Customer Reviews

Uncle Milton Star Theatre Pro

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

The Promise:

We really wanted to put the night sky on our son's ceiling to help him fall asleep at night and definitely wanted something that slowly rotated. The description of the Star Theater Pro fit the bill perfectly.

The Reality:

While it does put a decent starry night sky on the ceiling, we had to return the FIRST unit we received because the rotation stopped working in just a few days of use. The SECOND unit we received was choppy and, after just a month or so of use, began making a squealing sound. For the money we spent, we should have gotten a much better built product.

My recommendation is if you're after the rotating aspect of this, don't waste your money. If you don't care if it rotates, there are much cheaper alternatives so don't waste your money. Same with educational interest. Dollars will go much further elsewhere.

Edit:

I bought this on Amazon for over $100. Since I wrote this review, they dropped the price to $40. I still believe that anyone wanting it for the rotation feature shouldn't waste their money, but if you don't want it for that then it is now much more competitively priced.

Got this item a couple of weeks ago and I am overall satisfied with it. Having a higher ceiling is a good thing because the closer the unit is to the ceiling, of course the smaller the image on your ceiling will be. During rotation it occasionally skips a little bit but not too bad. At this price it should not though. Ultimately, I don't think it is worth what it costs. On the positive side, it seems to be much better than the other one's offered out there. It is very relaxing to watch while sitting or lying down. The little slides also seem to be of ok quality. Durability appears good also. The focus control works smoothe too. Some may use it for an educational tool but I use it for relaxing and enjoying. Enjoy it for whatever your taste.

I bought the star theater pro for pure entertainment value as we have an infant (10 weeks). Right away our baby took to looking up at the ceiling during her feedings in a rocker chair. From that perspective this product has clearly captured her attention, this should be of value for the next few years as she develops. The sky theater pro is very light weight but the construction seems really solid (firm buttons, tray holds discs well, focus adjuster is tight). I like the fact that batteries are optional and that the AC adaptor is included and not an add-on accessory. I also really like looking at the stars as well, but the replay value might be a little limited. Why?? Well it would be great if the company included a tour CD or explained the night sky in some detail (I'd highlight that as the only downfall), instead Farm Fresh includes a hypnotic music CD (which is pretty cool itself) but limits the learning and replay function. They should REALLY bring the planetarium to the home!! I'm not very good at picking out constellations, so I might just have to buy the additional discs that covers the constellations. I'll also check iTunes for some star tour audio track or something to make the accurate night sky more lively for indoor observation. This unit doesn't have a random shooting star function, but I personally wouldn't find that of interest (some might).

The night sky is really bright with the star theater pro, I'd say the unit does function in dimly lit rooms, but is best in total darkness. The unit also covers a large portion of our ceiling, very very clearly. We have 9' foot floors and the optics are quite good, colors vivid for earth disc that the unit comes with is very vibrant (and is preferred by our infant, very colorful and bright). I'd say if your a total star enthusiast and don't want to freeze outside in the winters, this could be fun for educational value, making this a likely "nice to have". However, if you have an infant and want to capture attention in a relaxing environment, this is a MUST HAVE ITEM!! I really thought the quality represents a good value particularly when compared to the Homestar (which also seems cool but perhaps costs more). I gave this product a top rating because of quality relative to price versus competing products. We love it!

i got this for a family member near death , with cancer. weak from his illness and having to stay in bed all the time. i thought that the celing was not to be the last thing he would see before leaving this world, a world so full of wonder and grace.
he loved it ,and used it until.......

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

I didn't expect too much for the price and it was for my two year old. Nonetheless, what a let down. My son has a turtle that projects stars and moons, while it is cartoonish, at least it is designed to cover the whole ceiling. The "Star Theater Pro" projects a circle about 5 feet in diameter! So you end up with this little circle on your ceiling. You can put it into the corner of the room and project it on an angle...that will cover the ceiling, but then all the stars are "stretched" and you feel like you are in a time warp as if you just hit the hyperspace button on the Millennium Falcon.

Additionally, there is a setting that allows the stars to rotate. Problem is, it makes a high pitched sound that is rather penetrating. Not relaxing if that is what you are anticipating.


It is of thin plastic, but appears to be fairly solid . . . time will tell on a true durability rating.

A definite pass is my advice..... cheers!

Update, 6/2011: After playing with this for some time, there really are some problems that I glossed over too quickly in my earlier review. It is true that the LEDs are much brighter, but the quality of the constellation disk is not as good as the similar "sega homestar" unit. Unfortunately, the disks are slightly different in size, and cannot be interchanged. I still like the uncle milton unit and think that it is a fine, less expensive alternative to the Homestar. However, I would modify my original review to reflect somewhat lower educational value. In my preview version, at least, the review has not been changed to 4 stars. That is what I would give it for educational value at this point. Sorry if I misled anyone.

