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Customers most agreed on the following attributes:
from Houston, TX on 10/11/2008
I just started using the kit and find it pretty cool to work with to a certain degree. As with any product I use, I always want to understand the process and meaning as to why things works the way they do. Unfortunately, the manual does very little, if at all, to explain reasons as to why it works they way it does or why a change in a circuit caused the difference. Voltage, resistance, and current calculations could have been better instructed step-by-step rather than relying on a circuit and meter numbers to demonstrate it alone. Otherwise, it's a cool kit to play around with so long as to take caution not to damage components checking your connections, verifying your components used, and conserving your batteries by turning it off when done with a circuit.
If you are looking for a kit with good explanation, then this kit may NOT be for you. You have to dive in and figure things out for yourself. I give it an average rating cause it is what I would expect from a typical electronics kit.
This is a great product. My son received this for his 13th Birthday a few days ago. On Day one he was building circuits. He even learned how binary works by building a circuit and was teaching our 7 year old daughter.
The books are fantastic. This is a fantastic kit for any kid or adult wanting to learn electronics, how things work, or how to build cool little gadgets like alarms, space guns, flashing lights.
My only wish is that there was more simple explanation on how the chips and circuits work. More info would really help someone understand it. Perhaps a website with animations?
Glad I bought this product. The lessons are pretty well thought out.
Allows you to experience bread boarding and starts teaching at a fairly fundamental level. This really can be a spring board to electronic knowledge and I do recommend it.
My only negative is that some of the components are small and hard to read. I bumbled and got the zerner diodes mixed up with the other diodes and had a hard time telling one from another. It was time consuming to correct this.
Overall, no doubt about it, a good product!!
I use this learning kit for a class I am currently taking and I believe its a great learning tool for anyone interested in introductory electronics. I would recommend this kit to anyone wanting to give a shot at electronics its fun and interactive.
from Atlanta, GA on 8/17/2008
I was giving a colleague a crash course in circuit design and analysis- basically- 'What makes electronics work?'
This kit is a tool that lets you demonstrate how to put a lot of that theory to use- I'd say you could probably perform every lab applicable to a first year engineering student.
This is one of the best tools ever. It has great manuals and you can do it even without a teacher. The only thing is that it is better for older kids (11 or up) because the parts are small and fragile. I used in a Math/Science course at the local center and it was very easy to use and had great extras (photo resistor, buzzer). Also, the springs to connect with the extras are very easy to use.
The manual is available both in hard copy and PDF (wonderful - a real plus for searching the documents). The manual is very packed with information. There is enough here to expand by double the size of these 2 documents. I would encourage the authors and radioshark to expanded this (already good) documentation into a much more formal document - manybe add a little color, etc.
Overal this product is one of the best I've seen lately.
I got this for my then-8-year-old son 2 years ago. He finished every single project in a few months. By playing this toy alone, he is now the most knowledgeable kid in his class in electronic circuits.
This lab is by far the best educational tool in basic electronics on the market. I am a very picky buyer - and this lab is one of the top buys I have ever made.
Highly recommended!
The kit is nicely designed and comes with enough components to build some interesting projects other than the ones in the manuals. The manuals are well-written and the instructions are easy to follow. The projects in them are fun to build and experiment with. In the product summary they say you also need 6 AA batteries and a 9V battery...the kit uses the six AA's but I still cant see what the 9V is used for! :)
Simply great. I got this kit as a kid, and I still use it today as a college student to refresh my memory on electronics.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
EXCELLENT KIT/LAB! This Kit/Lab is everything it is designed to be, and more! Talk about "Fun To Learn"......WOW! This is a GREAT Kit/Lab, both for the youngest beginner, as well as for the experienced designer/inventor! I purchased this to "brush up" on my own knowledge and create field designs, and also for my Children to learn the basics. It served my purpose extremely well, and as for my Children......Well, we enjoyed hours for learning fun together! This Kit/Lab gave them a significant "jump-start" in the knowledge of Electronics! After the "basis", they just naturally took off with the other more advanced projects. It was a pleasure watching them learn, and at the same time having lots of fun! I honestly can't see how you could go wrong with this Kit/Lab! The price is well worth it! Watching your Children learn and while having so much fun is PRICELESS! I've recommended this to many friends and acquaintances, who subsequently bought it, and had similar good experiences with it! Good 'ole Radio Shack came through again!
i love this item
from Boston, MA on 3/24/2008
being an electronics student, i found the setup easy to grasp and. the only down side is the lack of background it gives, but this can easily be covered with an intro to electronics manual.
from Brooklyn, NY on 2/24/2008
Great educational tool. My 11 y/o has spent many hours with it and learned all about logic circuits and logic gates. It helped him prepare a science fair projec on logic gates and circuits.
from sunland california on 2/1/2008
I think the kit is great but, it really needs more practical uses in real life situations and more experimental inventive educational uses.
