Extra vids for Floaties! www.floatplane.com/channel/Th... Car Channel: / @garbagetime420 Game Channel: / @helloimgaming Drum Channel: / @the.drum.thing . Custom iPods by Elite Obsolete: eoe.works
I had one of these when I was 5-6 and I loved it lol. It had a different theme with some investigator/cop animation that played on boot-up. The thing had an actual functioning Ethernet port (separate from the mouse port) and (Ancient) serial printer drivers.
As far as computer themed toys for children go, that one is actually pretty neat. The working mouse is a treat. I have this weird thing, though, where I will notice some little charecter and wonder who drew that. Wonder how many people actually take the time to notice it. My daughter definitely never talked about the cute cartoon mouse playing soccer on the frame of the electronic soccer net toy, yet someone made that charecter, and it was printed on a sticker to put on the toy. So seeing those animations really hit that feeling hard. Someone made them, likely only for this one toy. I wonder how many people had ever seen them before today.
Ya I think he doesn't realize it's a toy for children... as far as it's classification, it's not a laptop, but a learning tool for children designed to resemble a laptop and in that sense not really a nugget, but for a 5 year old a good bit of random fun and learning 🤷
@MadameSomnambule yeah, when it's really nice, the thought is "someone put a lot of time and care I to your design, I wonder if any kids ever noticed you." And when it's super janky (this transfers to cheaply made toys in general too) its more of a "you poor thing, I wonder if any kid has ever really loved you" as if it's toy story or something lol
Toys like this are sold in less developed countries in urban markets all over the world. You'd find these at street side electronic stores in South America etc, and rural stores.
NOOOOO I remember getting a laptop exactly like this and I was so excited to get my first computer. I was a kid so I didn't realize how tiny the screen actually was until I opened it. I tried very hard not to look disappointed in front of my aunt. I played with it once and got bored of it.
Thing is... My parents bought me one of these (The previous generation) when I was like 3 and I ABSOLUTELY loved it. I could spend literally hours upon hours doing God knows what and just learning stuff. It even taught me how to multiply, and I still have it somewhere in their place. You could even attach a printer to it through a prehistorical serial port. Besides, one of the activities was a bunch of National Anthems played with that crappy 8-bit like sound. I think that's why most of my little friends of that time ended up with migraines or voices in their heads. Thanks for the memories, Wade. Thank you a lot.
Same. I had something really similar around 99/00, I don't think it had a full keyboard board, but it had the same bezels around the screen and some "fun" puzzle games
Similar story, I got a VTech Genius Leader 6000SL as a kid in the late 90s and I absolutely loved it. Bonus points: it actually tried teaching me a programming language (it had a whole BASIC interpreter built in and you could program your own things on it). Granted, not much of it stuck but hey...
Fun fact, the company behind this made a Barbie themed version, and it has an audio in jack. The speakers (yes there are 2) are decent and surprisingly not mono. So you can get really fuzzy distorted audio if you so wish
I happen to have a lot of these Barbie educational laptops by Oregon Scientific. Despite being an adult now, these toys REALLY are entertaining to play with! 😊😁
I remember a friend in 6th grade was always bragging that he had a laptop (this was when the 3310 still reigned supreme). One day I went over there and it was one of these things. He made it out to be like a gaming laptop better than most consoles at the time... I acted like it was the coolest thing I've ever seen.
I had a friend like that at school, not sure I haven't seen him since then but I do hope he eventually figured out that there was more to be gained by telling the truth. I would not have put on the act like you , you are a good friend. Will you be my friend?
The graphics on the caterpillar game during the last half minute of the video were pretty good! True story: When I was a kid, I wanted a laptop so bad that I would take a piece of cardboard and draw my own keyboard and screen, then carry it with me on the school bus and pretend to use it. I also had a cardboard HiFi so I could listen to music.
This reminds me the V-Tech laptop I had as a kid. My most clear memory of that laptop was putting in the gutter after a big rainstorm and letting the current carry it down into the storm drain outside the house.
