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Product Specifications
Part Number n/a
Item Package Quantity1
Item Dimensions
Weight2.8 Pounds
Product Features
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Product Description
Don't let the kids be "vidiots!" Take charge with The Time Machine TV / Video Game Timer, BIG BUCKS OFF! The ultimate solution for teaching kids that gaming and TV are privileges, not their 7-hours-a-day right! This easily hooks up and uses a token system to activate electronics, so kids learn quickly how to earn entertainment time, and use it wisely. Use with any coaxial connection (cable, satellite, broadcast TV) and / or RCA connection (game console, DVD player, VCR, cable tuner); Comes with 30 special tokens. Each activates for 30 mins.; Has locking security so it can't be "tampered with," and can only be overridden with a parent's PIN code; Can be set for defined viewing times (as in, no late-night); Digital display shows time status. Can be paused so they don't lose time; 6'l. AC cord; Comes with cables, 2 keys, tokens, and instructions. UL-listed. 5 x 3 x 8"h. Weighs 2 lbs., 4 ozs. An easy, smart parenting helper. Get it today! CHOKING HAZARD. Small partsnot for children under 3 yrs. The Time Machine TV / Video Game Timer
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful
We've owned a couple of these units for the last 3 months and while we have not had experience with other devices that limit TV time, these units work pretty well. We are generally happy with them. They have limited the TV time to a reasonable level and left more time for other activities.
Pro's
1. The coins that come with the unit are solid feeling coins that have some weight to them. They're larger than normal coins, which is good since the kids first attempt to use normal money to turn on the timers and this hasn't worked.
2. The unit shuts off the TV signal instead of messing with the power. This is great for most TV's that have a constant "on" even when they're off. We don't have a HDTV so I can't tell you whether those will work well with the unit or not, but there are RCA jacks for the unit both in and out as well as coax in and out. This allows the hookup of a DVD player or game system and TV together.
3. The unit has a pause function so that kids can save their time (at which point the signal gets cut and the TV shows static). I've watched now, as my kids want to preserve all their minutes so that they will actually cut out the commercials to save their time for the shows! On the other hand, if someone leaves minutes on the unit and then you come in and want to watch TV, I haven't found a way to cancel those minutes or even override those minutes (without pulling the power and resetting everything).
There are several things that could improve this unit:
1. The PIN code entry for adult use is very tedious to use. You have to use the large arrow pad and scroll through each number of your 4 digit PIN. This takes many button clicks to switch the unit on without using the coins. A small remote or keypad on the unit would help the speed of entry. (Imagine walking in the door in the 4th quarter of a game and you are fis-fuddling with the keypad as the final seconds tick down)
2. If the power goes off or someone pulls the plug on the unit, the PIN is reset to the default. The default PIN is very simple sequence that anyone could guess. Resetting the PIN is a pain because of all the scrolling that is needed as described above.
3. The security on the back of the unit was easily tampered with. There is a door on the back of the unit that holds the discarded coins and protects the TV inputs and outputs. While the key hole on the door uses one of those circular type security keys, my 8-year old was easily able to defeat the flimsy plastic door using a simple screwdriver and popping it out of position.
Pro's
1. The coins that come with the unit are solid feeling coins that have some weight to them. They're larger than normal coins, which is good since the kids first attempt to use normal money to turn on the timers and this hasn't worked.
2. The unit shuts off the TV signal instead of messing with the power. This is great for most TV's that have a constant "on" even when they're off. We don't have a HDTV so I can't tell you whether those will work well with the unit or not, but there are RCA jacks for the unit both in and out as well as coax in and out. This allows the hookup of a DVD player or game system and TV together.
3. The unit has a pause function so that kids can save their time (at which point the signal gets cut and the TV shows static). I've watched now, as my kids want to preserve all their minutes so that they will actually cut out the commercials to save their time for the shows! On the other hand, if someone leaves minutes on the unit and then you come in and want to watch TV, I haven't found a way to cancel those minutes or even override those minutes (without pulling the power and resetting everything).
There are several things that could improve this unit:
1. The PIN code entry for adult use is very tedious to use. You have to use the large arrow pad and scroll through each number of your 4 digit PIN. This takes many button clicks to switch the unit on without using the coins. A small remote or keypad on the unit would help the speed of entry. (Imagine walking in the door in the 4th quarter of a game and you are fis-fuddling with the keypad as the final seconds tick down)
2. If the power goes off or someone pulls the plug on the unit, the PIN is reset to the default. The default PIN is very simple sequence that anyone could guess. Resetting the PIN is a pain because of all the scrolling that is needed as described above.