It is a little hard to find uses for the projects in the book, some are very similar to each other, and do not need to be added onto another when its too similar. Also it would be nice for an expanded explanation of how and why the circuit works and how to use it for practical useful applications in your daily life and how to trouble shoot.
I use this kit mainly for inventing, and or work related projects and for demo/demonstration purposes and to test my circuit designs.
I just wished that they would explain the projects better and put more projects into this kit instead of repeating the same ones over again and changing the circuits a little here and there. This kit needs more variety and imagination to make it more meaningful to someone and to have a little more explanation of why it works and how a particular circuit can be fully utilized in real life projects and explain its many applications.
The kit is very good for experimenting and inventing your own circuits with basically everything you could think of needing in one kit to test your circuits to see if it actually works. But the book needs more troubleshooting advice when things don't work like they should and explain the reasons why.
It is very educational for the beginner though, but it needs to go a little deeper than it does for the adult tinkerer and inventor.
Anyways it seems to be the best electronic learning kit going for the money out there period, for now! Good for adults and all ages alike!!!
from Anchorage, AK on 1/21/2008
I'll say it once, I'll say it a dozen times...these "kits" are the best thing Radio Shack makes. (Okay the TRS-80 was Kool too)From my early model when I was young I developed what I learned from that kit, to my current profession as Mechanic. It laid the foundation for my electronic/computer skill's. I just bought this kit for my son and wow have these things changed, and still really good. Yeah, the manual could be a little more explanatory (easy to follow, but kind of lacking in teaching you "why" it worked) but if you follow the diagrams and study them a little harder you'll understand the circuit a little better. Great product, start the kids off at around 10y/o. Great price and if something burns out you can order spare parts off the web site for cheap.
I bought this because I used to have the old style electronics kit (make radios, lie detectors, etc.). This was a little more complex (with 30 years of technology) which would have been fine, but I found the manual to be very difficult to read and follow. If it weren't for the poor manual, I would have rated this higher. Also, the parts included are rather fragile, which makes it tough for some kids.
This item is so functional it goes with everything.
from Tampa, FL on 12/31/2007
If you are really in tersted in electronics then you should buy this product. i have learned so much from it and it can be used to make other circuits from online websites.
I guess its ok, but it not much for the pin 3. i googled it, a nd it got better
GOOD STUFF!!!!
This lab has kept my son happy/busy for a year.. and still going.. he's 10 and gifted/autistic and just gets this stuff. As far as it not explaining the why things work.. he seems to get it, he's rattling on about polarity to me, and I have no idea what he is talking about... But he's definitely learning. He does the projects on his own and even figured out how to use his lab with some tape, alluminum foil, notebook paper and clothes pins to make a door alarm for his bedroom. This is the first electronics kit he's had and besides the mess of wires all over his bedroom floor that my vacuum doesn't like... I think it rocks! Highly recommend for the nerdy type.
The book would have to be hundreds of pages long to explain how the circuits work, but I use it to teach middle school students and I supply the explanation. When students get a circuit to work, they experiment with it, changing components and so forth, and often figure out how it works. The magically-working circuit sparks their curiosity to understand why and how it works. I also use in my classic rock band to create new sound generating circuits on the fly. Great.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
The function of components in a circuits are not explained. For example, capacitators in amplifier-transitor circuits. [...]
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
I am an Electrical and Electronic Engineer, purchased this material and i found it really not helpful especially you cannot enter external materials to it!!! or any power supplies or external DC or AC inputs...
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
The written manual does not explain what actually happens with the electronic projects. What you do is follow instructions like "put wire in hole F15, put resistor in G14 and H14". All you are doing is following instructions on where to put wires and leads, but not the reason why you are doing this.
For example, the second project will start with a tone emitted from the speaker. Then the instructions will say "replace resistor 1 with a different resistor and the sound will now be a buzz sound. Then replace capacitor 1 with a different capacitor and the sound is back to a tone." There is no explanation on why doing this changes the sound from the speaker. How does the resistor affect the sound? How does the capacitor affect the sound? No explanation is ever given.
