The setup also works with cell phone and PDA Bluetooth systems, meaning that you can use your phone as a remote control or an output device.

Mindstorms is a curious product. Though targeted at kids aged 10-14, it also holds tremendous appeal to adults. Anecdotal testing up in the Orbiting HQ confirms that adults can't resist plopping down before the brick pile and trying to assemble a robotic arm.

With plenty of detailed build instructions and step-by-step programming guides, it's simple enough for kids to get the hang of, but the system exposes enough complexity that adults can dive deeply into it. If you're the kind of person who wants nothing more than to build a robot scorpion that can drive around the house and grab the cat's tail in its claw, you can do that. But if you want to rewrite the entire NXT firmware, build your own RDF sensor, design a LabVIEW control for it, and control the entire thing from your PDA, you can do that too.

This is a wonderful toy for adults and kids to use together. Adults can help a frustrated child visualize the best way to solve a design problem, while the kids can remind the adults of the sheer exuberance of creation. It's one of the finest robotics systems we've ever seen, and it has an active community of developers who promise to extend the system for years to come.

The good:

• Almost 600 pieces
• Sensors that actually work
• Programming system easy enough to let Grandma build a 'bot
• The X factor: fun to use

The bad:

• You can link four robots, but it will cost you $1,000
• Three motors don't go far when your robots can drive
• Little available memory in the NXT brick
• Does not include a death ray

The ugly:

• The meals I would have missed as a child while playing with this