BUILD QUALITY decent though haven't kid-tested yet
This lantern is entirely plastic and the handle seems non-robust but even if one broke the handle, it's LED lighting so it won't get hot. Batteries are NOT included (needs 4-AA) and it feels REALLY light without the batteries...
One thing to note is that in the store, there were two lanterns and the other one seemed to have a broken switch (it just kept turning, not clicking over). I don't know how common this is.
Reasons outlined in this section take away one star in the rating.
ASTRONOMICAL ACCURACY OF STARFIELD not bad but projects BACKWARDS
The starfield is brighter than I thought! The "stars" look fuzzy though and it gets worse the farther away the walls are so I felt like I had my glasses off ;)
The starfield is actually arranged in constellations with bigger holes for the brightest stars :) I was so surprised! The North Star is at the top of the dome (as if you were at the North Pole) however they made the hole for the North Star much too big therefore it shows up too brightly!! It's NOT the brightest star in the sky (a topic I personally am continually talking to students about) :-/
HOWEVER, the starfield is BACKWARDS when projected onto the walls!! It's accurate when looking at the dome itself but when you see all the stars on the walls (as if you were looking at the sky), it's all reversed i.e., Canis Major is to the RIGHT of Orion!!! :( :( This is unfortunate because I really wanted to be able to recommend this product to more people for help with constellations. The only way one could accurately do constellation practice is to look at the plastic dome itself and maybe that would help but I would think that kids would have this in their rooms and look at the stars projected on the walls and get confused when actually looking at the sky. Now maybe I had a bad one but both were like this in the store...
Reasons outlined in this section take away one star in the rating.
LANTERN LIGHT OUTPUT pretty bright!
This certainly will help light your way and I really appreciate that the light is deflected down and out it sits pretty well on a table (especially for adults). Note that you can't have both the stars and the lantern on at the same time.
Oh, and the light is blue-ish white not great for the night vision but whatever.
Also note that the light output is not adjustable.
THINGS YOU COULD DO WITH THIS:
starfield use as nightlight (that someone has to turn off)
starfield put on a SLOW turntable or spinny thing for a "planetarium experience"
starfield put on an incline to show the North Star at the proper altitude (it's at the same altitude as your latitude!)
starfield practice constellations (but only with those who can understand that things are reversed!!)
lantern find some red cellophane to make it a more night-vision friendly lantern
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I got a set of this as a gift to two boys age 4 and 5 after their father complained that during the Hurricane Sandy one of the boys would wake up screaming during the night due to the darkness. They normally use a plug in night light but no power no night light.The gift was a huge hit as the boys really enjoyed going to sleep "UNDER THE STAR" and dad was happy with the life of the batteries although he did mention that it would be nice to have an optional self shut off in the star mode.
The lantern was easy to use and really brightened the room. The boys were able to turn it on and off without assistance and the mom said that she would be packing it with them during their nest camping trip.
This lantern is a really nice, unique gift for those that love the outdoors and have just about everything.
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My kids 3 and 5 love this lantern the only problem is that the switch to turn it on is hard. They can not do it by themselves so they always have to ask an adult to help. But the lantern has good amount of light and the starry sky really projects. My kids love it.... But really it I'd made for kids and They cannot turn it on... There are two fake buttons to make it look real the main switch turn it one way for the lantern and the other way for the stars it would have been better to have two different buttons. Overall it is a good toy.Honest reviews on Uncle Milton Nat Geo Starry Night Lantern
We are in love with this product. When we moved into our new house we bought this for my son. It's both a light and a star machine. He loves it. It's easy for him to operate and to carry around. A good buy!Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Uncle Milton Nat Geo Starry Night Lantern
Positives: Very simple to operate, even for a 4 year old. Reported accuracy of constellations. Low price.Negatives: Flimsy construction (but still in line with the price paid), weak power/light projection, and the projected spots are fuzzy when the product is used from the floor.
All in all, I believe I got what I paid for, but would be hesitant to buy it as a gift for a friend's child.
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