Sega Toys Homestar in the Press
9 August 2014 Reviewify (United Kingdom)
Homestar Pro Home Planetarium Review
The Sega Toys Home Planetarium Homestar Pro aims to bring a sky full of stars to your home. If you live in a built up area and have ever looked up at night you might not realise just how full of stars the night sky is due to light pollution. Take a trip to Egypt and go on a star gazing tour and you’ll be amazed at the beautiful light show on offer when you’re in an area with clear skys and no surrounding light.
The Homestar Pro attempts to give you that experience in the comfort of your own home by projecting 60,000 stars onto the surface of your choice, be it wall, ceiling, or floor.
The Homestar Pro comes with 2 discs, one disc projects stars with an overlay of the constellations, very useful if you want to learn how to spot the constellations in the night sky. The second disc gives you the night sky without any additional markings, and it’s this disc you’ll likely use the most.
Setup is very easy, just pop the disc into the Homestar Pro, plug it in, aim at the surface of your choice and press the on switch. To ensure the projection looks at its best you’ll need to focus it using the focus ring that runs around the lens, and while most of the stars look crisp there was some blurring for the stars at the peripheral edges.
The Homestar Pro can project a static image or you can set it to rotate, something that injects a little life into the projection. To add a little more life you can also choose to have shooting stars appear and these are a really nice touch that gives it a bit of excitement as you watch the starfield rotate.
It’s nice and relaxing watching the stars, they fill your surface with light and look much better then I’ve been able to capture in the video below. It’s a pity the motor used is a little noisy, although that was soon masked by popping on some relaxing music in the background. Spotting this might cause you to drift off to sleep the manufacturers have included an automatic shutoff countdown timer, allowing you to fall asleep under the stars.
The rotating star field is beautiful, especially with the odd shooting star, it’s a pity the motor used in the unit is a little loud. It is expensive and for the price it would be nice to see some additional slides included, perhaps some less serious ones that children would enjoy using.
5 March 2014 Mate (Germany)
STERNENHIMMEL
Ja, ein wenig erinnert das Heimplanetarium von Sega Toys an den Todesstern von Sith Lord Darth Vader aus der „Star Wars“-Filmreihe, ist aber eigentlich ganz friedfertig. Der Projektor strahlt den Sternenhimmel der nördlichen Hemisphäre an die heimische Zimmerdecke. Die Sternschnuppenfunktion hilft dem Glück ein wenig auf die Sprünge und eine optionale Sternenkarte erklärt, was da eigentlich so schön funkelt. Die günstigere „Aqua“-Variante ist etwas kleiner, spritzfest und kann so auch im Badezimmer verwendet werden.
1 March 2014 Mobil (Germany)
Sternenfänger
Sternenfänger Das rotierende Heimplanetarium »Homestar« lässt den Sternenhimmel in den heimischen vier Wänden erstrahlen. Der Betrachtungswinkel kann beliebig eingestellt werden. Auf Wunsch fliegen Sternschnuppen.
1 February 2014 Teleclub (Switzerland)
9 November 2013 The Guardian (United Kingdom)
The expert guide to gadgets – Sega Toys Homestar Planetarium
I've seen a few of these and think this is quite a good one. You turn it on and it projects pinpoint star images on to your ceiling to represent the entire night sky – you can find Ursa Major, the Pole Star, Orion. It's a brilliant way to inspire children to look at the night sky. Astronomy is a nighttime hobby and if that means kids can't see the night sky let's bring the night sky to them. They can absorb so much and if you show them that much information at bedtime they will retain it.
Kids – boys and girls – have a passion for space. They might lose it in the teenage years because it's more about alcohol and other things, but there's comfort in knowing that the sky is always going to be there, no matter what age you are. I'm not going to ram it down their throats, but if my children show an interest in astronomy of course I'll be stoked.
24 October 2013 Necessary Coolness (Netherlands)
Home Planetarium by Sega Toys
Imagine enjoying the sky full of stars while sitting on your sofa. This dream can become reality with the Homestar Original from Sega Toys.
22 February 2013 The 405 (United Kingdom)
The 405 Gadget Review Show: February 2013
Welcome to our first episode of The 405 Gadget Review Show.
The inaugural show features an array of wild and innovative gadgets such as the MaKey Makey that we used to play a video game using an actual banana, tomato and guitar, the Sega Homestar Planetarium for some star gazing chill-times and the OP-1 - an all-in-one portable synthesizer that's ridiculously in-depth and equally as fun.
You can see what we made of the six items of technology in our video below, or via our TV Section. It's also available via our Youtube page (please watch in HD when possible).
Product Information:
- The Everyday Special by Mr Jones Watches [Buy/Info]
- The Classic Home Planetarium by Sega Toys [Buy/Info]
- MaKey MaKey by Makey Makey [Buy/Info]
- Zip™ by fitbit [Buy/Info]
- Jambox by Jawbone [Buy/Info]
- OP-1 by Teenage Engineering [Buy/Info]
1 February 2013 Matthew Dutton Reviews (United Kingdom)
Sega Toy Homestar planetarium machine review
This is the Sega Toys 'Star Theatre', home planetarium system.
It is a projector that will turn any room into a miniature planetarium. The projector was designed by Takayuki Ohira, a Japanese designer who observed the stars and made his first portable planetarium while he was still in education.
So, with 'portability' in mind , he went on to make this stunning piece of equipment....very user friendly, even kids can use it with ease, but amazingly detailed projections, you would probably only see in a planetarium building.
When you open the package it is obviously small, which is a great thing as it fits in with the designers idea of portability. You also notice the lack of complex buttons and configurations which means that its not going to take too much time to set up!...in fact, it only takes 60 seconds or so to get it operational from the opening the box!
The two discs that come with the system comprise of stars and constellations, and it also comes with a star chart which will give you details of what you are actually looking at.
Now, plugged in, disc loaded in the tray, and the lights off, you can adjust the focus with the outer ring on the lens. This really surprised me as the stars were crystal clear to see once adjusted. You can easily forget your inside as the clarity was brilliant, just like looking outside!
It also sports a 'rotation mode' which is slow moving and very therapeutic, almost to the point it sent me off to sleep, which of course is a good thing! Or if your not sleepy, you can flick the 'shooting stars' mode on and try spotting them whizzing across your animated sky.
The planetarium also has a timer mode which is handy if you do fall asleep. It can be adjusted for 15, 30 or 60 minutes or continually left on, its up to you.
It is pretty tough, with a hard plastic outer casing, and a 'pivot' point metal leg stand, which allows you to adjust where you aim the projections.
So, on the whole, this little gadget, is a very large performing item, which anyone will enjoy. It kept my daughter and I entertained all night!
Great value for money at only £99, which is a fraction of the price of a full sized one which still operates the same as this one.
