How We Came To Own It
My son Ethan suffers from the only child syndrome (similar - to of course - his father). Over the past three years, he's been whining and moaning about the fact that he's
old enough to have an
iPod (
cause you know - it's what ALL of the cool kids have). Although I probably indulge Ethan just a little more than I should, I absolutely put my foot down and I would not purchase him an
iPod. Why? I just felt like it was too fragile for my
less-than-responsible child.
Then late last spring, while shopping in my favorite department store (
Target), I came across a display of
Disney MixStick Digital Audio Players. They were
adorable - shaped like - oh I don't know - a small eyeglass case (about the size of a large pack of Bubble Yum!). The
MixStick players are all the same, except that their exteriors had different designs.
Hoping to find one with
Cinderella on it (wouldn't that be great for a grown woman to carry around?!) I found instead, designs for
That's So Raven,
Sassy Pixie (Tinkerbelle),
Forever Princess, and
Mickey. Initially, I dismissed the thought of getting one of these for Ethan - obviously - three of them are
girly - and since he was eleven at the time -
Mickey isn't exactly
cool. After circling the store, I came back, picked up
Mickey and realized that because of the subtle design (it's a silvery/chrome one with only the outline of Mickey's head embossed on one side) - this might be something we could work with.
What You Get In the Box for $49.99
* Disney MixStick (design of your choice)
* Earbuds
* Lanyard
* Windows Media Software cd
Side note - I can't remember what version they gave us - but we already had this installed on our computer.
Not an iPod? Huh? Post-Purchase Usage and Further Considerations
I'm not a girl big on the technical details of things. I usually just want to know if it will work or not.
In the case of this
Disney MixStick, though, this involved my high-maintenance child - a kid who - if he didn't have the answers then the next leap in logic would be him borrowing/stealing his mother's
iPod. No way homer.
If you're a parent who is mulling over whether or not to purchase this for your
tween, let me address what I believe will be your most burning questions.
Question: What are the main differences between this and an
iPod.
Answer: Wow! This could be an entire book - just on its own. In summary, the answer is
Cost,
Digital Format,
User Controls,
Parental Control, and
Expansion Options.
Cost
An
iPod will set you back from $79.99 for the Shuffle to $350 for the latest high-storage, video-enabled version.
The
Disney MixStick is $49.99.
Digital Format
Apple has their own, proprietary software (AAC-Advanced Audio Coding) that you need to use in order to transfer your music over to your media player.
If you already have a computer with
Windows Media software on it (which - if you have
Windows XP - chances are that you do), then that's one less piece of software clogging up your hard drive.
User Controls
Please don't laugh at me :). Years ago, I had a difficult time with using the controls on the
iPod. Maybe it's because I'm
all thumbs. It just took me some practice and patience before I felt comfortable touching the wheel.
The
Disney MixStick has a cute, dark grey, rubbery Mickey head. The ears allow you to skip forward to the next song (the left one) skip backwards to the last song (the right one). The round part has the typical play, stop, forward, backward signs. The control(s) just aren't nearly as sensitive as what you'll find on the
iPod.
Parental Controls
As I mentioned before, you need
Apple's proprietary software loaded on your computer before you can load songs on your
iPod.
iTunes has some parental controls - i.e. you can go in and disable features - which is nice - but lots of work in my humble opinion.
With the
Disney MixStick, you can choose to
not allow your child to load ANY music on to the device. Yep, you heard me. Instead, you can subject them to
Disney's MixClips. Think of these as cd's but for their MixStick. The MixClips are digital music cards which feature tunes that you'll most likely approve of as a parent. Ethan has a couple of these which feature songs from some of the
Disney Channel's popular shows.
Expansion Options
The
Disney MixStick currently has 128 MB of space (it's flash - not hard drive). Depending on the size of the music track and whether you choose MP3 or WMA - all of this factors into the number of songs you can store/download. Ethan currently has 48 songs stored comfortably.
You can expand the
Disney MixStick by adding 1GB via the SD/MMC slot. That allows you to add a TON more music/files.