3. The security on the back of the unit was easily tampered with. There is a door on the back of the unit that holds the discarded coins and protects the TV inputs and outputs. While the key hole on the door uses one of those circular type security keys, my 8-year old was easily able to defeat the flimsy plastic door using a simple screwdriver and popping it out of position.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
My boys love nintendo. They love it so much, we could spend all day playing it and never know. As a mom with ADHD, I could spend all day on it and never have any concept of how long we've actually been playing. This machine is a life saver! My boys want to play in the morning before school. Great, when you are all ready to walk out the door, you can have a token. Some mornings I can't motivate them out of bed so I put a token in 30 minutes before they have to be out the door and tell them that's what I'm doing. Like magic, they spring to life, eat breakfast, get ready for school, just so they can play before the machine shuts off. Homework is the same -- kids that finish their homework get a token. The machine automatically shuts off at 9:00 -- no playing after bed time. For any parent that is tired of the struggle over the amount of time spent on the game system, this machine is SO for you!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
I bought some of these units to help control the endless TV watching in our household. Although it has been less than a week, I would say that the time machine has had a dramatic effect on "screen-time" in our family.
Pros:
Kids love to earn the coins. Although the novelty will wear off, I am having no problem getting kids to do simple chores in return for a 30-minute time tolken. In fact, I'm having to think hard to come up with things. As they have more and more tolkens built up, I tend to make the chores take a bit longer, or require them to read, go outside, etc. They also love spending the coins. The kids do collaborate and barter on who is going to use their coin. I don't see this as a downside because I am more interested in them contributing to helping with household chores than I am in total tv time.
The coins are nice and solid. Good feel to them!
I am not involved in the usage and timing. They put the coin in when they want, and the time runs out when it runs out. I stay out of it.
Some things to think about:
When you read about the device, it states that it can support two devices per unit. This is technically accurate. However, one of the devices has to be coax, and the other has to be RCA. There is one coax input, and one coax output. There is also one RCA input, and one output. The # of coax devices these days is pretty small. You can convert RCA to coax with an additional unit, but that involves more wires and cost.
Once you put a coin in the machine, there is no way to cancel the remaining time, or use the menu in any way. The menu functions are setting the time, changing the pin, setting the clock, and manually unlock/locking the unit without a coin. Not a huge deal, just know that once the coin goes in, the unit is in run mode until the 30 minutes passes. If somebody sticks 10 coins in, the until will be tied up for 5 hours.
If you unplug the unit, is loses all the settings. No battery backup. Somehow our dog always seems to lay on the powerstrip.
The until does not support HD connections. So for an x-box 360, you may be degrading your signal quality.
Componet Video, Y-Pb-Pr, video signals do work. However, you cannot plug in the sound. So you will plug in your 3 video cables, and then output the 3 video signals to your tv. You will have to run the sound directly from the source to the back of the tv, so the unit will only interrupt the signal, not the sound.
Hard to ground one child from the TV. You can just take all their coins, however, if they have a coin they can activate the until. Yes, this unit DOES still require parental involvement at some level. Some people are surprised by this. Wake up people..
Technically you cold probably pry the unit open, but again parents can make the concequences clear if people are trying to cheat the system.
Older kids may just plug a new RCA cable into the device and into the TV. Be sure you don't leave extra laying around. Again, you still have to be a parent. For x-boxes and such, it is not as big of a deal since one end of the cable tends to be proprietary.
If you have a lot of children, be sure you think about how they are going to keep track of their own coins, and be sure you know how you are going to store the extras. You could probably put a bit of color on each coin so that kids have their own coin color and you know if they are using their own and not one from a coin misplaced by a sibling.
If you have a lot of devices, and they are all RCA, you are limited to one time machine per device. However, you can purchase a connection switch that allows you to plug 4 inputs into it, and then have one output leaving it and running into the back of the time machine. Remember that this may make it easier for older kids to just unplug connections and move them around (See still must be an involved parent comments above).
Overall I am satisfied with the device. It has minimized the amount of work I must do policing TV, my house is a bit cleaner, and the kids are adapting well to the system. I would recommend this system to busy parents that want a bit more control.
Pros:
Kids love to earn the coins. Although the novelty will wear off, I am having no problem getting kids to do simple chores in return for a 30-minute time tolken. In fact, I'm having to think hard to come up with things. As they have more and more tolkens built up, I tend to make the chores take a bit longer, or require them to read, go outside, etc. They also love spending the coins. The kids do collaborate and barter on who is going to use their coin. I don't see this as a downside because I am more interested in them contributing to helping with household chores than I am in total tv time.
