Customer Reviews

Storytime Theater with Dora the Explorer Story

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

 

 

My 3 year old recieved this as a Christmas gift and she loves it! ($39.00 at Kmart) We have had no trouble at all with ours and actually had to run out and buy one for our 5yr old son too! Both kids like to fall asleep with it projecting on the ceiling and the night time setting turns it off automatically when the story is complete. Other reviews for this product mentioned that it is out of focus unless really close. Ours focuses great from 5-10 feet away and is a large crisp image. We did have to turn the foucs knob several times (which may be the step the other reviewer missed) but now we don't even have to mess with it. I'm hoping to purchase other books for the projectors but they do not seem to be sold in department stores which may be my only complaint. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase!

Had I written this review right when I got it, it would have been near perfect. It is a great concept and was very entertaining for my girls...until it stopped working. That wouldn't be such a problem but as it turns out, Spinmaster, the company who MADE this product has discontinued it. It was a limited time product which makes absolutely no sense to me. So now, I am stuck either having to purchase another one from Amazon for 50 some odd bucks or say good bye. Sadly, we will say goodbye because I refuse to get sucked in to buying another one and another one and another one. We own all the books/cartridges which were extremely pricey (about [...] dollars each). I am trashing the whole thing. I'm very disappointed in the Spinmaster comapany and will not purchase items from them in the future. What a let down. Such a great idea. Just wish they had continued to go with it. Then again, nothing can truly replace the great value of actually reading to your kids and getting those precious snuggles. Doesn't cost a thing but is worth all the money in the world!

I bought this for my 4 year old daughter for Christmas 2007. She really likes it, but there are a few downsides. First, it only comes with one story and new cartridges are hard to find and expensive (not to mention the fact that the projector was expensive to start with). Second, I expected to hear the voices of the Dora characters from the TV show--nope. It's just some female voice who narrates and does all of the character voices. Geez, I could do that. Finally, it's hard to get the picture into focus. My daughter doesn't notice any of these things, but I sure do. Hence my title, "Cool concept, but..."

My niece and 2 nephews really have enjoyed this projector, and thought it was really cool. I recommend it highly, as well as the other movies you can purchase to go along with it!

The projector gives a very good image on either ceiling or wall. And the voice that is reading the story is clear enough.

I bought this for Christmas 2007 for my then almost 3 year old son AND as a birthday gift for his friend who turned 3 that month. My son still loves to use it most nights before bed (that mode is awesome). Mine projects great at any distance (you do have to use the focus when you change distances). [...]

I purchased this last year (2007) for my daughter who was then turning 4 and she fell in love with it. My girls are now 2 and 5 and they lay in bed together and watch the stories.

PROS Bedtime mode is perfect because it shuts off automaticly! Durable, easy to use, batteries last a long time.

My only complaint is that they do not have enough stories and that they are hard to find. It is my understanding that this is nolonger in production? I own all the stories I think but I do find myself looking from time to time just in case to see if I can find another.

My daughter and I love this product. She has grown out of her aquarium that would occupy her while she was trying to sleep. however, trying to find cartridges is a challenge. I did not realize there are 2 different storytime theaters out there both having 2 different size cartridges. My daughter was so looking forward to a change from Winnie the Pooh to discover no warning when purchased that cartridge was for another storytime theater-not the one we have though! They are both use the same name and if there is no picture of the projector shown, then you are assuming you are buying the cartridge for the only storytime projector you think is out there.....so beware..awesome product, but no warning from sellers that cartridge does not fit all storytimetheater projectors

On the plus side, my daughter now wants to go to bed to "watch" Dora.

On the down side, the "books" are very short. The first few times she would yell for more from her crib, now she just falls asleep after the first viewing.

Also, different tapes are very hard to find. I hope they are not discontinuing the item. I bought this as a last minute Christmas gift after seeing an ad on TV. I had never heard of it before then.

In regards to focusing the product, it did take me a good amount of time to get the picture into focus on the ceiling. You may have to turn the lens a number of times but it will show a very clear picture eventually.

This is a bedtime favorite around our house! My kids love these stories. Like a previous poster, we ended up buying one for our son after finding out how much our daughter loved this. It was a great christmas gift. Fun, entertaining, and educational.

We had one problem with it when we first tried it, but we figured out that the cartridge wasn't inserted correctly. Since then, it's worked just fine. We just make sure the kids don't bump it. At night, when they watch it before bed, we lay it on the floor facing the ceiling. That way, they can't move/bump it and they fall asleep watching it. It's been great!