Buying our 3rd "Bob" | BOB - Screen Time Manager

A Perfect Product | BOB - Screen Time Manager - Manage Your TV Time

electronics:


	• BOB - Screen Time Manager - Manage Your TV Time Hopscotch Technologies Hopscotch Technologies, 2006 average customer review:based on 18 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

BOB is a great tool for parents

This is a wonderful product. It's easy to install and to use. It's an effective tool for limiting children's TV time.

Buying our 3rd "Bob"

The best product I ever tried for controlling my kids' screen time was "EyeTimer" which inexplicably went out of business. Bob is a worthy substitute - but whereas EyeTimer let me set up a single "screen" budget for each child for 2 TVs and 1 gaming system, I need a "Bob" for each device and have to manage time on each of them. (Eyetimer also had a "homework" mode that let kids use the computer for homework without charging their "playtime" budget and kept track of what they did to make sure there was no playing when they were supposed to be working.)

We have 2 "Bobs" - one for the family TV and one for the small TV my 10- and 13-year-old boys use for gaming. My kids have really learned how to budget their "screen" time. We use a weekly allowance that is split between the gaming Bob and the TV Bob. I'm back to buy a 3rd Bob b/c my 13-year-old figured out he could move the Wii into my bedroom when I'm not home! They won't even have pin numbers on that one.

With Bob, the kids know exactly how much time they've used and how much they have left. I have set up blocks for times they shouldn't be on screens and I have one pin number that only works on Saturdays from 7-11 PM - so it's only used when my oldest is sitting for his younger brother and they're allowed to watch a movie. They also know that I can take away Bob time for bad behavior, or reward them with "fly time" as either a special "bonus" or because there are 10 minutes left in a show they are watching.

for more information click here

A Perfect Product

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.

for more information click here

Works great!

I had purchased a competing product a couple months ago (the Time Machine) and the kids had found some easy ways around it in no time. This device was easy to set up and works great. I had a user problem at one point and wrote customer service and they replied immediately and went beyond normal expectations to help me solve it. A great product from a great company. Highly recommended.

Great product... Works perfectly

Bob was easy to set up. It's easy for the kids to use, and surprisingly, they don't mind (too much) having it. We are able to avoid arguments that were a regular occurance before. Bob is able to detect that the TV has been turned off, so the kids can save some of their time for later. I believe this is teaching them to be more selective about when and what they watch.

for more information click here

Efficient management of time is perhaps the largest human folly. Teach you children how to use their time wisely. BOB from Hopscotch Technology is a great way to help you do so. Television or computer use is an important part of our lives, but it should not be the only part. BOB is a simple hardware solution to the "too much TV" issue, bringing balance to electronic media use in our homes. BOB helps parents monitor and manage the time their children spend using in-home media. BOB is an easy to use, small device that sits next to a TV, video-game system or computer. The power cord from one of these devices plugs into the back of BOB and is locked in place. Then, BOB plugs into an electrical outlet. After set up, a process that takes about three minutes, the machine monitors the amount of time a child spends using that media device. Parents decide an acceptable amount of viewing time for each child per day or week. Specific time periods can be blocked entirely for studying, chores, family time, or sleeping. Each child in the house for up to 6 users has a four-digit PIN that they enter before they can turn on the attached device. BOB tracks the time used. A master pin allows a parent to turn on the connected device at any time. When a child's preset viewing time expires, BOB shuts off the attached TV, video-game system or computer and won't allow it to be turned on by that user for the remainder of the day or week. Time reporting for every user Time-period blocking (to prevent media use at certain times of the day) BOB works with all TVs (including large screens), gaming stations, and computers Big, easy to use, illuminated keypad for the entire family - even in the dark! Tamper proof - Durable Hopscotch Technology 1-year warranty

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

hot