Home Star Projectors

The Ultimate Star Planetarium is styled on a professional precision instrument that you would find in a real planetarium, so straight out of the box you know this is not going to be just a toy.

There is some great educational software built in, which allows you to consult a glossary of astronomical terms and find facts about the stars and planets. This also includes an ability to set the projector to display the night sky at different times and for different locations around the world.

Unfortunately, the Ultimate Star Planetarium makes little attempt to display the relative brightness and sizes of the stars, which means they can all look about the same. For those who are not that familiar with the patterns of the constellations, this then presents a bit of a challenge finding your way around.

Having said that, the controls are intuitive and easy to learn, with the 'wow factor' and interactivity making this a great gift for kids. A recommended age guide for this planetarium would really be 8+.

The Amazing LED Star Master Light Projector is probably best described as 'cheap and cheerful', and puts little effort into displaying the stars accurately or providing much in the way of educational value.

Having said that, I really like the shape of this gadget (which is really what it is). It is unusual to see a star projector that looks quite like this.

There is the option of displaying stars or colours and although it can be used with an AC adaptor, for reasons unknown, this is not supplied. There is also no power-off timer, so if you leave the projector on, the batteries will not last.

I would recommend the Amazing Star Master if you wanted to create a funky atmosphere at a house party. It would certainly be a talking point and for the money, it's a bargain.

One of the things I like about the Laser Star is the fact that it is star-shaped itself, which is a clever touch, and that the projected images are exceptionally vivid. The stars however, do not form any real constellations, so it is not useful as an educational instrument.

But with a little soft music to set the mood and a darkened room, the Laser Star comes into its own in producing a romantic, fun-to-watch light show.

Motion of the stars is smooth and the clouds well rendered but, to get the most out of the good quality optics, it is recommended that the room be quite dark and the wall surfaces light in colour.

A final important note, as with all of the home star projectors reviewed here, is to read the manufacturer's instructions on use. Please read the safety notices carefully and operate the projectors as instructed. Replacement bulbs, lasers etc. can usually be supplied by the manufacturer if required, so check the conditions there as well.

The Star Theater Pro looks amazingly futuristic, is simple to control and projects bright, crisp images over a wide area. With its motorized image rotation and planetarium soundtrack, it effortlessly creates a calming, romantic atmosphere.

As mentioned in the description, it comes with two interchangeable discs - one with images of the Sun, Earth and Moon and the other a star field. These discs load into the front of the Star Theatre Pro and the images on them are then projected upwards.

The Star Theater Pro being really a 'slide projector' does lead to some distortion and blurring of the images if it is not aimed straight at the projection surface and properly focused. However, with a little practice in adjusting the projector, this is usually not a problem. At the time of writing this review, the manufacturer states that additional discs are currently on back order, if you wanted to add further images to the set.

The planetarium soundtrack is purely a relaxing music CD, as opposed to providing a commentary on the stars and planets, so in this respect the educational value of the Star Theater Pro is limited. Having said that, this is a very popular and stylish home planetarium, it is light and portable, and incorporates a 30/60 minute power-off timer.

The Projectables Solar System Night Light has a very sleek and simple design and is really nothing more than its name suggests - a night light projector. The displayed image is that of a blue disk containing cartoon-like pictures of the planets, so it doesn't rank at all for educational value.

However, there's no denying that this projector is fun. Despite the fact that there is only one image which doesn't move around, as with some of the other projectors reviewed here, kids seem to be fascinated by the light sensor. This is a great feature built in to conserve power, so when the lights are on, the projector is off, but when the lights go down, it comes on.

Brightness of the display is at quite a pleasing level, being neither too bright nor too dim. Adjustability is only up-and-down and the manufacturer specifies that an image size of 3 ft would be projected onto a ceiling of height 8-12 ft.

The Solar System Night Light is cool to touch and fairly robust, and is actually one of a range of GE night lights which also includes a Fairy Princess, Snowman and Jack-O-Lantern projectors. I've played around with one of these and seen other reviews, and can't really fault it for the money.

Well... what can I say about all of these? Not much, because they are just great for small children. Heck, I have even heard of adults buying them for themselves!

The age range for these projectors is 3+, which is about right. Although the shells are robust and the 'toys' in general are very well made, they will only stand so much chewing/stomping/throwing before they give it up. If you intend to buy one of these for younger children as a night light, which they are in addition to a star projector, then you should keep them out of arm's reach.

The stars do not move and when you change some of the colours of the stars, they may not be as visible on the ceiling or walls - but for educational value and to stimulate the imagination, these things are perfect.

All of the Twilight Constellation Night Lights operate on a 45-minute timer to conserve battery power and feature three different colours of night-light illumination. These colours vary between the three models. If you buy the Twilight Sea Turtle, a portion of the proceeds is donated to an international conservation organization.