Okay. So, this thing doesn't look like much mostly because, well, there's not much to it. It's a laser projector that is housed in a dodecahedron- that's the same shape as a large 12-sided die for you gamers that remember your D&D days as a kid- with one side as the projector. The mirrors and such inside of it allow it to project in a slightly off-center oval path that randomly moves, pauses and reverses direction on a 30 minute timer with a variable speed that you can choose by depressing the single button 1 to 4 times (slow, medium, fast, unmoving). If this all sounds pretty simple and basic? Well, that's because it is. To be honest, in my opinion the brilliance of this little device is actually in the Why-In-The-Hell-Didn't-Anyone-Think-Of-This-Sooner? catagory than anything else and here's why: It projects in one direction only: The reason why this was a smart move on the part of the inventor is that this means several things- 1) The device sits farther away from the play area- no more kitty getting upset because he knocked over the projector during a particularly excited moment of chasing his quarry. 2) Variable play area - You can move the projector further up or back to change the size of the play area in question. Get it high up enough and you can get the entire floor if you want to get your overly energetic kitty getting a real workout if they're *really* into chasing the light. Off-Center Oval + Dodecahedron housing + Random movement: Even though it's just on a circular/oval projection path that varies it's speed and direction at random moments just like all of these laser things do, when you put that together with the housing and the fact that it's off-center, this means that the variety is extraordinarily high. It is. I have been placing this thing all around the house for awhile now and making adjustments- this side down, now that side down, a little up, a little to the left, a little down, etc- and I have learned that this allows me to create all manner of patterns and locations for my high energy Baby Boy to play with. As anyone who has ever had a high energy and (sometimes annoyingly) smart kitty can attest- the more variety you can get out of a toy, the longer it'll take for them to get bored which equals the longer it is before you have to get a new one. ;) So, yeah, this is a *GREAT* little toy for our feline friends! Now, to the caveats, one concerning kitties and one for the owners: About the kitties- As usual, it really is the animal who decides whether or not they like the toy in question. Some don't like lasers, others may not be all that into chasing anything (our Baby Girl is in that catagory). So, ultimately, whether or not this toy is a hit with your particular furry friend and/or how they decide that they want to play with it is up to- well, your particular furry friend. lol. For the owners: In the first couple of uses, I thought that the fastest speed on the projector was a little on the slow side to be interesting to my Baby Boy. I note this because I am sure that others have and probably will think the same thing at first. That being said, a little more toying around with the locations, direction, speed, etc of this thing has taught me that- NO IT ISN'T TOO SLOW AT ALL! See, as my brain finally kicked in while I was tinkering with it, I remembered that since it IS a projection of a laser light, like all projections- the speed increases when the projection gets farther away from the source. To put this simply: the farther away you put the projector from the area you're aiming the laser light at, the area that the laser light's path covers gets bigger, so, the faster that laser light is going to move. Through trial and error with various lasers both manual and non during play time over the years, I have learned that if the laser goes *too* fast, my kitties just doesn't want to chase it. Which makes sense to me at least beause, why bother if you stand absolutely no chance? In my experience, this is equally true for kitties as it is for humans. So, I would suggest to the humans that before deciding that the fastest speed is just too slow, try covering a larger area by moving it back. Anyway, those are my conclusions on this little toy and, I honestly hope that there might be something in there that helps someone decide whether or not to give it a try for their little furry fuzz-balls and/or hopefully some tips and tricks with it if they *do* decided to hit that "Buy" button.
