Science Reviews

This 500-in-1 kit has more features than the average attention span can handle (I won't re-hash the list here. You can find the complete list of projects online somewhere).

So, this is not a "Well, this looks like a good gift for Johnny" product. Whoever is going to receive (if it's a gift) or purchase for themselves, should be fairly serious about learning electronics. If not, start with a much smaller kit, and work yourself up to this one.

As far as construction, it's pretty sturdy. The breadboard is centrally located and from a layout perspective, I had no trouble setting up any of the experiments.

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There are a TON of resistors, wires, caps, etc.
I ended up buying a couple plastic partitioned containers to hold everything and that still wasn't enough. Pretty much everything comes in an individually marked plastic bag, and Tesla help you if you don't take care in replacing everything back into the correct baggie, or you'll quickly memorize the Resistor Identification chart...though, that may not be a bad side-effect :)
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I did have some trouble with the breadboard itself, in that some of the slots were really tough to punch into and with my big sausage-like fingers, I ended up bending a few leads and wire ends here and there and settled on using some needle nose pliers to feed the tough slots.

The experiments are split up into 3 large softbound manuals (Aprox 10"x14") and cover a very wide range of projects. There are "Did you know" type blurbs throughout which makes them informative.

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My biggest problem with this kit is with the text of the experiments. I found myself wanting more "This is what's happening and why" type of information, but what you get is mostly just how to set up the project. IMHO, it's missing 1 or 2 more paragraphs talking about the Why of the project.
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Ironically, the most use I actually got out of this kit, was to prototype and test some circuts and devices (motors, lights, solenoids, etc) using the breadboard and the variable resistor pots, but I've since purchased a breadboard from R.S. and some basic wires/resistors/caps/etc that allow me to do all that.

My ADD only allowed me to trek through the first manual before I saw another shiny object and left this kit to gather dust in the closet. If you are serious about using a kit to learn electronics, then this is probably for you. If you are looking at it from a hobby view, I'd recommend starting with something smaller.

(Sorry for the long review, but since no one else has submited one, I figured I'd try to be of some help)

I'll agree this box set looks impressive, but our walkie-talkies did even work. My boys were terribly disappointed. The Binoculars are comparable to looking out the bottom of a coke bottle. Yes, if it were made better, this product would have the potential to be a fun and educational, but I strong recommend you stay clear of this rubbish.

This set looks impressive; however, the walkie talkies do not work beyond 5 feet. Very disappointing. Watch is far too big for a child. Daughter did not even try the other items. This could be a fun and educational toy if it worked well.

in the photo these look like great toys. but in actuality they were a huge disapointment. so much so i could not even give them to my nephew for his birthday as planned.