Aw man this brings me back. I used to have a janky, barbie-themed learning "laptop" just like this one with the huge bezel and everything as a kid. I loved it so much.
from embedded system developer perspective it’s quite astonishing that it’s really has a working mouse! i’d like to see the screen being cut replaced with real 14” laptop screen with its gut stripped replaced with raspberry pi.
Or replace the original motherboard with the refurbished Celeron laptop motherboard and 5000mAh battery (I found that it would fit as those cheap laptop motherboards are also very small)
I had a toy laptop like this when I was younger, and seeing this made the nostalgia hit so hard. I paused the video at one point and spent SO LONG looking it up to see if I could figure out which one I had. I couldn't find it and honestly it just feels like a fever dream that I even had it to begin with. I am pretty sure that it was made by Vtech, because those are the only ones that look even remotely close to what I remember. It had a ton of games and activities on it, and a tiny screen like this one. I honestly wish I still had it, or could, at the very least, find it online to prove that I actually did have it at one point lol
@@shintaco7517 I looked it up and the results were sooo close to what I remember. It's still driving me nuts that I can't find the exact one lol. But this is definitely in the right direction!
I love how the mouse uses an RJ45 plug. It’s like the manufacturers picking out which one to use were like, well they are both used in computers. The USB uses too much metal. That too expensive.
I had a keyboard that used an RJ11 to connect to the cable. Which could be taken off. And if you pry it open and take the foil and pcb out, the rest could just go into the dishwasher.
Modular jacks are easy to make and you won't hurt anything by plugging a real LAN into this machine nor that mouse into a network jack. I met one which did use fake USB! It killed the USB controller I plugged it into. This is more for the sanity of the parents which own it.
@@parekhnirajj123 sure, why not. I've had a camera that could output video and audio over 3.5 mm. For a mouse it needs 4 contacts, which is a thing with those plugs.
Funnily enough, I had a similar device when I was younger. For christmas one year, I think I was 4 or 5, my parents got me one of those desktop-style learning computers. It had many games that I liked playing with, but I remember just how tiny the screen was. Oftentimes I wouldn't turn it on and just pretended to be an office worker in my bedroom. I was a strange kid but I loved it to bits. I remember, the monitor itself had a black bezel with all the games listed and a super simple little screen in the middle. There was also clear plastic that wrapped around the monitor. The keyboard was black with white keys and the mouse itself was solid black. I can't for the life of me remember the brand or model, and i've got no clue what happened to it.
I remember having something like this when I was a kid... back in the 90s. Based on the Vtech wiki/fandom page, it was the PreComputer Power Pad. I more or less learned basic Basic through it, and spent most of the time when I had it just on the Basic function.
@@thatpersonwithamlpiconwhos2861 Lmao if it was like that one FnF scene with the guy playing Gran Turismo in his car instead it’s the hotwheels bezel computer 9000
I love how they used Star Trek TNG transporter sound effects for scrolling between menu options right at the beginning at 04:55, did anybody else pick up on that? And then Halo button sounds later on, this machine really was ahead of it's time
Yeah, and the door chime is also in there. they sound like they were reproduced by hand too and not just a recording so it probably took some effort haha
I'm glad I checked the comments because I watched the video at low volume at work, and the confirmation sound on the typing tutor sounded so familiar that it bothered me all day.
It sounds to me like some of the sound effects are stolen from Star Trek: The Next Generation, but being destroyed by the terrible speakers. Like when you go through the different choices on the main menu I’m pretty sure that’s the transporter sound effect, and I heard some game bleeps that sounded specifically like the bleeps of the ship’s computer (edit: it’s the doorbell, I’m such a petaQ) in that show.
@@Interference22 and those beeps in half the games _(Snake: Frank’s Revenge_ being one that had this beep) sound like one of the comm system beeps from TNG-era LCARS.
