September 14th, 2005
Hasbro VuGo
By Steve Johnson
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
In what Hasbro has described as “incredibly tech-savvy”, their pursuit of the tween market, consisting of boys and girls ages 8-12, could be best described as bold, after the unveiling of their newest product, the “VuGo”.
As part of its Tiger Electronics Division, Hasbro’s VuGo is a portable multimedia system with 128MB of memory that allows tweens to load it up with 60 minutes of television programming and music videos, 6 hours of music, or over 1,200 digital photos, for “viewing on the go”.
And if 128MB is not enough (and when is 128MB ever enough?) the memory can be expanded with an SD card.
The VuGo can be connected to a television, DVD player, satellite receiver, or computer to record media, which can then be played back on its 3-inch color screen and built-in speaker. The VuGo website is currently offering downloadable videos of Hillary Duff, Jimmy Neutron, and Sponge Bob Square Pants for purchase.
It also comes with a pop-out stand for “hands-free entertainment” and file management software. It runs on four AAA batteries, and has a retail price of $119.99.
Sources: VuGo, Press Release
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
The Hasbro VuGo Targets Tweens
By Steve Johnson, Contributing Writer, RealTechNews In what Hasbro has described as “incredibly tech-savvy”, its pursuit of the tween market consisting of boys and girls ages 8-12, could be best described as bold, after the unveiling of its newest pr…
September 14th, 2005 at 10:55 pm
Don Mynack says:
On a side note, I would highly recommend one never google the term “tweens”. You will not like what you find, my friends.
September 16th, 2005 at 1:50 pm
Tom Dugan says:
Strange brew here! Walmart sells the ZVUE! Personal Media Playr for $25 less then the VuGo. The ZVUE! is the Granddaddy of tween all-in-one media players, out for two years with 160 x 120 x 15 frames per second RGB video DivX, XviD, MP3s, WMA, Org Vorbis, JPEG, and ASCII text display. It has been undergoing upgrade tweaking for about years based on user requests so it is a pretty advanced product even though the hardware is a bit dated.
Of course it is designed for tweens and a whole lot chunkier than an iPod, yet it is conservative enough so that parents and other older folks tend to use these too. At this point, I think it is an incredible value running on AAs and SDs way before the original color VideoNow even existed.
So what is Hasbro thinking? I do see that Hasbro does have a media site for their device - is content the only difference? BTW - I have no connection with this device other than being an impressed user.
September 16th, 2005 at 7:35 pm
Jagger says:
Tom, one thing you may have missed which is huge is that you can record video directly to the Vugo without having to use a computer. you simply plug the video source into the vugo and press record. The zvue cant do that. I am actually 36 and have a great application in mind for the Vugo when it comes out. It may not just be for “Tweens”!
September 27th, 2005 at 8:54 pm
Kevin says:
Jagger - what’s your idea?
October 7th, 2005 at 3:06 pm
Susan Whitaker says:
Where can I get this system in Hendersonville, North Carolina?
October 25th, 2005 at 8:39 am
rob says:
How is the screen of the VUGO?
November 25th, 2005 at 9:50 pm
jonathan says:
will they improve the vugo
November 27th, 2005 at 10:46 am
kishee says:
when will this be out in stores to buy, and where can i buy it inside of texas
November 29th, 2005 at 5:49 pm
Ann G. says:
Will there be compatibility issues with this VUGO and my iMac, OS X? My 8-yr old son wanted the Sony PSP but now wants this–it’s cheaper–so I’m happy! But first I want to make sure it works in every way on my iMac. Thanks a million to anyone who can offer advice!
December 3rd, 2005 at 5:29 pm
Brandon says:
According to http://vugo.com/guidelines.html , OS X is supported.
December 10th, 2005 at 12:14 pm
michael says:
yo sup peeps, well i think the vugo is pretty cool but i dont know if i should et it it looks better than a psp and im thinkin bout gettin out whats yall idea to that question let me know at my email ight thanx..
email is - mastermike1991@yahoo.com
-michael
December 11th, 2005 at 10:09 am
margaret says:
where can i find vugo in louisville, KY
December 19th, 2005 at 6:24 am
Ann G. says:
I went ahead and bought the VuGo because right on the packaging it said that Mac software is available for download thru the VuGo website. However, when I got to the site it said that the Mac software will be available “soon” . I emailed their customer support and got the same answer–”soon”. I emailed again, asking them to please tell me if the software would be available for Christmas while also letting them know how meaningless “soon” is, especially when trying to give this as a Christmas gift. I got no reply, so I called the customer service number and they were unable to give me any definitive answer as to when it’ll be ready for download. I’m going to keep the darn unit, hoping that “soon” does indeed come “soon” , but due to their shoddy customer service, I really don’t have a good feeling about this at all.
December 20th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
kaitlin says:
how much does it cost?
December 23rd, 2005 at 9:16 am
lisa says:
got this stupid thing for my daughter for Christmas. It totally sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! constantly have to plug and unplug until my computer see’s the USB, constantly says it is disconnected( I can’t cram the USB in any farther!!!!!!!!!!!!), takes forever to transfer video file from computer to mem card, Then, after alllll that, it says there is no memory card in the VuGo!!!!!!!!!!!!HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its going back…………..
December 26th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
Feel ripped off. says:
I also bought this headache for my daughter, I constantly have to reset it because it freezes-up all of the time, which when done, you have to reset the time and date and loose all of the media that you had stored in the VUGO. It’s kind of ironic that it is only one letter off of being labelled a YUGO.
December 30th, 2005 at 4:07 pm
Wondering About It says:
I was thinking about getting a VuGo, but now that i’ve read the comments, i’m not sure. What would you’re rating on a scale of one to five be?
January 1st, 2006 at 7:53 pm
melissa says:
how do you download music and photos
January 5th, 2006 at 12:33 am
Sally says:
i’m very mad because i was just looking up the vugo so i can get it for a present then i read about the commments people left i dont want the crap anymore
January 10th, 2006 at 2:20 pm
terry says:
i’m very mad because i was just looking up the vugo so i can get it for a present then i read about the commments people left i dont want the crap anymore
January 10th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
sheqela says:
i think the vugo is cool.but does it have a camera to go with it please let me know.
January 15th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Rico says:
Purchased the Vugo for a Christmas Present. The sound and picture are fair to poor. The first day the computer crashed during a download. Called customer service. They verified the system had an ireversible problem. They said they would ship an enveloupe out within 5 buisness days then I could return it and would recieve a new VuGo. It has been three weeks and we have not recieved the enveloupe for the return. Do not buy this, but an I-pod or a Portable DVD player instead.
January 18th, 2006 at 7:24 pm
Amanda says:
I have a VuGo — but i cant use it… i got it for Christmas last year… and i dont have a Credit Card to buy videos and i really would never use it…
October 22nd, 2006 at 10:20 am