BOB - Screen Time Manager - Manage Your TV Time | List Price: $99.99
Discount Price: $68.90
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Platform: Xbox 360
Brand: Hopscotch
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2006-08-08
Features: - Simple 3-minute set up
- 6 unique user accounts
- Safe for all electronics
- Kid-safe and tamperproof
- Reduces screentime=better health & better grades
BOB is a great tool for parents [Posted on 2008-07-26]
This is a wonderful product. It's easy to install and to use. It's an effective tool for limiting children's TV time.
A Perfect Product [Posted on 2008-08-11]
The rare perfect product -- designed for a specific purpose and does it very well. It used to be a pain to try to keep track of how much tv the kids were watching. BOB does it for us. We set time limits, they enter their individual codes and they get to watch until their daily time limit. My wife and I don't have to worry about it at all anymore. Smart design -- the tv's power plug gets locked into BOB so you can't even get around it that way. It starts chiming 1 minute before shutoff, which is good b/c then you can shut off the tv yourself if you're worried about the effects of external power cutoffs (I have no idea if that's really an issue). One improvement would be to allow different time limits by day of the week, specifically we allow the kids to watch longer on weekends. We get around that by having separate weekend accounts for them. Since we have 2 kids and there are 6 available accounts that works.
Damn near perfect (for my use) [Posted on 2008-09-09]
I purchased the Hopscotch Bob for my video arcade as a way to allow customers to pre-pay for extended periods of time. This device is 100x's better than other timers I've purchased. I kick myself everyday for not having bought this first.
VERY solid design. Works 100% of the time and is a very well built machine. I would've given this a perfect 5 stars but I cannot because of the ultra-annoying "warning buzzer". With 1 minute remaining the Bob will start to beep. The beep is much louder than needed and there is no volume adjustment. This wouldn't be an issue if it only did it once or twice. It beeps CONSTANTLY for that minute and with the last 5 seconds beeps rapidly. Volume control should be included but do not overlook this product because of this one omission.
I have since bought 8 more units and they are all perfect for me in my line of work. This could be used in the office break room as a bonus for employees. Simply set up a tv or video game and it'll regulate the time spent. You can also set up a block to keep people off it except during specific hours.
I would have NO problems buying this product but do not spend over $90shipped for it. There are numerous retailers selling this for $85shipped.
Bob is a welcome addition to our family! [Posted on 2008-10-01]
Our children are "TV-aholics" and will watch TV all day if we let them! Here's how Bob helps: Each child gets their own pin number (you can program up to 6). With the master pin number, my husband and I can program how much TV time each person gets per day. So when my children wants to watch TV, they have to punch in a PIN number and Bob displays how much time they has remaining for that day. When the time is up, Bob shuts off power to the TV and it cannot be turned back on. Bob also allows us to block out certain times for each user, such as Sunday morning or the hour after school (for homework time).
The kids can earn extra time (for doing chores, homework, etc) or they can have time taken away for misbehaving. So far, it's working really well. My son asks me if he can watch a show and I respond, "It's up to you- If you use all your time now, you won't have any TV time later today and you might be sad." He also did all of his chores this morning without any complaining- It was fabulous!
Bob can also help control video game time because the kids can't turn on the TV without using their PIN. So, while they can turn the video game console on, they can't see anything on the TV without logging in and using their time. You can also connect Bob to a computer.
The thing I love most about Bob is that it's no longer me telling the kids to turn the TV off- That's Bob's job. He's a welcome addition to our home!
Bob: the three letter answer to all TV arguements [Posted on 2008-11-14]
I bought Bob to replace the TV Allowance we had used for years, but was not compatible with three-prong plugs or TVs that require a trickle of power.
I think Bob is a great product, but we did have problems at first. Bob had the maddening habit of shutting DVDs off when a scene with low lighting came on or the credits rolled. My family was ready to toss me and Bob out the door. A call to the very helpful Bob technical support staff resulted in emailed instructions on how to adjust the light level sensor in Bob. This has solved the problem.
We use Bob to limit our son's TV and video game time. He gets 10 hours per week to use as he sees fit, but then 10 hours is up, it's up. There are no more arguments.
Bob is a great addition to a parent's child raising tools.
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