The My First Sketch Book is an US$99.90 portable drawing pad with instant digitalization. It’s aimed at children for introducing technology into their lives and is easy to use. However, it has designs issues.
You pair it with an iPhone app. The artwork your child creates will show up on the app, as well as the sketch pad itself.
Drawings, notes and stories can be saved and instantly sent to a printer, email or phones. Parents can even see in real time their children drawing on the pad.
Kids can adjust font thickness, pens, tip size and color as they sketch, paint, and doodle.
My five-year-old granddaughter found drawing on the My First Sketch Book was easy. However, she was a bit perturbed that she couldn’t erase or undo her lines as you can with pencil and paper. Your only options are to draw or erase the whole screen and start over.
When you power off the drawing pad, the drawing that was on it will pop back up when the device is powered back on. You’ll need to save your artwork to the iPhone app if you truly want to save it. Otherwise, as mentioned, it’s gone for good when you clear the screen.
Speaking of the Sketch Book app, it displays, in real time, what’s being drawn on the My First Sketch Book. The software allows you to change the pen color, save drawings, see a play back video of artwork, and share your doodles.
The My First Sketch Book took a long time (about three hours) to charge when the battery was fully depleted. This seems like excessive charging time. And its battery time is just okay; once charged, it runs for about eight hours with continuous use. Speaking of charging, the sketch pad charges via a micro USB port. This makes the device seem a bit dated.
One nice feature: the sketch pad is portable, measures about 10.1 x 6.3 x x 160.5 x .5 inches and weighs less than a pound. It sports a white and blue plastic case with a 10-inch screen.
Below the screen is a LED that glows green when the device is powered on and glows red while charging. Three function buttons are used to save the drawing to your phone, toggle power on/off, and clears the screen.
On the left side there’s a lock switch that will prevent the drawing from being cleared from the screen. Unfortunately, the switch doesn’t prevent a drawing from being drawn or written over.
Another problem: the myFirst Sketch Book’s cover has a pen/stylus loop. But the stylus is too big to fit in the loop. This doesn’t exactly scream “high quality design.”
Review overview
The Pros
- Easy to use
- has an iPhone app
- better alternative as a kids drawing tool than a pricey iPad
The Cons
- No undo feature
- mediocre battery life
- disappointing design features
summary
7The My First Sketch Book’s $99 price tag is too steep considering its limited features, design issues, and lack of durability.
