Customer Reviews

Plush Elmo Knows Your Name

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I bought Elmo Knows your Name for my 16 month old as a Christmas present. I love that you can program Elmo before you give him as a gift. It is very easy to program, you have options of foods your child likes to eat, his schedule, birthday, names of people in your family, on and on. Elmo is soft and cuddly and when my son opens Elmo on Christmas he will already know Ethan's name, I can't wait! Great Toy!

I wrote a review on this toy before I programed it based off of the demo at Toys R Us. I had to delete it. I still think it says the name really well, but it doesn't do NEAR as much as I thought it would. The box says he says over 100 things, but that means options of things, not things you can program at once. You can pick three names he says other than your child's name. So pretty much, Mommy, Daddy, and one family or friend unless you're in a single parent home. You can only have one song, one story, and one game programed at a time. You only get five choices in each catagory too. I thought there might be some children's favorite song choices (Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc.) but there's only things directly from Sesame Street. That's ok, just thought there'd be more choices. Also, the schedule is a little limited. You can only schedule one nap and because of our schedule, our son goes to bed at 10. It only goes to 9. I still think it's a very cute toy, but the advertisement is kind of misleading. One last thing is, it's a little hard to find one that doesn't have a cleft lip or stitches popping on it's nose. They seem to have spent more time making the voice box than worrying about Elmo's body. The fur is VERY soft though and he doesn't feel hard like a lot of electric plushes. I see why it was only $40 now, even though that seems a bit much for the options. I guess I was just too excited. My son will still like it I think. I'm sorry if this seemed to negative, I just want people to know what this doll really does and doesn't do.

I WAS IN TOYS R US TODAY AND SAW A DISPLAY FOR THESE DOLLS. U CAN PROGRAM THE DISPLAY TO SAMPLE HOW YOUR CHILD'S NAME WOULD SOUND IF U PURCHASED ONE OF THESE DOLLS (ELMO, DORA, OR POOH) MY SON'S NAME IS DOMENIC BUT WINNIE THE POOH SAID DOMENIC FUNNY, DORA DIDN'T SOUND LIKE IT AT ALL!!!! BUT THE ELMO ONE SAYS HIS NAME PERFECT. I WOULD RECOMMEND TRYING THE DISPLAY IN THE STORE FOR YOUR CHILD'S NAME BEFORE PURCHASING ONE OF THESE JUST TO MAKE SURE.

Well it's 36 hours before XMAS and I ran into the dreaded problem where I couldn't update Elmo with my kid's customization...

If you're a parent in the same situation here are some tips...

1 - Make sure you completely install the Elmo Knows your name software and restarted your PC before connecting Elmo. If you connect the doll before you install the software you'll get a USB hardware device failure error. Finishing the install and restarting the PC, launching the Elmo Knows your Name application and then connecting Elmo via the USB cable solved this snag.

2 - If your Elmo came from a retail store where folks have been playing with it, then definitely toss the old batteries and get new ones. Do this even if Elmo sounds fine in demo mode. USB connection seems to take more power. This solved the problem of Elmo not being recognized by the computer. I had been getting the error message "Doll not connected: Please check connections, and try again."

3 - Try the software installation and USB connection on more than one PC. In googling the problem I saw reports of Win XP SP2 vs non SP2 users, but I'm not sure this is the culprit since PC#1 that failed and PC#2 that worked both had Win XP SP2.

If you don't have access to another PC you are probably out of luck until Fisher Price figures out what the problem is.

For those of you interested in what I tested with:

2 Elmos, 2 PCs

In the case of PC #1 (Custom AMD 64 Dual Core Opteron Alienware XP Pro) I had the following errors:

- Elmo downloads to 100% and then a windows error message comes up saying, "Download fail: Please check connections, and try again."

Because it got to 100% I thought the error message might be bogus, but in playing with Elmo I either got no customization, or Elmo could only start on the name and then stop.

In the case of PC#2 (Sony TR1AP XP Pro) - It worked as advertised without the download error. After 100% you get "sucess" in the progress bar, and then the lady's voice in the software app telling you that the download is complete.

Here's what doesn't seem to make any difference:
- Elmo's power switch can be on or off
- The demo plastic tab in the voice box can be in or pulled out (tab says, "Discard by adult. Pull out for normal play mode.)" The download always worked on my PC#2, and never worked on PC#1.

My current assumption is that this could be an AMD CPU or Dual Core issue. My PC#1 is an AMD Dual Core 64 Opteron. My PC#2 is a Pentium-M (laptop).

