Product Description
Today's kids grow up with "black box" Phones, computers and gadgets that come in beautiful packages, but leave no room for tinkering or understanding how they work. At Piper, we believe it is critical to understand how technology works in order to make sense of our environment and invent the future. The Piper computer kit 2016 edition comes with everything you need to assemble your own computer. ● wooden computer case with LCD display
● raspberry Pi 3 Project board. 1GB RAM. 1200 MHz quadcore CPU
● 8GB SD card that holds your game progress and keeps your creations safe
● cables to connect the screen, Pi and 6600 mah Powerbank together and electronic gadgets including LED lights, buzzers, buttons, switches, sensors and more
● 8 sq Ft laminated blueprint for assembly
● USB Mouse
● raspberry Pi edition of Minecraft
● Wi-Fi enabled to download new levels and sharing capabilities
Features
- Replaced by Newer Model: Piper Computer Kit (2018 Edition)
- Material: wood and lithium ion rechargeable battery
Top Reviews
Innovative but has some issues
by Amazon Customer (3 out of 5 stars)
September 24, 2018
We had a pretty good time with this, but there are a few issues that really got under our skin sooner than later. The biggest issue is that, when you're connecting the wired components to create your spaceship parts, it doesn't seem to care if you actually get it right or not. There were a few times my daughter didn't have it connected yet, but she accidentally pushed one of the buttons and it just assumed we had it right and went on to the next step. This got incredibly frustrating after awhile, as you have to click back into the workbench and start that step over again. And my daughter never wanted to work on it alone because of this - usually she enjoys a good mix of doing these projects with me but also picking them up independently if I'm busy. A couple of the wooden pieces showed up warped as well. I purchased this deeply-discounted so we just shrugged it off, but I feel like I'd have been disappointed with this product if I had paid full price.
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We bought PIPER for our 8 year old son for ...
by Brian Curtsinger (5 out of 5 stars)
June 9, 2017
We bought PIPER for our 8 year old son for Christmas. He finished putting it together and finished all the missions by February. We got it back out today and decided to try giving them a call to see what else we could do. To our surprise "Tommy" answered and talked to our son about what he had competed and now sending him a speaker in the mail so he can turn his PIPER into an Alexa! He also told our son if he completes this mission to call back and he'll give him another one! My son hates school and says he hates to learn. But he LOVES his PIPER and doesn't realize how much he is learning. Thank you PIPER for challenging my son!
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she loved it so much in that she is already a ...
by Chan Lee (2 out of 5 stars)
July 12, 2018
I purchased this for my daughter's birthday gift. 1st of all, she loved it so much in that she is already a big fan of Minecraft and getting her own computer for the 1st time. No comparison. But I have multiple computers now & before and I assembled and upgraded most of them (except for laptops). I assembled my 1st computer when I was in high school which was more than 20yrs ago. Yes, I have a good experience with computer hardware to criticize the Piper.
First of all, it didn't turn on out of the box and I had to ask replacement to find out the micro-UBS cable was defective. And it turned on with the replacement again to find out that the speaker came broken. Thankfully, the Amazon customer service sent me replacement after return period has ended. So, I already had replacement kit that I could also replace it. And the new speaker lasted not even a day. Because it's crappy. The included buttons are also so crappy that they continue to pop out of the circuit whenever they are pushed. The overall quality is awfully crappy for the given price. My 9yo daughter doesn't push them harsh at all. Everything was done with me. At this point, I'd returned them without any hesitation. To my opinion, this is a complete rip off disguising "early child tech education".
But my daughter loves it so much that return is not an option and it is why it gets another star.
Now, it's time to check out their customer service to replace the speaker.
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Father - Son(s) Adventure in a Box
by Christian G Tscheschlok (5 out of 5 stars)
February 25, 2017
From the moment we opened the box, my sons read a cool letter and glossy blue-print that immersed them in a great adventure, which starts with building the computer itself. They are 10-years old; so, needed a little bit of prompting from me here and there during the build, which was fine with me because I was having as much fun as them with the story-line and building. Because it was Minecraft based, there was plenty they could teach me too. The interaction made for a wonderful bonding experience that the we will never forget.
Once it was built, they were off...needing very little prompting from me to navigate the game. Their are little "how-to" clips that teach them to build add on tools for solving puzzles in the game. This is done in such a way as to continue the immersive experience by linking the virtual world with actual circuits and functions in the real world...truly something to experience. The kids could build the circuits and the tools on their own; so, they were feeling awesome accomplishing one puzzle after the other.
The various components in the kit are sturdy, well built and all have their own place in the computer box you build thanks to the imprinted graphics on the inside of the box. It seemed like every aspect of interacting with the kit was completely thought through...such that you could build the computer and navigate the game without any need to consult directions...totally intuitive.
