Smithsonian Optics Room Planetarium and Dual Projector Science Kit, Black/Blue, Age 8 and Up

I really liked how it was easy to put together, the timer goes for 15 mins which is perfect for my 3 year old son. He loves the earth that is pictured here. It has a focus to easily make the planet clear. It takes 4 AA batteries, which is great for moving it to whatever side of the room I want it on. The stars kindof generic but he loves when the rotate. This is the prefect gift for my autistic son that loves the solar system, we pick what planet he wants to look at every night.

Kids love it. Makes a great nightlight and/or activity. A little pricey at $40. So dont let the kids break it too fast, its plastic.

Initially when I was researching home planetariums, I was put off by some of the negative reviews on this product, and instead convinced myself to shell out $250 for the Sega Flux (you can see my review under that). I promptly returned it the next day and ordered the Smithsonian after all. It’s still not super realistic and honestly, a kid’s nightlight would probably do the job just as well, but it’s soothing, pretty and covers a large swath of ceiling, and you can have just stars or mix it up with pics of the moon, planets or spaceships if you choose. And we’ll worth the $40.

This would be a fabulous product, but there are some quality issues. The disc do not fit as they supposed to, I don’t see how a kid can handle this product without the help of a grownup. It takes a bit of time to make it work as it is supposed to. The images are ok. The product feels cheap

Really nice product, my childs are very happy. The only concern to me is: Exist a lot of space objects, trillions! and came with only 3 disc... I think this can be better.Other concern is: resolution is not good at 6 or more meters, too fuzzy.But, in overall rankig: It's HIGHLY recomended!! It's very very funny!

This item is garbage. At $30+ ($55 as of 12/26) you expect a high quality projector, similar to the many holiday projectors people have outside their houses these days. This project is not that. Nowhere close. The "stars" are projected from a single blue LED light. You have to have the thing within 4 feet of a wall or ceiling for them to show up clear. Anything farther away and they appear blurry. And the images, the box says "HD" hahahha. The images are on old school slides that go into the bottom of the machine. Same thing here, unless you are within 4 ft of the wall the images are blurry and not worth the time. I have purchased Smithsonian branded products for my son before and he has loved them. Someone clearly dropped the ball when putting the Smithsonian brand on this product. Overpriced slideshow. And not a good one at that.

Very cool gift that allows kids to see the stars from the comfort of their bed.

I will admit my expectations were not reasonable for this product given the low price and the suggested age appropriateness. However, the Smithsonian name should not be used on a product with this many problems, namely: 1) the star field was not realistic, just a random selection of dots, 2) stars do indeed appear to rotate around the north star, but not at the rate of one revolution every 20 seconds or so - it gives the impression that you are watching the stars from some rotating turntable, 3) the motor that revolves the images is too noisy, 4) the automatic timer turns the device off way too soon, 5) the images are not that bright and not very clear if you place the device on the floor; if you place it on a table or dresser it doesn't not cover the whole ceiling; 6) the battery cover is attached with a screw, which is an unnecessary inconvenience. I realize this product is aimed at children, but I cannot see what they would possibly learn from it, unless it's how to better evaluate product descriptions to become a better consumer.