If you've run into problems if you can post your review with what worked/didn't work it might help others. Especially if you can share if it failed on your AMD vs Intel PC, or a dual core vs single CPU system.

Here are some other specific info on PC#1 that others having this problem can chime in if they have the same items. [From your start menu you can choose "RUN" and in the dialog window type DXDIAG and hit enter to get a list of system info.]

- Win XP Pro SP2 with all the latest updates (5.1 build 260)
- TYAN Mother board with Phoenix BIOS 4.0 release 6.1
- Dual Core AMD Opteron
- NVIDIA RAID Controller

I hope Mattel/Fisher Price Quality Assurance folks are reading these reviews since there are a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. Mattel needs to acknowledge this issue on their site. Check the following URL to see if they have updated any new info. You can also use this URL to get to the troubleshooting tree to request a refund/exchange.

http://service.mattel.com/us/

or to go direct to "Knows your Name" help:

http://service.mattel.com/psw/Player.aspx?cmd=next&proc=2&page=0&pid=1c1e4abe-b51b-4e04-a62e-632aeda3801c

best of luck,

SI

We purchased this toy before our sons 1st birthday. We were reluctant at first after reading the negative reviews. I do suggest that every one who wants any of the ______ knows my name dolls that they check the main website first to make sure your childs name is listed. The only flaw we saw is he can only register years as age. So an early purchase will have to be programmed in as 1-5 years no months are available. Ours sons name was spelled a little different but sounded the same.On the website you can hear the name said by the char. We got him and were very impressed that you dont have to take him out of the box to program, you can plug up the USB cord while he is still in the box. Great for gift giving, if you want to wrap it and surprise that special child. It took 15 mins to program and download was 2 mins. We have an winodows XP, laptop and had no problems. I suggest that one reads all toy reviews first before making that final toy purchase decision. We are glad we bought Elmo. I am sure the other char. are just as great!!!!

I rated this doll in the middle because I have friends with 'Good' Elmos and friends with 'Bad' Elmos. Obviously the doll is not living up to the expectations and hype for a great deal of parents and children, yet is bringing a great deal of joy to those children fortunate to have a working doll.
Reading through the reviews made me laugh and want to bang my head at the same time. Those whose dolls work accuse those with defective dolls of being impatient idiots who couldn't program a coffee machine! With all due respect if you have an Elmo that works it was the luck of the draw, seriously I know of a few utterly dense individuals who have working Elmos!
If you lucked out and got one that has you reaching levels of frustration unwitnessed since toddlerhood, you are one of many, many people and the more who let potential consumers know of the problems the better chance Elmos software will be superior in future dolls. One hopes the company will hear the complaints, but you have to be loud to be heard sometimes and persistant.
Until the glitches have been fixed I will pass on Elmo Knows Your Name. I'm sorry so many people have been let down and children dissapointed with the quality but I am grateful I did not have to experience it firsthand (with my own children), and had the opportunity to listen to both sides of Elmo at a recent playgroup..
You may want to complain to consumer groups if you do not recieve a satisfactory outcome from Mattel.

Thanks

Didn't work. And I have the Pooh one too. Neither of the programs downloaded to the dolls from either of my XP machines (one's a laptop, one desktop). And I have an 98 machine that's too old. I REALLY do not want to return them!! I just want them to WORK!! I don't have ANY $$ now to buy something else like this. These were IT for my 3 and 1 1/2 year olds! I even bought them matching Pooh and Elmo slippers. I thought Fisher Price/Mattel was a GOOD toy company. I guess I was wrong! Didn't they TEST this on XP FIRST?? Where's the software patch for this problem?? I'm WAITING!!!!

:::Dec 8, 2006:::

I just wrote one review last night. I have called FP/Mattel and nothing has changed! They suggested replacing the batteries. I did that. Then I re-downloaded BOTH dolls. The only thing now is that is does say "Hello...(my child's name)", but when you push it again, it says about 2 words and then is cut off with some static and nothing further happens. This happened on BOTH of the Pooh AND Elmo dolls on 2 SEPARATE computers. I have Windows XP that has been updated for SP 2. Maybe it's the service pack 2 or even 1 doing the problems. I can remove it from my desktop computer (the NEW laptop from HP has it all integrated) and see if that works. So, maybe with everyone that it works with has vunerable computers since they never update their computers.
My 3 yr old saw the Elmo one, and I had to tell him it's broken. Christmas this year will suck for him when he'll get his Elmo slippers and no Elmo doll that he SAW while I was trying to fix it this morning while on the phone with FP today. I even asked for a supervisor. Apparently, they were all too busy and they flagged my "claim" and escalated it to a supervisor. Or so they say.
The toys go back tomorrow. I feel like ripping my hair OUT! FP will be VERY busy the day after Christams for those parents that don't program it until Christmas day or eve after FP is closed. Glad I don't work there! LOL!
I looked at my reciept..I was mistaken..I wasted over $86 (shipping and tax) on these things. ARGH!!!

