LEGO NXT: The Mind Storms of Hundreds of Itty-Bitty Pieces
I am quite content in admitting that i may just never leave my study again. I was kindly given a set of Lego Mindstorms for Xmas and as i have only just returned to Sydney i was only just able to start playing.
I decided it was best to start by constructing one of the documented models rather then let my ambition get the better of me. So sure enough i chose a model to construct. There was no fluffing around for me as i decided to jump straight into it and construct the nearly famous LEGO NXT humanoid Alpha Rex.
With 101 pages of PDF to follow and the occasional missing page and double pages replacing them i slowly worked my way through it while the boys amused themselves with a 20/20 match. The one thing i has quite blissfully forgotten about Lego and Technique was all those itty-bitty parts that even though there are ten of them in the box you can never find them on call. Between that and my usual clumsiness of dropping small, yet vital connecting parts that are seemingly never to be found again. Even with all this i still managed to work my way through this relative simple procedure, even if i needed to improvise a little to hold poor Rex’s head on.
Once Rex had physically been pieced together it was time to piece him together mentally, using the Mindstorm software. I have to say that i am not5r a big fan of the whole drag and drop concept of programing, i mean dont get me wrong it’s pretty and sure it teaches kids or newbies to programing the concept of making software modular burt frankly i find it tedious. What i have decided they really need is an option when it comes to the Mindstorm software interface, all they would need to do is put in a view option and create a compiler style view for us picky know-it-alls. That is if they want us to use their software at all and considering the alternative is cracking the hardware to enable the use of a C compiler i think they would defiantly prefer to put a bit more effort in to their own program.
All in all i think it is best if i give this product a few different ratings, these are as follows:
Physical construction of the product i give 4.5 out of 5 B9’s
As for the software personally i gave it 1.5 blue screens:
However i do give the product all in all a 5 out of 5 for usability for the average Joe Blow i also give it full marks for freaking out the dog.
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