12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Wish I'd spent my money on grape juice instead
Date of Review: Jan 14, 2006
The Bottom Line: If you're old enough to want an MP3 player, you probably want more than this. If you want to watch cartoons, there are better choices.
Recently my daughter came back from a birthday party and announced, "Ashley's sooooo lucky. Her parents got her a JUICE BOX." Thinking the parents had given her a lunchtime drink for a present, I asked for a run-down on the functions of a juicebox. Dear Daughter replied, "Oh, Mommy, it can do EVERYTHING." So I filed the idea away for future gift-giving occasions.
Soon after, I found the oh-so-desirable item on clearance at Target for $12, and I purchased one for each daughter. Santa left them for Christmas, but they are not the much-loved items I'd anticipated. Details, details . . .
First, what does it do? It's a little electronic gadget that allows the child to watch cartoons or music videos, or to listen to music (either pre-recorded, or downloaded on the MP3 player). And finally, it can be used to view digital pictures.
Appearance: The Juicebox is a plastic rectangle a little larger than a deck of cards. It requires four AA batteries (you have to use a screwdriver to get to the batteries -- I hate that). The five silver control buttons are large and simple, and there's a flip-up plastic cover that protects the 2.25 x 1.75 inch viewing screen when it's not in use. It's available in several kid-appealing colors; we have a red juicebox and a green juicebox.
The first thing I dislike about the Juicebox is that it does NOTHING when you take it out of the package. Literally nothing. Well, okay, it does say, "JUICEBOX" in an excited little digital voice, and it does show some advertising. If you buy ONLY the basic juicebox, you cannot do a single thing with your purchase. So be sure to pick up some little Juicebox cartridges with cartoons or music while you're at the store. Otherwise, this could be very disappointing to a kid (and a parent). The cartridges are unique to the Juicebox and cannot be used with any other electronic gadgets.
Next, I realized that headphones don't come with the package. (Yeah, I should've noticed that before Christmas morning, but I didn't.) Most parents buy these little toys with the intention of keeping kids quiet in the backseat during trips. I can't imagine not wanting the headphones, and it seems rather stingy not to include them with the basic package. There's a plug-in spot for headphones, and any standard set will work.
Once you've purchased some music or cartoon cartridges (I bought some on clearance and on ebay for $3-5, but they're normally $12 - 15), you just pop them into the side of the machine, and they play. Very easy. The cartoon quality is okay, and each cartridge holds 3 full-length cartoons (we have Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles, Kids Next Door, and Yugi-O). The sound is fine for cartoon-viewing, and the volume is adjustable. The sound is not so fine for listening to music; it really sounds like it's coming from a clock-radio. You cannot adjust the quality of the sound in any way; only the volume can be adjusted. Elementary school kids will probably find the music quality acceptable; older tweens will definitely turn their noses up at it. My 11-year old even said, "This is kind of cool, but I wouldn't take it to school or let my friends see it."
If you want to download your own songs (either from music CDs or an internet source like Napster), you'll need several additional items: an SD digital memory card (perhaps the same one you use in your digital camera), a hook-up cord, and the necessary computer software. Really, you need the Juicebox Accessory kit, which gives you all the above plus instructions. The Juicebox kit includes a 32-bit card, which will probably hold 12-15 songs; however, you can buy these cards up to 512-bits, and that'll hold quite a bit of music. The software is rather difficult to use, and a kid will certainly need adult help. Once you've downloaded your music, the play quality is low (and I'm not too fussy). However, SD cards are widely available and rather inexpensive, so you could potentially have a disk for your country music and another for your rock. Or you could have a disk for Johnny's music and another disk for Suzie's music. This is a nice feature. The SD cards are MUCH smaller than the pre-recorded cartridges, and small children would need help inserting them into the machine. You can fast-forward or reverse songs, but there's no random-play feature. Also, you have no way to skip directly to your favorite track; you must cycle through every song to get to your favorites. Very, very basic -- probably enough to make an elementary school child happy, but not enough to please a tween.
If you buy yet another accessory kit, you can view your digital pictures on the Juicebox. I cannot tell you about this feature because I decided to quit throwing money at the "Little Machine that Can't". I just know that the product exists.
Quality: The juicebox seems to be fairly well made. The edges are a bit rounded for safety and the cartridges are much more sturdy than digital media and other meant-for-adult-hands items. There's no hook to hold it onto a belt.
The bottom line: Have the kids used them? No. They were a hit on Christmas morning, but the kids have basically ignored them since then. The original batteries have not yet worn out, and the kids have not even watched all their cartoons (they have eight cartridges). They didn't even care enough about the juiceboxes to take them on a recent car trip -- the year old Gameboy SPs won out instead.
If you want your child to just plug in expensive, pre-recorded items and play them, then you'll be happy with the Juicebox. On the other hand, if your child is old enough to want to download music and digital pictures, then you probably should consider a more substantial item.
I regret purchasing these juiceboxes. If I'd realized just how little the juicebox does, I'd have chosen to buy iPod shuffles instead. The music upload is easier with iPod. Plus, the iPod would be something that wouldn't look so childish to them in a couple years. True, they wouldn't have the cartoon option, but the juicebox just isn't nearly as cool a gadget as I thought it would be.
When you consider all the money I spent on Juicebox accessories, I could've almost bought an iPod shuffle. By the time I bought the Juicebox basic kit, the accessory kit with the SD cards, several cartridges, headphones, and batteries . . . I spent about $65 per child (and that was all clearance-prices -- not full price). For $20 more they could've had the iPod shuffle, an infinitely better product.