The only challenge we ran into was how to charge the speaker, which it turns out didn't include the USB - mini USB cable necessary to do so. The company has solved this in future kits. For ours, Piper sent out the next generation speaker at no charge. Also, be sure to give yourself plenty of time to charge the power pack. It takes a while (like overnight) to get it fully charged up.
One note for Minecraft fans (or who have children that are Minecraft fans). There are plenty of new elements here, not the least of which is the virtual - real world connectivity and puzzles to solve. The puzzles build skills needed to navigate other aspects of the game. Also, the on-board software includes some cool worlds...like Hogwarts. The boys had fun exploring places they were familiar with from the Harry Potter books.
One of my sons wanted to offer his thoughts. Here is what he said:
This is Julio and I got this piper as a gift fro my dad an mom. I love the product, but you should add more harder levels because I got all of the levels done in 5 days. You should have more piper bots in the game, but they should be all different colors, oh you should also make the players earn all the different piper bots through the levels. But over all I really liked the piper computer.
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Screen dies
by Dean (1 out of 5 stars)
August 22, 2018
I got this for my 10 year old daughter for Christmas, she put it together all on her own and started using the product and loved it. After a few days the included monitor died. Messing with the HDMI cable a bit brought back the monitor for a day or two. She was very disappointed. Got a replacement from Amazon and the exact same thing happened the first time she turned it on. You could see the boot up screen and then it goes dark. Tried again and you couldn't see anything. I'm not willing to try this a third time because it causes her too much disappointment and grief. Too bad because she loved this computer but it's a piece of trash. She learned a valuable life lesson about value the hard way.
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Very well thought-out and nicely engineered. Makes learning FUN!
by Garfcadet (5 out of 5 stars)
January 3, 2017
A really well thought-out product for kids! I have an 11 year old daughter who loves to play Minecraft and aspires to be an engineer someday. My main concern about this product was that she'd find the game play to be unsatisfying compared to the 'full' Minecraft version. The product does in fact come pre-loaded with the Pocket Edition of Minecraft (like what you'd install on a tablet) so it is not the same experience as the full version. But having said that, I'd have to say that the way they integrate their custom missions and content is extremely well-done and offsets the limitations of the PE version of Minecraft well enough.
Assembly was detailed, but again, well planned and documented with easy to follow 'blueprint' instructions. It took my daughter about 25 minutes to fully assemble the kit and power it up (with only a couple of snags along the way where she neglected something in the instructions and had to go back a step or 2 to fix the issue and then proceed). Once powered-up, the real fun begins with the on-screen tasks revealing limitations in the initial configuration (that the child quickly notices), but then provides solutions to these limitations as part of the game-play. My daughter was drawn-in immediately and spent hours working through various missions and gaining some insights into electronics and the basics of circuitry along the way. I highly recommend this product for kids that like to tinker!
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Awesome product! Do not regret the purchase!...
by night9x (5 out of 5 stars)
April 23, 2017
Our daughter had the best time with building this and learning about computers. She loves Minecraft and when my husband saw this online on a website he thought it would be great and educational. Our daughter is 8. I love how it works and uses her problem solving skills, along with technical skills to make it work. Brilliant all around!
The one thing I think could be improved is where to keep the extra wires. There is no go place because there are so many extras. The box in the back of the design holds the mouse which is great but for the wires it won't close properly with them just in there. And as we know kids don't put things away nicely, she just throughs them on top of everything then closes up the box. Which has bent/creased the wires up unless I come back and try to put them away nicely.
I would definitely recommend this for any child. Great learning experience, and continual learning.
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An excellent concept; however, not flawless.
by R Patten (4 out of 5 stars)
December 26, 2017
My wife and I bought the PIPER Computer Kit as a gift for our 11 year old daughter. Although the box claims the kit to be an average 8+ age suitability, I would rate it as follows:
8-10 = Adult build with child inclusion.
11-13 = Child build with adult supervision.
13+ = Complete child build.
The entire build took my 11 year old 2hrs 15mins.
*It is important to note that we unboxed the battery and speaker the day before in order to acheive a full charge. The battery pack (green rectangular power pack with lightning bolt motif and 2x USB ports) took 6 hours, whilst the speaker only took about 1 hour for a full charge.
I have noted a few pointers for buyers to consider:
1) The screen comes fitted with a plastic scratch protective sheet. The screen arrives pre-clamped between two wooden bracket components and as such makes the release of the plastic protective sheet a little difficult without unscrewing the rear panel. Fear not! Just undo the 2x brass nuts at the back, lift the brackets off (remember positioning and realign serial bus lead with groove), peel off the protective sheet, and return the components to their original position. The screen should be fitted in the mount as originally provided.
