Cheap Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Deluxe Snap Rover

Customer Ratings:

Where to begin with this thing?

My kid (8 y.o. girl) who loves "science stuff" has started getting into Snap Circuits, specifically the SC-300 kit. She expressed an interest in the standard RC Rover, but I thought the voice box and disc shooter were worthwhile upgrades for the fun factor.

One nitpick to start off:

The picture posted for this item does not really represent what it looks like. Yes, it has the Dome contraption and the yellow tanklike bottom, but the components on the back are not representative of what comes in the box. For example the big yellow speaker is not present and the green box is also not there. The red RF receiver box is nowhere near as large. What you get is functionally the same with a slightly different mix of components and the number of "experiments" went from 40 to 63, with two bonus experiments if you have an SC-300 kit or higher.

The kid showed a passing interest in it when it was with all the other Christmas loot, but the first experiment we did was the RC disc shooter. Thus followed an hour of playtime of having the vehicle hunt down and fire harmless foam discs at the cat (the cat enjoyed chasing down the discs as fast as the thing could be reloaded, too). Followed by hunting the wife, and then I fell victim to the rover's discs of death.

This thing is built quite sturdy and makes lots of gear noise when it runs. It has a headlight and flashing red "eyes". It plays beeping musical tunes and it can record and playback voices.

What to nitpick about it? Just a few things:

1. The SC-300 and other SnapCircuit kits come in a box to organize and store all the stuff. This comes in a box, but the box isn't suited for storage.

2. There is no "battery saver" for either the remote or the vehicle. It would be nice if the remote at least shut off after not being used for a while.

3. The remote uses a telescoping metal antenna, so one has to be careful not to break it.

4. One of the items a 2-snap "wire" segment had a broken snap that won't stay attached. There is a card included where the customer can call the vendor about missing/broken parts and I plan to give them a call about it after the holidays.

In the end, this is a great toy (more toy-ish than the kits at least) and very entertaining and fun. Highly recommended if you have a kid who loves to tinker and build stuff.

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This is a second purchase of a Snap Circuit learning toy. My eight year old very smart son is challenged and intrigued by these toys and he is definitely developing a knowledge of how electricity works and analytical skills. For a toy a kid can have fun with I give this Snap Circuit toys highest marks.Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Deluxe Snap Rover

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This toy is excellent. The only real quibble I have is that a couple of the diagrams are slightly hard to read because wires cover the capacitor numbers in the diagrams. But otherwise, this is very simple to put together, very straightforward, and great fun. The rover itself is quite sturdy (though loud when rolling) and rolls over small objects with ease. It's great for chasing your dogs around the living room. If you're looking for something more advanced than Lego, but less advanced than the Mindstorms lego, this is it.

Honest reviews on Elenco Electronics Snap Circuits Deluxe Snap Rover

Amazon has the following description listed

From the Manufacturer

Have FUN building your own Deluxe Snap Rover using the colorful Snap Circuits parts that come with this

kit. There is no soldering required as all the parts snap together with ease. Once completed, you will

be able to navigate your surroundings with the easy-to-use Snap Rover remote control. Create a Line

Tracking Robot, an Infared Avoidance Robot or a Programable Tracking Robot. Complete 40 experiments in all.

This product DOESN'T have Line Tracking Robot, an Infared Avoidance Robot or a Programable Tracking Robot as they have listed in the descriptionit is far more basic.

My 7 year old still found it fun but I was disappointed with the fact that Amazon didn't have the product correctly represented and wouldn't do what they claimed it could.

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Amazon claims that this product can "Create a Line Tracking Robot, an Infared Avoidance Robot or a Programable Robot." This is not true. I opened the product for my daughter's birthday and these features are not part of the toy. A quick review of the manufacturer's website shows that the manufacturer does not make these claims.

Amazon is misrepresenting this product and the manufacturer. Either their description author can't parse words well, or they have a script that is collecting descriptions for other products.

This appears to be a quality toy for what it IS, an RC rover kit with a few sound and lights bells and whistles. An educational kids electronic kit. My kids love their other snap circuits and I expect this to be enjoyable.

HOWEVER, I payed a premium price for what I thought would be the programmable robot features. Amazon swindled me on an RC toy. BUYER BEWARE!!!

UPDATE August 2013: after I wrote this purchase I complained to Amazon and they refunded me a $20 credit on the rover. I notice the description has not changed maybe you can get a deal too. Also, I contacted the manufacturer because I really respect them and they gratefully replied that they would ask Amazon to fix the description, but again this obviously hasn't happened yet. Demand some money if you expected robotics.