I had this exact same laptop as a kid, this brings back fond memories, used to play with it all the time :) At one point I even tried plugging in an actual Ethernet cable into the mouse port, connecting it to a router, to my disappointment it just periodically emitted a warning sound :)
I remember owning a vtech nitro notebook as a kid. It was actually pretty fun and I remember it having some decent games on it. The thick bezel is still pretty funny in retrospect 😂
Holy shit, as soon as i saw the tiny screen i recognized it. I was given one of these as a kid, mine was blue and had no mouse but it was the same system. I LOVED it, even if neither me or my parents could understand english, i still remember when my cousin took it from me and i was forced to "share" it with her (aka just give it to her), but gladly my grandma hid it as soon as she got bored and gave it back to me. That cousin ended up getting a pink one with a mouse and making fun of me. Good memories
As someone who grew up with a bunch of these things, I can tell you that the huge bezel does not bother me whatsoever LOL! That's pretty much the norm of these. I still love these laptops because of their charm! I hope someone makes an app emulating these toys or something, that would be pretty nice! If there's a Speak & Spell app, why isn't there an app for these toys?! And no, this is not the worst laptop ever. This was just what I needed, awesome video!😁👌
As a software developer, I thought this was pretty impressive, the passion is clearly there, considering that it's likely a small team that worked on it, I tried to find source code but couldn't, it's highly unlikely this would be re-created as an app, it's way too much work
@@oscarcacnio8418 Even then, decompiling the ROM and reverse engineering it to emulate the hardware would take a lot of effort, and I doubt this is popular enough or has enough interest in it to justify that
I had a Vtech kids laptop when I was a kid that was really similar to this. Had a bunch of games on it and a notes app, and for some reason 5 year old me played with the notes app more than anything. Almost all the games had this little character called Perry Penguin and he was basically the mascot of the laptop. It was in color too, but still only on a screen with about 100 pixels in total.
Ahh, the only thing that is actually interesting. Like old 8 bit home computers, but those at least had a BASIC interpreter, so you could write your own code. Or copy stuff from magazines.
My older brother's also had color iirc. I mean, it was called the Super Color Whizz after all, and it was from the 90s. I used to play it a bit when I was little, I'll admit, and the mascot was like, an egg or something?
I think I had a Vtech laptop like this as a kid! I remember it being pink, with a smaller bezel (by only 50%), a higher-resolution LCD, and having an ABCDE keyboard instead of QWERTY, which is a terrible idea for trying to teach a kid computer skills. I know I played with it a lot, but I don't remember exactly what I played on it, since it had a large game catalogue similar to this.
I hope your work week gets better by today! Watching Wade scream at stuff like this is weirdly relaxing. Like its so relatable to share the feelings here haha.
I had a similar piece of crap except worse, as a little kid, needless to say when I got my grandmothers old windows 7 laptop I was thrilled to have it, even though the battery didn't work, I was so happy to finally be able to have something actually fun to use, that actually played youtube videos
Well,It looks more like a toy computer,I thought it would be the world's worst laptop,but until I clicked this,it's a kids toy laptop! 7:01 is that frank? Cuz you said "junklin".
I remember having something a lot like this that was Batman themed. Had the same janky screen and all of the number codes along the bottom of the screen to show you how to access the games and music. Kinda brought back some fun little memories.
i had multiple toy laptops of this caliber, including what i think was the first version of this one! i legit had so much fun with these things and i still pull them out every few years for nostalgia lmao. also love to see my home state represented through garbage like this, it's great
This video unlocked a memory. My friends sister got one of these for Christmas. I think she booted it up for about 30 minutes and never touched it again.
I actually owned one of them as a kid, not the same exact model (mine was designed like a modern laptop) but the same software with the same oversized bezel. This takes me back.
I remember that brand. They made a lot of stuff that looked high tech but once you got the box home disappointment was all you got. High prices too. I think they were in Dick Smith shops....