:::Dec 12, 2005:::

Update!
It broke. I changed the batteries AGAIN! Nope! I Exchanged it for a new one. After trying with the 2 computers at home, I used my husband's work computer WITHOUT ANY service packs. And you know WHAT?!?!

Hot-diggity-DOG! It WORKED!

The other one I have (Pooh) worked the 1st time I tried it with the non-SP2 XP computer.

A FP/Mattel supervisor DID get back with me. I described to her the events and she said that they are aware of it and will pass my info that I provided onward. She is sending me a voucher (for a future FP/Mattel toy) for my troubles. It pays to be insistant! (Others may have called me a different name, LOL!)

I bought this Elmo for my 18-month-old little boy, and so far it has been a big hit. I did not have any trouble programming him, and I have Windows XP, so it may be a different version of XP that is causing all the problems? Anyway, my son's name is Jonah, which is a name that does not come on a lot of mugs and pencils (not that I want that), and Elmo says it perfectly. It is even better than the demo in the Toys R Us store - in store, there was a long pause between "Hi" and "Jonah." The real deal is much better, and I found it easy to program (and I am no computer whiz).

I greatly prefer this Elmo over others (E-L-M-O, Tickle Me Elmo, Shout Elmo) because it goes beyond just one or two actions, it is not annoying, and you can change its features in just a couple of minutes. I am actually GLAD that elmo doesn't know 100 things all at once - I think that could get overwhelming for a toddler - the repetition is somewhat comforting.

If I had to complain about one thing, I would have to say that the quality of the workmanship is lacking - I had to check through several boxes of Elmos to find one that didn't have uneven fur - some of the dolls have splotches of red fur that are longer than others, like Elmo's hairdresser missed a few spots. The stitching on Elmo's shirt was also jagged on some dolls. Of course, Jonah doesn't care about such things, but I notice. Especially when you are paying over $30 (I bought mine for $33 and change). But the fur is VERY soft, and the body is plushy, not hard and mechanical.

Overall, I can sympathize with those who have had programming troubles, but my experience has been great. I love that Elmo says so many names - we can even include Jonah's kitty, Baxter, as one of his favorite "friends." This is only the second Elmo we own - the first is a small regular plush one. I can't tolerate most toys that make sounds, but this is definitely worthwhile.

I bought this for a Christmas present for my daughter which is 18 months old. She loves Elmo and says Mo MO. I typed in everything I needed go to download it into Elmo doesn't download. Tried for the second time no download says not connected to doll checked it and it was. So go and download everthing typed in everything on husbands computer still same message. So frustrated I call the company If you have WINDOWS XP the download will not work. So my little girl doesn't get her Elmo because of something so stupid everyone has windows XP If I could give it a 0 I would because when I returned it at Wal-mart she seen him and was saying MO MO and opening and closing her hand wanting him and I had to tell her she couldn't have MO. SO DON'T BUY IF YOU HAVE WINDOWS XP. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT FOR HER AND ME.

The only thing I like about this doll is that it says my son's name. I was so excited when I first saw it and learned that it had my son's name in it that I didn't care about anything else that it did. And after playing and listening to it (something I recommend all parents do before giving it to their child) I was not impressed. You have no control over what Elmo says and you can't stop him once he's started talking unless you open him up in the back and turn him off.
I thought I would like the internal clock that you can program (limited to) Wake, lunch, nap, dinner & bedtime. Until I had left Elmo on over night in my bedroom closet (a hidden Christmas gift) and at 7:00am I hear "Hello Lachlan" "Lets Play Lachlan". Not something you want to wake up to when you want to sleep in. Anyway once he starts his games or songs he just keeps going, even when you haven't touched him for five minutes. And with the internal clock he can go off at any moment, without even toughing him! (I dread the amount of batteries he will use up!)
I don't know if any other Elmo's out there are like this one, but mine has one arm longer than the other, and his red fur easily pulls out. I think Fisher-Price was a little rushed to get this out on the market; it could have been SO GREAT had they put a little extra time into it. And why is the box so big? Once you take Elmo out, he is like a mini-Elmo compared to all the other Elmo products out there.
Like I said before it is just cool that it says my son's name, but I'm very disappointed with the interactive (or lack there of) options for my son to play with Elmo.