Customer Reviews
Bob is a welcome addition to our family! 
2008-10-01
Our children are "TV-aholics" and will watch TV all day if we let them! Here's how Bob helps: Each child gets their own pin number (you can program up to 6). With the master pin number, my husband and I can program how much TV time each person gets per day. So when my children wants to watch TV, they have to punch in a PIN number and Bob displays how much time they has remaining for that day. When the time is up, Bob shuts off power to the TV and it cannot be turned back on. Bob also allows us to block out certain times for each user, such as Sunday morning or the hour after school (for homework time).
The kids can earn extra time (for doing chores, homework, etc) or they can have time taken away for misbehaving. So far, it's working really well. My son asks me if he can watch a show and I respond, "It's up to you- If you use all your time now, you won't have any TV time later today and you might be sad." He also did all of his chores this morning without any complaining- It was fabulous!
Bob can also help control video game time because the kids can't turn on the TV without using their PIN. So, while they can turn the video game console on, they can't see anything on the TV without logging in and using their time. You can also connect Bob to a computer.
The thing I love most about Bob is that it's no longer me telling the kids to turn the TV off- That's Bob's job. He's a welcome addition to our home!
Damn near perfect (for my use) 
2008-09-09
I purchased the Hopscotch Bob for my video arcade as a way to allow customers to pre-pay for extended periods of time. This device is 100x's better than other timers I've purchased. I kick myself everyday for not having bought this first.
VERY solid design. Works 100% of the time and is a very well built machine. I would've given this a perfect 5 stars but I cannot because of the ultra-annoying "warning buzzer". With 1 minute remaining the Bob will start to beep. The beep is much louder than needed and there is no volume adjustment. This wouldn't be an issue if it only did it once or twice. It beeps CONSTANTLY for that minute and with the last 5 seconds beeps rapidly. Volume control should be included but do not overlook this product because of this one omission.
I have since bought 8 more units and they are all perfect for me in my line of work. This could be used in the office break room as a bonus for employees. Simply set up a tv or video game and it'll regulate the time spent. You can also set up a block to keep people off it except during specific hours.
I would have NO problems buying this product but do not spend over $90shipped for it. There are numerous retailers selling this for $85shipped.
A Perfect Product 2008-08-11
The rare perfect product -- designed for a specific purpose and does it very well. It used to be a pain to try to keep track of how much tv the kids were watching. BOB does it for us. We set time limits, they enter their individual codes and they get to watch until their daily time limit. My wife and I don't have to worry about it at all anymore. Smart design -- the tv's power plug gets locked into BOB so you can't even get around it that way. It starts chiming 1 minute before shutoff, which is good b/c then you can shut off the tv yourself if you're worried about the effects of external power cutoffs (I have no idea if that's really an issue). One improvement would be to allow different time limits by day of the week, specifically we allow the kids to watch longer on weekends. We get around that by having separate weekend accounts for them. Since we have 2 kids and there are 6 available accounts that works.
BOB is a great tool for parents 2008-07-26
This is a wonderful product. It's easy to install and to use. It's an effective tool for limiting children's TV time.
Works great! 2008-07-24
I had purchased a competing product a couple months ago (the Time Machine) and the kids had found some easy ways around it in no time. This device was easy to set up and works great. I had a user problem at one point and wrote customer service and they replied immediately and went beyond normal expectations to help me solve it. A great product from a great company. Highly recommended.
Great product... Works perfectly 2008-07-22
Efficient management of time is perhaps the largest human folly. Teach you children how to use their time wisely. BOB from Hopscotch Technology is a great way to help you do so. Television or computer use is an important part of our lives, but it should not be the only part. BOB is a simple hardware solution to the "too much TV" issue, bringing balance to electronic media use in our homes. BOB helps parents monitor and manage the time their children spend using in-home media. BOB is an easy to use, small device that sits next to a TV, video-game system or computer. The power cord from one of these devices plugs into the back of BOB and is locked in place. Then, BOB plugs into an electrical outlet. After set up, a process that takes about three minutes, the machine monitors the amount of time a child spends using that media device. Parents decide an acceptable amount of viewing time for each child per day or week. Specific time periods can be blocked entirely for studying, chores, family time, or sleeping. Each child in the house for up to 6 users has a four-digit PIN that they enter before they can turn on the attached device. BOB tracks the time used. A master pin allows a parent to turn on the connected device at any time. When a child's preset viewing time expires, BOB shuts off the attached TV, video-game system or computer and won't allow it to be turned on by that user for the remainder of the day or week. Time reporting for every user Time-period blocking (to prevent media use at certain times of the day) BOB works with all TVs (including large screens), gaming stations, and computers Big, easy to use, illuminated keypad for the entire family - even in the dark! Tamper proof - Durable Hopscotch Technology 1-year warranty
Buying our 3rd "Bob" 2008-06-19
The best product I ever tried for controlling my kids' screen time was "EyeTimer" which inexplicably went out of business. Bob is a worthy substitute - but whereas EyeTimer let me set up a single "screen" budget for each child for 2 TVs and 1 gaming system, I need a "Bob" for each device and have to manage time on each of them. (Eyetimer also had a "homework" mode that let kids use the computer for homework without charging their "playtime" budget and kept track of what they did to make sure there was no playing when they were supposed to be working.)