2) During instruction 5B you are told to use a 25¢ piece as a torque tool for the screen bracket mount to the main body. We don't all live in the US and/or have access to American coinage; therefore, a 0.8mm flat head screwdriver will do. I think the manufacturer could have gone to the trouble to provide a small metal piece to accommodate said coupling, albeit most likely lacking due to a cost cutting and weight reduction exercise. Nevertheless, have a flat head screwdriver at the ready, or the outside edge of a conventional household key should do the trick. All other tools and parts are provided in the kit.
3) Make sure you pay close attention to the types of screws used for each stage. The instructions are clearly outlined; however, the excitement of the build can sometimes cloud the judgement and selection of components.
4) Teamwork is paramount! I would say that anyone under the age of 13 will require some support in the build. There are a few finniky parts along the way; especially in the final composition of the nuts and screws of the screen/lid component. Perhaps a pair of tweezers might help along the way. Otherwise, just be patient with your MkI fingers and thumbs.
5) Once the build is completed, you'll be left with a bunch of wires and components, all of which have no illustrated drawings, or blue prints. We decided to use the image on the front of the box as a guideline. Frustrated without instructions, we decided to turn on the unit and see what happens. Ultimately, all you need to do is finish the build and power up (having previously fully charged the battery and speaker). You'll be prompted to connect to your WiFi. Once connected, you'll see an icon with an option to update. Select this option and wait. If nothing happens and/or you are prompted to connect to your WiFi, just power off from the battery pack. Restart and you'll get the prompt to upgrade on the home screen. Select OK and wait. The update will take several minutes (15-30), do make sure you are fully charged on battery power. If not, the sudden shut-down at power loss can cause problems with the software. Note that there are 2 phases in the update procedure.
6) Once up and running, the user can opt to play the Minecraft game (whereby the user will be shown how to wire the controller for use in the game), or the user can opt to try their hand at coding. Both will come with their own set of on-screen instructions. Hence why I advised you complete the build and don't worry about the wiring, or remaining components until you've turned the unit on and completed the necessary upgrades, etc.
7) One last thing to note is that some of the wiring instructions during the coding levels may elude to numbers of colour coded wires not available in your bundle. Don't panic. Just use one of the other colours not needed in that setup. You'll have plenty of components for every coding/gaming build.
Conclusion:
Overall, this is an excellent learning tool for children aged 8+. There are a few elements which could do with some clearer instruction in order to manage expectations; however, for the few adjustments I'd say there are a few minutes of trial and error, or even common sense, which will help the user prevail.
The battery power of the unit lasted for 5 hours of non-stop operation. The coding stages become increasingly more challenging, and the attention to detail becomes equally critical to the success of each coding stage.
I believe the price point is fair given the quality of the components. I would not hesitate to recommend the PIPER Computer Kit with Raspberry Pie 3 and Quad-Core 1.2GHz processor to any of my friends and family seeking a great gift for an age range appropriate child.
I've included some imagery to help with anticipation of size and build; notwithstanding a short video of my 11 year old daughter having fun during one of the coding stages.
I trust this review has been informative. I would have liked to have read something similar before purchasing this kit, and as such hope that it may be of some help to someone in the future.
Regards,
R
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Best "toy" purchase I've ever made
by Raederle (5 out of 5 stars)
July 7, 2017
I was on the fence about whether this was too complex a project for my Minecraft-crazy five-year-old. But I am thrilled with my purchase. We have had a blast with this. Physically, it is beautifully crafted; the wooden components are precisely cut and drilled and easy to put together (Ikea, are you listening? All the holes are pre-drilled and they line up perfectly and the bolts are all the correct size and there is not a single cursed hex key in the box!), and the laser-embossing and finishing makes it feel like an heirloom, not a toy. The blueprints to construct the computer give you enough information to put it together with a bit of thought; not as spoon-fed as a Lego instruction book but not a brain-twister. Intuitive. The thrill when we turned it on for the first time was amazing. Yes! We did this! Our Piper updated itself without a hitch and we've been going through the tasks/games the software presents and having a lot of fun together. It's a combination of gaming and electronics (problem-solving disguised) that my son and I can both enjoy doing even at his young age. And I'm hopeful that the game will grow with him, as the company seems to work on regular updates to the software. They seem like an energized group of folks who really want this to be a great experience for Piper users. Customer service is top-notch: we needed a charging cable that didn't come with our set, and a real human (!) sent me a note telling me it's on its way within a day. Great product that its makers stand behind.
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A "Must-Have" Kit for sure
by Spi (5 out of 5 stars)
July 18, 2016
Got our Piper today and its been a simply amazing experience for the kids. The 2 of them (8 and 6 year old) play way too many hours of minecraft (in my opinion) on a good day, but before now I've not managed to have them replicate the same level of interest with any of the several minecraft-based learning or modding tools we've tried.
