Customer Reviews

VideoNow Color Personal Video Player - Blue

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is an incredible toy for the value. I wish I had something like this as a kid, and in fact, I remember wishing they had something like this.

As far as fun, I have to give this five stars. I mean, cartoons on the go? What could be more fun for a kid? And for adults, what could be better than having your child quiet for half an hour while you're driving or out shopping? As a plus, some of the cartoons can be fun for adults (Spongebob) and there's also PVDs containing episodes of popular grown-up shows like "Trading Spaces," "Monster Garage" with more on the way.

Educational value is also a five. While Spongebob may not seem terribly educational, some episodes have some sort of moral, like the episode "Procrastination." There are also shows like "Jeff Corwin," the guy from Animal Planet. So, with the right PVDs, kids can have fun watching programs that have good entertainment value, but also teach something.

Durability. Well, one reviewer commented that the VideoNow Color broke when her child dropped it. While I do understand that kids do drop toys, consider this is like a CD player or portable DVD player, and ask yourself, "Would this withstand being dropped?" The answer most likely is no. In general, electronic devices, especially one at this price, are not the most robust. It can handle being jostled in a backpack or slathered in sticky candy juices, so I'd have to say that if you have a child who takes care of his/her toys, then the VideoNow Color should last quite a while. The backlit LCD has a hard plastic cover over it, so there is little worry about puncturing and should be protected from most damage caused by being bounced around in a bag.

Downsides: Proprietary disc format (no playing DVDs, VCDs or homemade discs), uses three AA batteries, which can get costly (better to invest in rechargeables)

With that said, this is a wonderful toy for a child of any age, although the package states ages six and up. I bought this gadget and am fairly impressed with its construction and function, considering the price of this device--a backlit color LCD is not a cheap thing to include in a device meant for a child. Even though this device is rated to last 5-8 hours on three AA alkaline batteries, which is actually pretty good, you'll probably want to invest in rechargeables if you expect a lot of use. And just for reference, the unit is about the size of a portable CD player, just a bit fatter because of the room needed to incorporate the LCD.

As for content, the price isn't bad, even if you have to rely only on VideoNow-only discs. Assuming your average DVD costs $20, you can find a 3-pack of VideoNow PVDs for about five dollars less, and they can contain about the same amount of episodes as its DVD counterpart. With that said, cost-wise, if you were thinking of investing in a DVD player to keep your kids entertained while on the road, this device will save you a ton of money.

If you hated Video Now 1 forget all your hatred over Video Now. Color is much better. The screen is twice as big and the picture quality is the best. Except for Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. The sound is better too. Try it and buy it. The display at the store has been tamperd. It is sooo much better than how you see it. Video Now also has better episodes than Game Boy Video. Game Boy has only the first episodes.Video Now 1 sucked but Video Now Color is the BEST.

Pros

High picture quality
Great sound
Portable
Better episodes
Bigger screen
Built in light
Dosen't eat batteries
Other stuff to buy for it
Previews
Comes in fashionable colors

Cons

Heavy
Less portable without case
Expensive
Needs more batteries
Long loads

This toy is the best. Like you can watch great shows and it is soooo cool for finals I mean someone can get really bored after a final. Plus you can take it anywhere. I was thinking of getting the new portable dvd player for teens, but this is way better!!! I am definetley getting this for christmas!!!

(...). I ordered it with the blue headphones (...) and the 3 disk pack (Jimmy Neutron, Spongebob and Chalkzone(...) with CD size large disks). It was shipped to my 10 year old son in three day's. It has a larger screen, and he enjoys it. We had bought the black and white version(...)with smaller disks last year, and returned it to the store (Toys R Us) the very next day. Since school is out and we are planning a lot of car trips (I guess I'll have to buy some more disks)VideoNow Color will come in handy. I'm gonna keep the box just in case the screen and/or disks breaks. Just in case...

I LOVE my Video Now Color. The only thing i hate about it is that everything is so much money. I got the system (...)the 3 pack discs, which i recomend buying instead of the one pack. Overall i think it was worth every penny. The graphics are good and the sound is ok. If i were you, ID BUY VIDEO NOW!! Dont wait or your missing out.

This is indeed one of the best things for when us kids are bored!!! I wanted the Video-Now when it was in black and white but my mom told me to wait until it was in color and i am glad I listened !!!
I wouldn't reccomend for kids who drop and don't take care of because it can break when dropped from a high level such as kitchen table etc...
Is not very educational unless you buy a Jeff Corwin disk or something but is good to preoccupy annoing kids while moms do an errand in town overall this is an EXCELLENT!!!

I bought this for my 4 year old who needed entertainment in the car. Well it does just that. The car rides are quiet now that he watches his movies. The 2 downfalls I see to this product is 1) the fact that its not as durable as it should be for kids. My son just bumps it and it skips....should be stronger for $70. 2) The CD's it plays only plays on the player. Cannot use it in regular DVD players. So for the value of a quiet car ride is great but like I said needs to be more sturdy for the price and fact its for a child.

My Dad got me the Video Now in color. It is soooo cool. He also got me a bunch of cool discs. Some are all about the XGames and they have great action and funny stories about the guys. My two favorites are Jaime Bestwick, only the most awesome BMX rider ever, he is so cool and really funny. also the graphics look totally cool better than anything on TV. Another one is Taj Burrow an awesome surfer, he makes it look so easy. I really wanna try surfing now, it looks like the most fun in the world. Thanks Hasbro now i'll be in the XGames now..... lol

PROS
*Easy to use
*Portable
*Good shows for younger kids, Nickelodeon mostly

CONS
*Bad Graphics
*Tiny Screen
*Expensive, but not worth it
*Limited shows

Well, I guess if you're a four-year-old, you dont really care about the screen, the price, the graphics, or the show you're watching, but still, you can literally go blind. The idea of Video Now is cool, but trust me, it's not all it's cracked up to be. The so-called 'color' is choppy-game-boy-color-from-1998.

My recommendations are.....
Buy a game boy for your kid
If you really want to take a shot at this, make sure you see someone that has it first, and take a look what you're really purchasing.
Buy a portable DVD player, like a Sony, which you can buy in most electronic stores.

I bought one of these Video Nows for each of my kids. Two weeks later, the screen did not work (completely black). I thought they had mishandled them and we had a long trip coming up, so I reluctantly bought two more. I took one out of the package, put new batteries in, and the screen did not work. All four of the Video Nows that I purchased were broken either immediately out of the package or in less than two weeks. I purchased these toys from a Wal-Mart and they refused to take three of them back because I did not have the plastic packaging they had come in. For the same price of this toy, coupled with headphones, car lighter adapter, and the PVDs that will only play in the Video Nows, you can purchase a portable DVD player which is a much better product and a much better value. I would not recommend that anyone purchase this toy.