Customer Reviews

Educational Insights Geosafari Motorized Solar System

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

 

 

This looked like a really neat way for our kids to learn more about the solar system. It even comes with a chart to (roughly) align the planets in relation to each other according to time of year. The planetarium feature is a bit dim - I can see the constellations, but can't read the names. Our motor feature doesn't work - the planets do not revolve. We haven't gotten around to sending it back yet. If we get one that works, I would give it a higher rating.

My 4 year old wanted glow in the dark planets to hang from the ceiling, but I couldn't find anything I was happy with in this price range. We love this toy and had fun putting it together. With a 4 year old "helping" it took about 5 minutes to assemble, and I had absolutely no problems. After assembly, you'll need a minimum of 30 inches of space for the planets to rotate properly. The planets do not move at different speeds, and some of the planets don't exactly look as they should, i.e. earth is just colored dark blue. You can operate the toy with just the sun lamp (constellation lamp), just the planet rotation, or both together. The motor for the planet rotation is pretty loud. Overall we like it and my 4 year old insists on falling asleep with the constellation lamp turned on.

Do not buy. My wife picked this up to teach a lesson for the solar system and shadows. She kept telling me she was having trouble putting in the C sized batteries, so I got home and tried to figure it out myself. They won't fit, at least not with the door closed. I ended up building an AC adapter to work with it for her lesson, but it was very unimpressive. Not something that's going to wow a principal or kids for that matter.

It's got a standard C cell flashlight battery for the sun and it's really dim even when dialed into the recommended settings. Once the lesson was over we resolved to never use it again.

This toy is very cheaply made. It uses C bateries but not indicated anywhere in the box ormanuals. The sun is made of two piece cheap plastic that don't fit together properly, so, one part keeps falling off unless you tape it with clear tape. The planets are outside the range of light so there are no useful shadows. The rotation produces a fairly laud motorized sound. Also the bulb burned in less than an hour and the fact that it came with an extra bulb, does mean that you can expect the second bulb to burn in no time as well. Ultimately, this toy is a lame waste of money, a good idea with lausy production from China that really belong to the shelves of a "DOLAR STORE".

Another case of you-get-what-you-pay for. Cheap quality, planets have so little (or so poorly done) detail that you almost can't tell them apart except for Jupiter and Saturn. My son keeps thinking Earth is Neptune. Also, the planets do NOT rotate at different speeds, which in my mind is a terrible "education", so for that alone it deserves 1 star. They all rotate together. All you can do is adjust at what diameter around the run the planet should be in, and that's it! Boring. It's also incredible cheap sounding and borders on "noisy". I did not have problems putting in the C batteries, but for having 4 C batteries I would expect the Sun to be a bit brighter...it's very dim. Overall, I'm very disappointed and will be returning it after I find a better one. If I find something better I will come back and update this post.

I bought this, believe it or not, to teach my two-year-old granddaughter the solar system. She now knows most of the planets and loves to make them orbit the sun by turning the switch. It's an excellent model.

This solar system was difficult to put together. I read and reread the instructions before finally finding the symbols that tell you which planets are which and where they go. The little end pieces that the planets sit on keep falling off when my son pulls the planet off the rod. And all the planets move at the same rate. My son really only plays with the planets by themselves, so I could have saved a lot of money by just buying him the planets. He wasn't interested in the rotation when all is said and done.

Upon entering the screen for this review, I see places to judge the value of this product as a toy. This surprised me, because I think of it as an educational model. It even comes packed with instructions on how to use it in education in some fairly sophisticated astronomical ways. That said, if I had to evaluate it as a toy, I rate it fairly low, because it simply will not work well if put into a child's hands with no adult supervision or explanation.
My poor evaluation as a 'toy' is also based on the fact that it is 'flimsy'. An 8 - 11 year old will have it busted within three hours of handling it. The 'sun' sphere has two upper hemispheres, and even with careful transportation, the yellow top half kept falling off. The wires holding the planets are supremely bendable. One fall off of a 3 foot high table and Pluto and Neptune's wires will probably be kaput.
As an educational model, it is actually a bit better, assuming it will presented with by an informed lecturer or educator. Everything about it is out of scale, especially the relative sizes of the planets and their distance from the sun and from one another.Also inaccurate is the rate of revolution around the sun. My astronomical memory is dim, but I believe the planets travel at rates which mean they do not circle in step around the sun.
So why buy this item? The fact is, it satisfied my needs perfectly, especially with reasonably fast delivery and little expense. I used it for a theological demonstration, to show the relation between God and the universe according to various theological cosmologies. For that, it worked like a charm, since realism was not an issue.

This is a great toy and educational tool. I give it hight marks. I have one complaint. The bulb for the sun doesn't have a long enough life. [...] Thanks in advance.

Les Campbell

Great toy! My six yr old daughter love this. Not only it is entertaining, it is also educational. I can incorporate a lot of scientific concepts using this toy.