The way they've taken to Piper on the other hand has been great to watch. I suppose the joy of putting together your own computer, and physically upgrading it on the go as you play through the minecraft levels helped create a special experience for them.
Awesome job guys
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An excellent concept; however, not flawless.
by R Patten,Top Contributor: Snowboarding (4 out of 5 stars)
December 26, 2017
My wife and I bought the PIPER Computer Kit as a gift for our 11 year old daughter. Although the box claims the kit to be an average 8+ age suitability, I would rate it as follows:
8-10 = Adult build with child inclusion.
11-13 = Child build with adult supervision.
13+ = Complete child build.
The entire build took my 11 year old 2hrs 15mins.
*It is important to note that we unboxed the battery and speaker the day before in order to acheive a full charge. The battery pack (green rectangular power pack with lightning bolt motif and 2x USB ports) took 6 hours, whilst the speaker only took about 1 hour for a full charge.
I have noted a few pointers for buyers to consider:
1) The screen comes fitted with a plastic scratch protective sheet. The screen arrives pre-clamped between two wooden bracket components and as such makes the release of the plastic protective sheet a little difficult without unscrewing the rear panel. Fear not! Just undo the 2x brass nuts at the back, lift the brackets off (remember positioning and realign serial bus lead with groove), peel off the protective sheet, and return the components to their original position. The screen should be fitted in the mount as originally provided.
2) During instruction 5B you are told to use a 25¢ piece as a torque tool for the screen bracket mount to the main body. We don't all live in the US and/or have access to American coinage; therefore, a 0.8mm flat head screwdriver will do. I think the manufacturer could have gone to the trouble to provide a small metal piece to accommodate said coupling, albeit most likely lacking due to a cost cutting and weight reduction exercise. Nevertheless, have a flat head screwdriver at the ready, or the outside edge of a conventional household key should do the trick. All other tools and parts are provided in the kit.
3) Make sure you pay close attention to the types of screws used for each stage. The instructions are clearly outlined; however, the excitement of the build can sometimes cloud the judgement and selection of components.
4) Teamwork is paramount! I would say that anyone under the age of 13 will require some support in the build. There are a few finniky parts along the way; especially in the final composition of the nuts and screws of the screen/lid component. Perhaps a pair of tweezers might help along the way. Otherwise, just be patient with your MkI fingers and thumbs.
5) Once the build is completed, you'll be left with a bunch of wires and components, all of which have no illustrated drawings, or blue prints. We decided to use the image on the front of the box as a guideline. Frustrated without instructions, we decided to turn on the unit and see what happens. Ultimately, all you need to do is finish the build and power up (having previously fully charged the battery and speaker). You'll be prompted to connect to your WiFi. Once connected, you'll see an icon with an option to update. Select this option and wait. If nothing happens and/or you are prompted to connect to your WiFi, just power off from the battery pack. Restart and you'll get the prompt to upgrade on the home screen. Select OK and wait. The update will take several minutes (15-30), do make sure you are fully charged on battery power. If not, the sudden shut-down at power loss can cause problems with the software. Note that there are 2 phases in the update procedure.
6) Once up and running, the user can opt to play the Minecraft game (whereby the user will be shown how to wire the controller for use in the game), or the user can opt to try their hand at coding. Both will come with their own set of on-screen instructions. Hence why I advised you complete the build and don't worry about the wiring, or remaining components until you've turned the unit on and completed the necessary upgrades, etc.
7) One last thing to note is that some of the wiring instructions during the coding levels may elude to numbers of colour coded wires not available in your bundle. Don't panic. Just use one of the other colours not needed in that setup. You'll have plenty of components for every coding/gaming build.
Conclusion:
Overall, this is an excellent learning tool for children aged 8+. There are a few elements which could do with some clearer instruction in order to manage expectations; however, for the few adjustments I'd say there are a few minutes of trial and error, or even common sense, which will help the user prevail.
The battery power of the unit lasted for 5 hours of non-stop operation. The coding stages become increasingly more challenging, and the attention to detail becomes equally critical to the success of each coding stage.
I believe the price point is fair given the quality of the components. I would not hesitate to recommend the PIPER Computer Kit with Raspberry Pie 3 and Quad-Core 1.2GHz processor to any of my friends and family seeking a great gift for an age range appropriate child.
I've included some imagery to help with anticipation of size and build; notwithstanding a short video of my 11 year old daughter having fun during one of the coding stages.
I trust this review has been informative. I would have liked to have read something similar before purchasing this kit, and as such hope that it may be of some help to someone in the future.
Regards,
R
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Details were last updated on Dec 14, 2024 14:39 +08.
