Comments on: Sega Toys HomeStar Planetarium

By: William

William — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:15:12 +0000

I found the Homestar while cleaning out my father-in-law’s house. I could not match up any of the AC adapters I found with the Homestar. What DC voltage is required to operate the Homestar? It should be written on the AC adapter. Thanks, William.

By: ornanong

ornanong — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 02:52:19 +0000

we would like to know how to buy homestar planetarium

By: Tom

Tom — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 01:20:04 +0000

I have one that quit moving if you want to trade

I would like to figgure out how to take it apart and fix it, Anyone know how?

Between this thing and AMBIEN, I sleep like a baby!!!

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:14:56 +0000

Hello i would like to know if you could stop or freeze the homestar stop all stars from moving

By: Turn your ceiling into a kaleidoscope with the Mangekyorooms — The Gadgeteer

Turn your ceiling into a kaleidoscope with the Mangekyorooms — The Gadgeteer — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:56:53 +0000

[...] you remember my review of the Sega Toys HomeStar Planetarium a few years ago? It was a projector that would turn your ceiling into a starry night. Sega’s [...]

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 07:25:50 +0000

Hi, I have the older PRO version, as much as I do think it projects a good image, I find it very dim if not used in a totally blacked out room. I put on abstract and graphic laser shows just like the old Laserium shows that were shown in planetariums around the world, they always looked great in this environment as the start field from the start projector worked as a fantastic backdrop to the patterns and images projected by the laser in the show. I originally bought he PRO version for this reason, however it is WAY to dim to be even visible against even the most subtle laser pattern. I have also used a laser stars projector for a good back-ground star effect but it is not the same as the effect of looking into the night sky. Please can anybody give me advise as to how much brighter the EXTRA model is against the old PRO. I don’t want to shell out several hundred dollars if it won’t be effective. I have been checking out the Megastar web site and there is a smaller portable projector (semi professional) called the Megastar Zero which looks like a professional version of the Sega projectors. I have no idea of the price of these but it’s either a Homestar Extra or the Megastar Zero which I guess will be a couple of thousand dollars at least. If anyone can help or give me some feedback about the EXTRA or the ZERO I would be very grateful, thanks.

By: lesley donohue

lesley donohue — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:19:57 +0000

hi, I have just bought the Homestar Extra and it’s great exept I don’t read japanese! also I would like to buy more discs. Anyone know where I could get extra discs, perhaps the moon.
Thanks

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 22:39:49 +0000

I bought a Homestar Extra the end of December and there is no comparison to the Homestar pro, which I also have. The Extra is superior and a joy to use. The stars are almost too bright. The shooting star on the Extra is completely random and very realistic. The stars have 12 light levels. The Extra comes with a remote control. I have taken both units apart and the engineering of the Extra is superior to the pro. The optics of the Extra are also much more advanced and the stars at the edges are greatly improved over the Pro version. The only drawback is the higher magnitude stars are large than they should be to increase the apparent light, but this is the same with other version. I am currently working a replacement star disc that will have grey scales levels that should eliminate this problem.

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:33:40 +0000

PS Evan, the stars are bright and clear as they are in real life, its amazing how beautiful they are!

By: Leslie

Leslie — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:30:57 +0000

I bought the Sega Homestar planetarium for my son who adores it. We had it for only two months and now it no longer works. when you plug it it the light flashes then goes out. Its been cared for and never mis handled. I wish we could find a place to have it repaired. It cost a fortune and its a terrible shame to have it work for 60 days then quit.
My son wants another desperately as he can’t sleep without it now. Any ideas on repairs? I bought it new from a vendor on Ebay.

By: evan

evan — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:54:46 +0000

are the stars as faded as it is in the pictures or is it due to the quality of the camera that it doesnt seem as nice and clear?

By: Madrigal

Madrigal — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:16:13 +0000

A friend has the HomeStar. It’s above average for a kid’s toy, but does not really approximate the Night Sky as you see it in Arizona or on Georgian Bay. 10,000 stars sounds like a lot, but is not really. They’re only focused in the centre, on the sides they’re just blobs without defined edges.

I really want to find something that projects a much better approximation of a real night sky for my bedroom ceiling. Does anybody out there know of anything suitable? Or have a suggestion who I should ask?

I’m prepared to spend considerably more than the Sega toy costs if I can find something suitable.

By: uhoo

uhoo — Sun, 27 Aug 2006 18:30:24 +0000

That’s odd. Mine did come with a tiny little star chart with names and everything, as well as a guided audio tour. . . all in Japanese. I guess that’s why it’s not included here.

I bought the special edition Winter version in Japan and it came with all 4 star discs, two miniature planetariums and a CD of spooky new age music. It really is just a toy, and it feels like one, all plasticky. You also have to be careful with the disc tray, I’ve managed to jam it a couple of times and it seems really brittle.

Mountain, I think I’ve seen the Star Theater in Toys r’ Us. The main difference is that the Star Theater projects a ‘negative image’, ie the stars are shown as shadows, whilst the Homestar projects the stars as points of light.

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 13:53:40 +0000

Mountain:

Email me your mailing address and I’ll send you the HomeStar

By: flamaest

flamaest — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 05:00:27 +0000

I suspect the licensing costs of the constellation images on the discs are what is making the price so high..

By: Mountain

Mountain — Sat, 26 Aug 2006 04:13:46 +0000

This has really started a bug in me cause frankly, I really like the idea of a light show since I spend alot of time relaxing in a pitch black room with no ceiling fixtures. While doing a cursory google search I came across this item

http://www.24hours7days.com/Astro/Star_Theater_Version_2.html

and it might just be exactly what i’m looking for. I’m gonna look into it some more and I’ll post what I find if I end up getting something.

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:00:21 +0000

Mountain:

That’s the thing, I don’t feel that there are enough extras with this product to justify the price. Yes, it’s cool that you can project 10,000 stars on your ceiling, but is it $200 worth of cool?

By: Mountain

Mountain — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 06:58:59 +0000

I would definetly drop down 200 bucks if it included more information like constellation names and such and had a meteor shower function. I can just imagine having my ceiling turned into a light show of shooting stars all over the place. A few years back I was fighting a fire in the middle of the arizona desert and I remember spending hours just staring up at all the stars. Let me tell you, after growing up in Los Angeles, it was a BIG deal!

By: linuxamp

linuxamp — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 04:04:34 +0000

Isn't there a trademark on HomeStar??

By: Julie

Julie — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 02:25:54 +0000

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http://www.the-gadgeteer.com/review/sega_toys_homestar_planetarium

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