Lego Mindstorms--retail vs homeschool version?

[Handmaiden]

We're planning on getting ds Lego Mindstorms for his upcoming birthday. I spoke to a Lego Education rep at our homeschool convention and she said that the homeschool version has extra sensors but may be missing a couple of pieces from the retail version.

 

The hs version is also more expensive.

 

Is there a definite benefit to the homeschool version that makes it worth the extra $$$?

 

TIA!

[Mom2GirlsTX]

I don't have a clue, but would be interested in replies. My dd just did a class in them at the local junior college and really liked it. I purchased an older (but unused) Legos mindstorm off ebay and she is happily messing with it. I can see how this can be an expensive hobby! With that aside, these kits are awesome in what they can do, I had no idea. Hopefully those who know something will chime in!

[KAR120C]

I have only found ONE good comparison of the contents of each set (grrrrr), at www.thenxtzoo.com (under "parts list"), and decided that for what I wanted it was sufficient, and that I could fill in the gaps if I needed to (like for a First Lego League team), both from our own stockpile (three BIG bins of regular Legos and Tecnic parts) or from ordering extra parts individually or in smaller sets.

 

If you're doing FLL (First Lego League) and you don't have a huge stockpile already, you might have a good reason to buy the educational set. Otherwise, I think I'd go with the retail, both because of the price and because outside FLL it seems to be the most common set. We have one book (Mayan Adventure) that specifically uses the retail version. But it's mostly the price, for me.

[Peek a Boo]

I vote go w/ the retail version.

 

Then, while they are working their way thru the tutorials, check ebay and craigslist for incomplete Mindstorm sets --many times they still have the sensors but are missing some of the tinier pieces so they can't say it's "complete." You'll likely get a better bang for your buck that way....

good luck!

[Handmaiden]

Thanks y'all for the feedback! :)

 

Now this might be a dumb question, but why is it important to have extra sensors?

[Peek a Boo]

Now this might be a dumb question, but why is it important to have extra sensors?

 

heh heh heh... in Lego Land, you can NEVER have too many sensors.

 

That's like asking Tim the Toolman if he needs More Power, lol.

 

but seriously, you can program different sensors to focus on different tasks. The more tasks you can have going at once, the more things you can do ;)

 

so it's not so much that it's "important" but more that it's "very beneficial".

"definite benefit"? yeah.

Worth the extra money upfront? nah.

 

for a kid new to Mindstorms, they will have loads of fun just w/ the kit components for a while!

 

i ordered our kit off buy.com back at xmas-- if you signed up for a credit card you get a $30 discount. that was the best deal around that i could find.....

[Handmaiden]

Peekaboo, that's really helpful. Thanks! I looked over Erica's link (thanks, Erica!) and I think my ds has all the parts that would be missing from the Retail kit. So your suggestion is well taken.

 

Throughout the years we've bought a lot of the Technic kits (dh said it was geared more toward engineering principles) so he has a wide collection of those funky parts.

 

I also recall ordering individual Lego parts somewhere on the net but am not sure it's the official Lego site. Does anyone know which site I'm thinking of?

[Peek a Boo]

I also recall ordering individual Lego parts somewhere on the net but am not sure it's the official Lego site. Does anyone know which site I'm thinking of?

 

i think it IS at the lego site, but my kids could probably find them faster than i could, lol.

 

or just google the specific part you want and it'll probably show up at the lego site.....

[Handmaiden]

Okay, I'll try it again! Thanks! :)

[Mom2boys]

Here is a link to a Lego "spare parts" site. Not sure if it was the one you were thinking of or not, but they have a good selection. :)

 

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=lepperk