This kit is like a paint by numbers book. If you follow the instructions you end up with a beautiful painting, but you cannot paint a new painting on your own. Same thing with this kit. I think other reviewers like it because anybody that can read can create these circuits to do things by following the instructions, but there is no knowledge gained on the behind-the-scenes technology of the electronic projects.
[2 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
For the price, you just can't get any better than this. There is an amazing amount of components to build a wide variety of analog and digital circuits, introduced in two project books by the legendary Forrest Mims. This is just a wonderful hands-on introduction to electronics, and I highly recommend it over the simpler "snap-together" kits that are out there.
[1 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
from Vancover,WA on 11/13/2007
I love it I can also explore.
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
The electronics learning lab is great. My two sons have really enjoyed learning, and I used Forrest Mims books when I was a kid, so it's a thrill for me, too. The 9-volt battery greatly reduces the risk, no AC voltage is involved. The kit includes analog and digital circuits. The books do a great job of teaching the basics, and then giving fun circuits to build. Almost everything is included. If you price out the components, it's really a good deal.
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
Awesome kit to start learning electronics.
One downside is that it doesn't explain every circuit. In the beginning Forest M explains each circuit, but as you get more advanced he explains them less and less. Otherwise it is one of the best labs I've ever seen with this kind of price.
from Destrehan, LA on 10/8/2007
Love the project lab. As a high school student this has increased the learning capabilities of my class.
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
it a good but it only come with one of every thing so if some thing break or burn out you have to buy a new part and the system isn't to good because if a wire is bent and it touches somthing under the board then the project will not work
[1 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
from NY on 6/30/2007
great and satisfying
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
This lab is a great way to learn about electronics and get a basic understanding of how common components function and how circuits are built. Great for anyone that can read, comprehend and want to learn about electronics.
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
I am only 12 years old and it is really neat way to learn electronics!and i just love it and it was worth every penny!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
I bought this for me and my 8-year-old son to do together. After about 1/2 hour 'orientation' he asked me if he can try it himself. He went on his own, project after project. To see him bursting with pride while showing us his accomplishments was worth every penny and more. The book is awesome. My little boy now knows what a relay is and what it does. I'm guessing it won't be long before he can tell us what all the components are and what they do! If you are looking for the perfect parent/child activity, BUY THIS KIT!
[2 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
the best learning lab i have used
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
electronics learning lab has really helped me with my electronics.great stuff that learning lab
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
this was cool my favriot thing was the digital light meter wich i still have together.
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
I can't say enough good things about Forrest Mim's "Electronics Learning Lab". I purchased a somewhat similar electronics kit not long ago for more than three times its price and I am very disappointed in it because it doesn't bother to explain much of anything. Forrest Mims not only explains electronics basics but explains them in very clear and concise language. And he adds those tidbits of knowledge from time to time that only practical experience can give and which help tremendously in constructing the projects.
[5 of 5 customers found this review helpful]
I'm an Engineer (not Electrical or Electronic Engineer) who wanted to brush up on the basics of circuitry design. Although I felt a little strange buying a "Learning Lab" which was also used by "kids", I put my ego aside and made the purchase! Was glad I did! Not only "brushed up", but learned new concepts as well! Overall, this Lab made me a lot of money, in that I was able to expand my services as the owner of an Engineering and Contracting Company! And all from a Lab which is designed for "kids" as well! Just goes to show, with the proper attitude, you can learn something new every day!
Great kit!!
[3 of 3 customers found this review helpful]
Forrest M. Mims knows his stuff. I started with the Engineer's Mini Notebook line and ran through to this learning lab. The value of the books included with this lab pretty much exceeds the value of the included parts (a handy bonus!). My only (minor) complaint... they appear to skimp on part types (i.e. there's no microphone or antenna coil; other parts are doubled up for this purpose).
I love it, you can learn a lot, even for someone whom has had some experience. Comes with all the parts needed, and is expandable.
[2 of 2 customers found this review helpful]
The educational level of this lab goes from simple switches to integrated circuits, with over 200 projects to teach principles and laws of electronics. Forrest Mims' manuals are worth half of the total price in information alone. Buy a magnifying glass for the small ID on some parts. Great learning lab at a great price!
[1 of 1 customers found this review helpful]
Much more versitle than most other kits and it is expandable. I plan on adding anouther breadboard off to the side soon.
[0 of 1 customers found this review helpful]