Bresser junior AstroPlanetarium deluxe Review

Specs

Scope of delivery

The Bresser junior Astroplanetarium deluxe is delivered in a quite large box. In addition to the projector, the following items are supplied with the projector: stand, instruction manual, interactive software for the PC, installation instructions for the software, and two star disks. One disc shows the starry sky and the other the starry sky with star images.

The device will operate with three AA batteries. These are unfortunately not included in the scope of delivery. If you want to use the home planetarium directly, you will have to buy the batteries separately.

Start-up

The first commissioning took me only a few minutes.

First, you have to unscrew the cover on the underside of the planetarium. Underneath there is another cover, which can be removed by unscrewing the small screw. A cross-head screwdriver is required for this.

After inserting the batteries and closing the planetarium, place it in the stand. Next, one of the two star disks is inserted. The insertion hole is opened by pressing a button on the front. The discs can only be used in one position.

The flap with the disc is simply pushed back in by hand. In my case the device was a bit stuck, so I had to push it in with a lot of force to make it hold. To use the Bresser junior Astroplanetarium deluxe, all you have to do is place it, switch it on, and adjust the sharpness on the lens.

Functionality

The Bresser junior AstroPlanetarium deluxe can display 8,000 celestial bodies with each disk. This is the same as the National Geographic Astro Planetarium and much less than my test winner.

When the unit is placed two meters from the ceiling, the projection screen has a size of 5.25 feet x 6.89 feet according to the packaging. In my experience, you can achieve the best picture with such a distance. Often, however, the outermost edges of the projection are slightly blurred, which is unfortunately also the case with many other home planetariums.

The stars are clearly recognizable and are projected in different sizes, which I really like. However, the starry sky in my eyes doesn’t necessarily look realistic.

Therefore the star images on the star image disc are well recognizable. The names on it were written in Latin and are clearly legible at close range if you have perfectly adjusted the sharpness.

The focus can be easily adjusted. All you have to do is rotate the frame around the lens. The rest of the operation was also very easy for me.

Using two wheels on the front, you can set an exact date with time. This allows you to display the starry sky at a specific time.

For example, the shooting star function can be activated via various buttons. This causes a shooting star to appear at the same position on the projection every 40 seconds.

Besides, the projection can be rotated either to the left or the right using two motors. The only disadvantage of this function is that in my opinion, the motors make quite loud noises.

There is also the possibility that the device switches off automatically after 30 or 60 minutes. Thanks to the automatic timer it can also be used as a sleeping aid.

The on and off works with the same button. In order not to switch off the room planetarium by mistake, you have to hold the button for a few seconds.

Since all buttons are illuminated with a green light, even in the darkness it becomes clear which functions are active. If you know which button is in which position, you can operate the home planetarium in complete darkness.

Quality

I would generally rate the quality as good. The Bresser junior AstroPlanetarium deluxe basically looks very stable and at first, glance appears cleanly processed. A power-saving LED is also used. The projection appears accordingly bright and only a small heat development takes place.

However, at second glance I noticed that some small things are still worthy of improvement in terms of processing. This one looked a little unclean on some corners and edges of my device.

The home planetarium has a safe stand in its foot for this purpose. The upper side was equipped with a non-slip material so that the projector does not wobble back and forth.

Service / Warranty

The manufacturer can be contacted via an e-mail address, by telephone, and in many social networks for questions. However, I have had no experience with the quality of the service itself. The manual also describes typical problems with the home planetarium and explains how to solve them.

If you buy the Bresser junior AstroPlanetarium deluxe online, you receive the legal 14-day right of return as a private buyer. Also, Bresser offers a standard 2-year warranty on the device. This can be extended by online registration to 5 years, which is very good. However, I cannot say how warranty processing will proceed.

Price Performance

Within the low price class, the Bresser junior AstroPlanetarium deluxe is one of the cheapest home planetariums in my best list. Accordingly, this model also has an exceptionally good price-performance ratio and is my personal price-performance winner among the indoor planetariums.

Pros

Cons