The coins are nice and solid. Good feel to them!
I am not involved in the usage and timing. They put the coin in when they want, and the time runs out when it runs out. I stay out of it.
Some things to think about:
When you read about the device, it states that it can support two devices per unit. This is technically accurate. However, one of the devices has to be coax, and the other has to be RCA. There is one coax input, and one coax output. There is also one RCA input, and one output. The # of coax devices these days is pretty small. You can convert RCA to coax with an additional unit, but that involves more wires and cost.
Once you put a coin in the machine, there is no way to cancel the remaining time, or use the menu in any way. The menu functions are setting the time, changing the pin, setting the clock, and manually unlock/locking the unit without a coin. Not a huge deal, just know that once the coin goes in, the unit is in run mode until the 30 minutes passes. If somebody sticks 10 coins in, the until will be tied up for 5 hours.
If you unplug the unit, is loses all the settings. No battery backup. Somehow our dog always seems to lay on the powerstrip.
The until does not support HD connections. So for an x-box 360, you may be degrading your signal quality.
Componet Video, Y-Pb-Pr, video signals do work. However, you cannot plug in the sound. So you will plug in your 3 video cables, and then output the 3 video signals to your tv. You will have to run the sound directly from the source to the back of the tv, so the unit will only interrupt the signal, not the sound.
Hard to ground one child from the TV. You can just take all their coins, however, if they have a coin they can activate the until. Yes, this unit DOES still require parental involvement at some level. Some people are surprised by this. Wake up people..
Technically you cold probably pry the unit open, but again parents can make the concequences clear if people are trying to cheat the system.
Older kids may just plug a new RCA cable into the device and into the TV. Be sure you don't leave extra laying around. Again, you still have to be a parent. For x-boxes and such, it is not as big of a deal since one end of the cable tends to be proprietary.
If you have a lot of children, be sure you think about how they are going to keep track of their own coins, and be sure you know how you are going to store the extras. You could probably put a bit of color on each coin so that kids have their own coin color and you know if they are using their own and not one from a coin misplaced by a sibling.
If you have a lot of devices, and they are all RCA, you are limited to one time machine per device. However, you can purchase a connection switch that allows you to plug 4 inputs into it, and then have one output leaving it and running into the back of the time machine. Remember that this may make it easier for older kids to just unplug connections and move them around (See still must be an involved parent comments above).
Overall I am satisfied with the device. It has minimized the amount of work I must do policing TV, my house is a bit cleaner, and the kids are adapting well to the system. I would recommend this system to busy parents that want a bit more control.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Works great
This worked great, my kids were doing what they needed to do in order to earn video game time. For about a month all I did was sing it's praises... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Rachael McKEnzie
Pleased with performance
We are happy with the product. It has allowed us to control the amount of tv and video game time allowed our kids. Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. Davis
totally angry
it's totally messed up that Amazon would even allow this product to be sold. Only works with analog signal which doesn't exist anymore!! only choice is to throw it away. Read more
Published 8 months ago by texasshell
Horrible - Buy BOB or something else instead
I bought this (and then later the much more expensive BOB timer. This one had fuzzy video as soon as I hooked it up. Then did not even work. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Jack
Big helper!
I love this contraption. We use a Roku box with Netflix as our main source of TV. The "Time Machine" just intercepts the RCA cord that runs from the Roku to the TV (it would also... Read more
Published 12 months ago by J. Kochanowski
lock is easily picked by a 9+ year old.
fairly easy to use and set up.
Token system is great.
BUT, the lock is a joke and is easily delatched by a kid with a paper clip.
This made it a waste of money.
Token system is great.
BUT, the lock is a joke and is easily delatched by a kid with a paper clip.
This made it a waste of money.
Published 13 months ago by reviewer 391
Wonderful!! A must have for kids addicted to TV....
My son would sit in front of the TV all day if I would let him so I had to do something to limit his TV time and not have it turn into a constant battle. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Kelley
Generally a good product
The Time Machine works as promised. There are only two limitations. One is that there is only a single input for video (besides coaxial cable). Read more
Published 21 months ago by Michael Elliott
Is Piece of Junk too rude?
Doesn't work once you spend 2 hours trying to figure out how to hook it up and then hook it up only to find it doesn't really work.
Save your money.
Save your money.
Published on January 14, 2010 by Patricia Wentzel
Such a Pain, Causes problems for others
This product is a simply a way for parents to not have to be parents. Why should I have to say no when I can just have a machine do it. Read more
Published on July 5, 2009 by A. You
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