I have the older one and just bought the newer "pro" version. Like one other reviewer, I preferred the mount on the old unit. However, the new unit is brighter.
One reviewer says you could achieve the same effect with a piece of black paper with holes in it and a flashlight...perhaps...if you put all the holes in the right place to project accurately the position of thousands of stars. That same reviewer went on to purchase a different product which projects pinpoint lights in a programable pattern...that have nothing to do with the arrangement of stars.
Anyone familiar with constellations will immediately be able to spot their favorites. Some distortion at the edges is expected. But, the overall image is very good. I used the older model last year to help prepare my daughters elementary-school astronomy team for a competition. The two teams took first and second in the competition (not just because of the projector, of courser...but it did help them prepare for the constellation portion). I'm donating the older unit to the school. My kids and I love just lying under the stars, picking out constellations and seeing the changes with the seasons. Along with a planisphere (or now, Starwalk on my iPad), they have gotten familiar with where things are. Of course, we back this up with actual star gazing. I agree that it was pretty expensive until recently. But, it is better than other products I've tried.

PROS

Fun star projector which will help children or adults fall asleep.

Nice rotating images.

Automatic timer for 30 or 60 minutes.

Two more slides available (which I did purchase from Uncle Milton, but I have not received them yet).

CONS

I am worried like other costumers that parts might break; item seems flimsy because some parts are made of thin plastic.

It is great that there are two more slides available but those other slides should come with the planetarium at no extra cost.

Rotating image only projects on one surface and is only about five feet across.

*The bottom line is buy this but not for more than 60 dollars. If the price is higher than 60 dollars, wait until the price goes down. Some individuals on other websites have reported that Amazon has sold this item for 40 dollars in the past. I also think the cause for the polarization of the reviews on Amazon is probably due to the different purchase prices the item has sold for in the past. I could see being disappointed in the product if you paid more than 70 or 80 dollars for it especially since there are cheaper versions for a similar effect. For example, Uncle Milton also offers a 3D space projector for a much lower price (around 30 dollars) if you are not wanting to take the 100 dollar plunge now. Another company, Cloud B, also makes an inexpensive animal (ladybug, turtle) night light which displays a wonderful non-rotating star display for the room. If you want the star field rotating, the Discovery Store offers this type of planetarium, but it like the Star Theater Pro is supposed to have quality issues. On the positive side, it does sell for about half of what this product is selling for now. Another option for a rotating home planetarium is the iOptron that sells on-line at a big box store for around 60 to 70 dollars. Of all the rotating home planetariums I have researched, it has received the best reviews.

I actually just bought the iOptron to use in my daughter's room at night. The iOptron is probably a better education toy because it shows the constellations of the night sky, and supposedly you can set the planetarium to match your longitude and therefore match your own night sky. Also the constellations it projects do cover the entire room unlike the 5 to 6 feet of coverage by the Star Theater Pro. The Star Theater Pro though does have much clearer images and also offers a variety of images for use. I don't know why someone can't make a good quality planetarium which projects a clear rotating image over the entire room without costing an arm and a leg.

I'm not one to post a lot of reviews but I felt this one was necessary. I previously owned the Uncle Milton Homestar Planetarium and the motor burned out and was not available for repair as the item is discontinued. I then purchased the
Star Theater Pro to find out that the disks showing a starry field are not night sky accurate and educational or usable for learning about the night sky. I also was disappointed to find that my earlier night sky accurate disks from my Homestar, which was also an Uncle Milton product, are not the same size and are not compatible with the Star Theater Pro. I did hear back from Uncle Milton and was informed that the Star Theater Pro is only a "novelty" item. Beware, if you plan to use this for educational purposes.

As other reviewers have stated, this is an OK product, however, it is NOT worth 130+ dollars. I returned it almost as soon as I received it. The 'discs' do not have an image of the night sky, it just looks like a bunch of dots. Anyone could achieve this effect using a flashlight, a black piece of construction paper and a needle. I would have guessed with the high price tag and being having "PRO" at the end of the name that it would be a little more than this and that it would actually appear as though the night sky were on your ceiling. NOPE. Added to this, there are only 2 'discs' included and an OFFER to buy 2 more in the package for a whopping 25 bucks. Apparently though, they are not making the discs anymore, so it's not like they're standing behind this product. With a price tag like this, they should have already been in the box, along with many many others. If there were about 10 more discs included I would have almost kept it to give as a gift to my nephew. I don't understand how they can keep selling this product for so much.

For those of us that enjoyed going to the planetarium as a child and thought wow, what fun to have a small one in our home, well, keep hoping because this worthless over-priced TOY.
Of 88 Constellations, this projects none of them. Save your money!