V.smile Baby Perfect for little Hands (Vtech V.Smile Baby Infant Development System)

Member Name: lazytowner

Product:	Vtech V.Smile Baby Infant Development System
Date:	17/03/09 (179 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: chunky , bright activity panel

Disadvantages: batteries only

We bought the V.Smile Baby a couple of years ago for my son`s first birthday as he was getting very bored with his toys and was taking way too much interest in my computer!


~V.Smile Baby Infant Development System~

The V.smile is a computer console for babies and toddlers aged 9 months to 3 years. It comes with an activity panel which has bright chunky shape keys which are just right for the little ones. They games are designed to be bright and colourful and they will learn things like shapes ,numbers,colours ,pairs , opposites , sounds and baby sign language.

~What do you get in the box?~

A base unit with connection leads
Activity Panel
Learn & Discover Home cartridge
Scart connector

~The Base Unit~

Is made out of tough plastic , it is orange and white in colour and has purple feet. There are 2 purple windows one has a picture of a tv which is the wireless signal reciever and the other is the on/off button. There is a space at the back of the unit which will hold 4 cartridges , at the front of the base unit you place the cartridge you want to use in the slot.

~Activity Panel ~


This is made out of tough plastic , again it is orange and white in colour. On the panel you will find.

A Yellow Star
Blue Triangle
Orange Circle
Green Square
Red Heart
Sound button
Roller ball
Baby -safe soft bumper

There is an on/off switch , a mode selector , TV play/stand alone switch, and an exit button.

~Setting it up~

You will need to put the base unit near your tv as there is a white lead attached to the base unit which is not very long, this lead has a yellow connector which is a composite video connector and a white connector which is for audio. If your tv does not have a composite video connector there is an adapter which connects to the scart socket.The great thing about the V.smile is you can have the activity panel across the room from the tv and base unit and it will still work so you can sit in comfort and play.
You need to put 3AA batteries in the base unit and 4AA in the activity panel , once you have done that press the On button on the base unit and then the On button on the activity panel. Make sure that it is set to TV play otherwise it will not work.

On the activity panel you will see the mode selector where you have 3 choices , Play Time , Watch & Learn and Learn & Explore. When you have finished with your chosen mode of play just press the exit button and that will bring you back to a menu. You can also have this in Play alone mode where the baby/toddler just gets to play with the buttons which make lots of sounds.

~What do I think?~

When we first bought this for my son he wasn`t really interested in it , he liked pressing the buttons and would laugh at the Teletubbies but even at a year old he was more interested in my computer than his toys I guess thats what happens when we have a house full of computers! So the V.smile has been in the cupboard for the last year or so and recently my son has been playing PC and online games but the problem with this is he needs supervision and I can`t get on with the housework! Yesterday I decided to dig out the V.smile we set it up and my son loves it , the best thing is he doesn`t need my help so I can get on with other things.
Don`t go expecting the graphics to be brilliant on the V.smile , they are quite basic and the colours are bright BUT they are just right for the age group it is aimed at.

One annoying thing with the V.smile is if your baby/toddler decides to switch off the the activity panel the base panel will also go off ,which means if they then turn the activity panel back on you will have to turn the base unit on as it will not automatically do this.

For ages 9 months to 3 years
Price £34 from Tesco , Amazon , Argos

This review is also on Ciao same username

Summary: loads of fun for the little ones