With
Apple, I do believe that what you buy - is what you get.
Question: What additional software do you need?
Answer: None. The
Disney MixStick comes with
Microsoft Windows Media software. If you have a
Microsoft operating system already (like XP), chances are that you already have this installed or something similar to it.
Question: How fragile is this thing? If my kid drops it, will it stop working?
Answer: I have been surprised at how strong this media player is. We've dropped it a couple of times (nothing that I recommend) and still, it continues to function.
My one word of
caution is that the silver/chrome one we purchased, isn't all that great at hiding fingerprints and/or scratches. So hey - this does have something in common with
iPod ;).
Question: How easy is this to set-up?
Answer: Honestly, I didn't really review the enclosed instructions. If you purchase the
Disney MixClips the only real set-up you have is to make sure that your stick is charged. Otherwise, you just slide the MixClip in and you're ready to jam.
If you're looking to download music, set-up goes like this. You need to make sure that you have the right software installed (the right software is either the cd-rom they give to you in the box OR another equivalent media software that allows for the formats of MP3 and WMA). You can then copy music directly from your computer (assuming you have some), sign-up to some music service and transfer the music directly to your
Disney MixStick and or copy a cd directly to the device using the
Windows Media Software (or as stated earlier - software which supports MP3's and WMA's).
Question: How long does the battery last without recharge?
Answer: I've seen it advertised as,
up to ten hours. Ethan's has been averaging about 8 hours before we need to recharge it.
Question: Okay - how do you
charge this thing?
Answer: Parents, this is my main beef. You have to plug the
Disney MixStick via the USB port, into a computer to charge it
unless you buy an "accessory" which is a wall charger/adapter. That kind of ticked me off. But I guess I understand, they have to keep the price down.
Question: What about the
sound quality?
Answer: Remember, I'm no expert. I've listened to music through the
Disney MixStick and while it doesn't compare in quality to my
iPod Video - I'm sure that has everything to do with the
technology used :). Still, I don't mind listening to it - and Ethan doesn't notice any difference between what he hears here and what he hears through the radio/computer.
Question: Does the thing still work now that you've had it for nine months?
Answer: Amazingly, YES! One thing I did like about
Disney MixStick is that it does come with a 90 day warranty. I thought - well - if it breaks within 90 days, then I'll know it was a piece of you know what but at least I'm covered. In spite of everything (including dropping it, boys rough-housing, etc...) the thing is a little Energizer Bunny.
Question: Are there any other good things that you left out about the
Disney MixStick?
Answer: Of course!
1) Maybe this isn't
obvious, but you can also download
data files to this so if your child happens to outgrow this device, you can still use it to store data files!
2) The
Disney MixStick is extremely
light too.
Question: Are there any other bad things that you left out about the
Disney MixStick.
Answer: Well - I wouldn't call them
bad - I'd just call them
irritating.
1) The earbuds they enclose with this product aren't the greatest. Because they need to accommodate the ears of 6 to 12 year olds, they lack the quality needed to fit the different sizes/shapes of our children's ears.
We ended up using another set of headphones. Ethan much prefers over the ears types anyway.
2) They include a lanyard which functions fine - assuming you want to wear the thing around your neck. In the 11-12 year old land of
being, this isn't cool so I did end up purchasing for him, a carrying case (another
Disney accessory) which allows him to protect his MixStick and at the same time, not look so dorky :).
3) This isn't bad to me - but if your kid is looking for a screen that allows them to see what song is playing -
yehhhh - they won't find this here. Of course they won't find it on the
iPod shuffle either (which is more $$$).
Side note: Since it was first released, the
Disney MixStick has other designs including
Cars,
High School Musical,
Pirates of the Carribean, and
The Nightmare Before Christmas. I think that these designs are more appealing to the other child than the Princess and Tinkerbelle editions.
The Final Curtain Call
Despite some of the things that irritate me, I really do think that the
Disney MixStick is a really great product for the targeted tween and under population.
Side note: Thanks to
jps246 for his wisdom and guidance via his
Guide on How To Write About MP3 Players
