Customer Reviews

Thames & Kosmos Technology and Electronics Electronics Workshop 1

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

 

 

I have purchased other electronics experiment type kits for my son, most of which are marginal at best. This one is better, but for the money it still comes up short. Wire lengths are just long enough to reach, but in saving a penny they still make it hard to open the shell of the console and not pull the wires out. The battery compartment is marginal, has no actual retention feature. The led lights (all 2 of them) do not fit snuggly in the console holes, and fall out with the slightest bit of pressure (ie, when you open the console shell since the wires are too short). BTW, the warning that you will burn out an LED if you fail to place a resister in line with the battery is documented, but the fact is that a child will no doubt make the mistake and place it in line without the resister -> time to go to Radio Shack. Why not throw in a handfull of LED's? They are cheap (a lot cheaper than the gas to drive to Radio Shack), and then your customer can learn by messing it up - a time tested and honored learning tool. The console allows you to place the unused selection of components above the work area, which is nice - however, the console is hinged, and it really could be improved if there was the ability to place the unused components inside the clamshell design with a similar setup - this would again be very inexpensive since it would only require properly spaced holes to slide the resistors, caps, etc into. With that said, the premise is great, the implimentation of a test bed is very well done, and the workbook that comes with the set is the best that I have seen anywhere. It shows considerable thought and is relatively comprehensive. Again, it is much better than the $30 kits, but it should be for $100. Some minor design changes and this would be a must have.

My daughter worked on picking this exact kit out. She wanted one with actual wires, not just the plastic snap kits. Because of the bare wires, I would not consider this "toy" extra durable, because they can break. She's very exicted to be doing the experiments, and the book is very educational, as it explains what each of the devices are, and the basics of how they each work.

The pieces don't fit together, poor build quality and esoteric instructions. Skip the frustration and disappointment that your children will face and buy a different kit. Thames and Kosmos spend their time and energy creating fancy packaging with garbage inside. Just worthless.