Griffin, once a novel and fine company, has sunk to offshore creations with a built-in failure rate of 50 percent, judging by the reviews here.
So one out of every two of these will behave like mine:
1. Didn't light up to stay on during the second try, even with a brand-new high-grade battery.
2. Needs to be held at 90 degree angle. Try explaining that to a 3-year-old who wants to color.
"Finger paint" option in Crayola's App Store app works okay. Works right in line with the app's cost: free. I'd download it just to get even with Crayola by giving them zero revenue for such a steaming load, shipped to use with their app. Be warned: when you finger paint, you cannot zoom your drawings.
Griffin's the problem to start with here; they built and sell this dreck to use with the Really Large App that Crayola gives away. That really large app prompts you right away to buy an app add-in. Looks shabby after a $24 investment.
Better hope you didn't buy this just in time for Christmas. Calling Griffin for tech support at 4PM Friday gave me a "we're closed" recording. Yeah, except their support hours are 8-5 Mon-Fri. If ever there was a day to keep tech support open until 9 or so, the last support day before Christmas would be a good candidate, no? Everybody goes home early for Christmas, yay! Oh, and Happy Holidays, customers.
Head to the website, since everybody's home having some nog. More embarrassment for Griffin. The "user manual" to download is nothing more than a PDF file for the cryptic and incomplete 4 pages shipped in the box. There's a support question file that explains the stylus oughta be held at that very special angle, too. No other stylus-related answers there.
It gets worse. The plastic is so crummy that once you have replaced the battery a few times with your Really Small-Head Phillips screwdriver (You've got one of those, right?) you finally cannot get the cover open at all. So Griffin, you'll get my fresh AA battery back when I return this. It isn't the first Griffin product that's been a shameful waste of consumer time and money, either. A once-proud company apparently now run by schlock-meisters. Amazon should think of pulling this mistake out of their warehouses. Bad for customer experience, bad for everybody. Unless you win the coin-toss on whether yours works. For how long? Well, good luck with that one.
The finger-paint option in the app works pretty well with my Boxwave Capacitor Stylus (same price as the iMarker). I'm thinking any $20 stylus will do the job. Be warned though, there are only 35 drawings included in the app. This looks like a come-on for continued Crayola in-app purchases.
Two crayon-stained thumbs down, way down. If there was a zero star, that's what this would get. What a waste of my holiday season.
So one out of every two of these will behave like mine:
1. Didn't light up to stay on during the second try, even with a brand-new high-grade battery.
2. Needs to be held at 90 degree angle. Try explaining that to a 3-year-old who wants to color.
"Finger paint" option in Crayola's App Store app works okay. Works right in line with the app's cost: free. I'd download it just to get even with Crayola by giving them zero revenue for such a steaming load, shipped to use with their app. Be warned: when you finger paint, you cannot zoom your drawings.
Griffin's the problem to start with here; they built and sell this dreck to use with the Really Large App that Crayola gives away. That really large app prompts you right away to buy an app add-in. Looks shabby after a $24 investment.
Better hope you didn't buy this just in time for Christmas. Calling Griffin for tech support at 4PM Friday gave me a "we're closed" recording. Yeah, except their support hours are 8-5 Mon-Fri. If ever there was a day to keep tech support open until 9 or so, the last support day before Christmas would be a good candidate, no? Everybody goes home early for Christmas, yay! Oh, and Happy Holidays, customers.
Head to the website, since everybody's home having some nog. More embarrassment for Griffin. The "user manual" to download is nothing more than a PDF file for the cryptic and incomplete 4 pages shipped in the box. There's a support question file that explains the stylus oughta be held at that very special angle, too. No other stylus-related answers there.
It gets worse. The plastic is so crummy that once you have replaced the battery a few times with your Really Small-Head Phillips screwdriver (You've got one of those, right?) you finally cannot get the cover open at all. So Griffin, you'll get my fresh AA battery back when I return this. It isn't the first Griffin product that's been a shameful waste of consumer time and money, either. A once-proud company apparently now run by schlock-meisters. Amazon should think of pulling this mistake out of their warehouses. Bad for customer experience, bad for everybody. Unless you win the coin-toss on whether yours works. For how long? Well, good luck with that one.
The finger-paint option in the app works pretty well with my Boxwave Capacitor Stylus (same price as the iMarker). I'm thinking any $20 stylus will do the job. Be warned though, there are only 35 drawings included in the app. This looks like a come-on for continued Crayola in-app purchases.
Two crayon-stained thumbs down, way down. If there was a zero star, that's what this would get. What a waste of my holiday season.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Warning: Buyer Beware!!!
I just bought this from the Apple Store (sorry Amazon) without even reading a review because my 2 1/2 y/o just was crazy for the packaging... and I thought... why not... Read more
Published 22 days ago by Michael Hamson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Save your money!
Seems like a good idea but it just doesn't work like it should.
It's jumpy and hard to use most of the time.
It is confusing and aggravating for kids. Read more
It's jumpy and hard to use most of the time.
It is confusing and aggravating for kids. Read more
Published 23 days ago by M. Staton
3.0 out of 5 stars
screen doesn't recognize the tool often
I use a stylus for my work & use it to take notes. I also use it draw diagrams for work. I purchased the Crayola marker so my kids can use it to "color" on the iPad. Read more
Published 1 month ago by BukoBoy
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good marketing of product, not as useful as it seems.
You will find that this tool is interesting for kids during some time. After a while (like days) they do not care anymore about this toy.
Published 1 month ago by Erick Candanedo
1.0 out of 5 stars
Crapola
Wish I had read reviews before buying. Could not get to work. Thought the cheap battery, that was included, might be bad. So I replaced it. Nope the pen just does not work. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Andrew
3.0 out of 5 stars
You have to purchase a download to use it.
Never used it. $30. more...not going to try it. Sounded like a NEAT tool to try, but, too much money.
Published 2 months ago by JOYtoU2
2.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely horrible
If it weren't for the app itself being very cool, I'd have given this -2 stars. If you want to spend 30 bucks, send it to me; I'll send you a $5 iHome stylus, and drink $25 worth... Read more
Published 2 months ago by jdhuegel1
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crayola Color Studio HD iMarker
It was given as a gift to a 5 year old little boy. Have not heard from his parents if it was good or not?
I look at it as "no news is good news".
I look at it as "no news is good news".
Published 3 months ago by Wendy wong
1.0 out of 5 stars
Horrible!
Didn't even work! Nothing registered, the battery light was about the only thing that worked on this stuipd thing. It was such a waste of money
Published 3 months ago by Nik
3.0 out of 5 stars
works but slowly
I bought this for my grandchildren to use on my i pad. You do not get an immediate response when using the crayons or markers. Read more
Published 3 months ago by P. Rowe