We have 2 "Bobs" - one for the family TV and one for the small TV my 10- and 13-year-old boys use for gaming. My kids have really learned how to budget their "screen" time. We use a weekly allowance that is split between the gaming Bob and the TV Bob. I'm back to buy a 3rd Bob b/c my 13-year-old figured out he could move the Wii into my bedroom when I'm not home! They won't even have pin numbers on that one.
With Bob, the kids know exactly how much time they've used and how much they have left. I have set up blocks for times they shouldn't be on screens and I have one pin number that only works on Saturdays from 7-11 PM - so it's only used when my oldest is sitting for his younger brother and they're allowed to watch a movie. They also know that I can take away Bob time for bad behavior, or reward them with "fly time" as either a special "bonus" or because there are 10 minutes left in a show they are watching.
Bob helps regain our family! 2008-04-05
Since installing Bob on our TV, my kids have learned to respect
their allotted TV/video time. Previously, "2 hours" would turn into much longer on the weekends. Now, each one has their own time slot.
Very easy to use, very easy to program, can have multiple users, doesn't just "let you in" if the power is cut (unplugged or power outage) -- you have to use the master account if the power is out.
Very straightforward to use. Even my husband, the TV addict, does not complain about it being in place. Very nice to be able to control usage.
Bob worked great ! 2008-03-10
BOB has brought peace in our house when it comes to watching TV. Our 2 kids would watch TV as soon as they came home from school to "unwind", but it was very difficult to get them to shut it off and start homework. Even when it was possible the kids would be in a whiny mood which made studying difficult. Our kids are old enough (10 & 12) that once you left the room for a few minutes they would stop the homework, walk into the room with the TV, & turn it back on. Finishing their homework got later into the evening specially when there was extra curricular activities that night (volleyball, karate, or Cub Scouts).
We purchased two BOBs (one for each TV) and they are pretty simple to set up. BOB controls the power to the TV set. So first you unplug your TV from the outlet and connect it into the small plastic power box attached to BOB. Then lock it with the key & put the key away somewhere safe. The BOB power cord is now plugged into the wall. Next, set a 4 digit master password for you, & set the current day & time. Then set a 4 digit password for each child, the amount of time each child can watch TV & "blocks" which are times when they cannot watch TV. You can limit any user's time by day or by week, but not both. For example, we allow 1 hour of TV per day in the living room and have blocked TV from 3:30 pm to 6:00 pm. on school days because that is homework time. Since they can't watch TV when they come home from school they have figured out they might as well get their homework done then. On weekends they can watch 2 hours of TV each day. There is an audible warning that starts when 60 seconds of time are left.
BOB has helped to reduce the stress tremendously in our family & overall we are happy with it. It only took about 10 minutes to set up and everything is menu driven on a 4 line LCD display. You use the arrow keys, enter button, and numbers to enter the info. You can also add or subtract time on the fly using "fly time". Basically while your son or daughter are watching TV you touch a special key sequence, enter the master password, and enter or subtract time in 15 minute increments.
One minor grip is that I wish it was more flexible. For example, if we want to keep our current TV limits until 6 pm on school night it worked fine, but if our son is done with his homework early and wants to watch TV at 5:00 it's not easy to do this. You cannot user "fly time" because the user must be logged on to BOB, and they cannot log on since the time is blocked. The only way I found was to use by master password to turn it on for him.
Here's the link to the user manual if interested http://usebob.com/pdfs/BOBUserManual.pdf
Perfect Problem Solver 2008-03-08
We ordered Bob to help control TV watching time for our son. What a great product! Now we are not the bad guys yelling to turn off the TV. Bob is very easy to use, and we had it up and running in about 5 minutes. Programming is very intuitive and the directions for use are pretty clear. (You do have to log out of the device to turn it off, not just turn off the TV.) The device blends in with the other electronics on our entertainment center, so there's no embarrassment factor when his friends come over. It has done a great job of limiting time and is flexible--it is easy to add extra time when watching a favorite film and to change programming. I love Bob!