Omg... I had one of these but it was coloured yellow and blue, I don't think it was a hotwheels but the colour reminded me of it. The one you have is honestly impressive compared to mine....which says just how disappointing the one I had was.
the fact that it actually looks like a real computer from the box is even funnier. also I've had a few Oregon scientific products over the years and i gotta say that usually they're pretty good
When he said “huge bezels” I first thought those black side rails were the bezels and thought that’s amazing for its time. Then he pointed out the gray area is all bezel.
That's _definitely_ an unlicensed sample of the TNG transporter sound effect scrolling on the menu. The way the chord modulates down in amidst the schwooshy texture is identical. Specifically sounds like it's from one of the movies I think. Kinda ballsy on their part ngl.
Oh lordy, Tualatin Oregon. I think back when I was in high school a few of these were still in my schools attic. It gives off the vibe of something made to help teach elementary school students learn some basic typing skills.
I got one of those (or something extremely similar) for my kid when he was like 3 because he always wanted to be on my laptop while I was working. 100% would recommend! Perfect distraction and it kept him from wrecking important stuff! Good memories, thanks for the flashback!
I wonder if this was a thing in other places but, in the us, we used to get these awful paper magazines that advertised stuff to like, really old people. Coins, WW2 stuff, war documentaries, knickknacks, “military grade flashlights”, and old old terrible laptops. Like, 500$ for a really bad win XP in like 2012. You should try to find some of those bad Bois !
i had a hot wheels themed version of this, and it even had an optical mouse. i barely remember anything about it, but i had it when i was 5 in 2009. about 7 years later, my younger siblings got something shockingly similar, but under the discovery channel’s branding. i’ve even still seen these things sold at discount stores (like dollar general and big lots) here in the us.
I genuinely had one when I was 5 or 6 I remember usining it every day it was a blast. I almost forgot all these gorgeous sounds from my childhood. Thank you for bringing back all these memories
I currently have a tablet with a keyboard and the keyboards on button is on the opposite side of where it is on this keyboard. It is up where you would expect the delete key to be.
I love how the typing game sound is just a super bitcrushed version of the star trek door chime (also like 80% the weird level select is just the transporter sound, also super bitcrushed).
I had a blue and yellow thing like this. The mouse was attached to the "laptop" and only had a "track wheel", which means you could only move the cursor right or left. The keyboard was stiff af, and the keys looked like the ones on a cheap calculator, and you had to press real hard to type anything. I was like 6 years old, and the fast typing game scared the shit out of me, because it made a loud BEEEEP when you let the letters fill the screen.
i remember these fake laptops for kids. Usually they where more toy looking. can't imagine the poor kid that got this one genuinely thinking it was a laptop at first.
i had one of these as a kid. granted, i was like 2, and my nugget was significantly less featureful, not even a backlight, but it was what made me get into tech. so much nostalgia.
Honestly, I can see this being really good as a niche tool to help kids learn. It teaches them bare minimum tech literacy (navigating menus, using a keyboard), exposes them to basic vocabulary... It's swamped today, and definitely outdated by 06, but I feel like this had potential.
These are toys for toddlers. I imagine they were very low cost, but I can't be sure. I had a desktop version of this. It also had a card slot, although it didn't come with any such cards.
I had a similar laptop to this when I was little. Unfortunately i don't remember the brand, but it was red and yellow and was a bit more basic compared than this, as it was intended for 5/6 years old (but some games were quite similar). The synth voice was in my native language (portuguese). I literally learned to read at 4 years old thanks to that little nugget, and it definetly paved the way for the tech passion i have today. Who knew that the worst laptops could unlock some of our best memories... Thanks Dankpods, amazing as always.
I used to have this kind of tutor laptop in the early 2000, albeit with a much smaller bezel. It was my first ever birthday gift and I remember that I just can't wait to go home from school, open the laptop & play with it. It was that bulky that it didn't fit my rather small backpack.
