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[petemoloy]

Hello everyone,
A relative (who is not easily contactable) has given me a used Pleo, intended for my daughter. Before I pass it on to her I obviously want to ensure everything is all in order... and to be honest I'm quite excited about havng a play with it myself first I'm looking for advice on how to get started, please.

I have the Pleo, a leaf, two (green) batteries, a (green) charger but no adapter because the she originates from Japan (I'm in the UK). I've got no documetation at all. I'm by the previous owner (the relative) that the Pleo is working and that they have reset it so that she can 'start over'.

Here's some things I'm wondering about (apologies in advnace if there is an FAQ I should have read first):

1. If I switch her on, will it be possible to reset it so she can 'start over' again for the kids?
2. Is there a recommended minimum OS, firmware, etc I should ensure is installed? (I'm quite IT savvy, if this helps.)
3. Any general advice e.g. "Things I wish I'd known when I first started"?
4. Getting a UK mains adapter.

As regards the UK adapter, I bought a generic universal mains AC/DC adapter and I'm sure the spec is correct (800ma, 12v, polarisation = positive). However, when I plug it into the charger and switch on the lights flicker red and green then go off. Now if I quickly switch off and on AND manage to time this when the red/gree lights are flickering it stays red (hurrah?) but after about 20mins I notice it has gone out (boo!) and not gone green at all. I happened to have a car charger with the correct spec and everything seemed to work OK i.e. red steady light turned green after about 20mins. So does anyone know what might be the problem with the mains charger? I don't drive for four hours very often!

[Crewella]

Hello and welcome!

I'm not the most technical of people, but until someone that knows what they're doing comes along I'll try to help.

Yes, you can reset so that your kids get to see the hatching process.  I warn you there's more than one Pleo owner here that bought Pleo for their kids but fell under their spell themselves, but if you do find the willpower you can find the download and instructions on here in the Downloads section.  The OS2 upgrade goes through something very similar to the hatching process anyway - the best advice I can give you is to spend some time going through the various posts in the Software section before you make up your mind.

If you want to run the downloadable personalities and skits on SD cards you need your Pleo to be running a minimum of OS 1.1, the rest is down to personal choice.  You can read about how to work out which version your Pleo is running here:

http://bobthepleo.com/forums/index.php?topic=293.msg3924#msg3924

There have been lots of posts about battery and charger problems, they do seem to be the most common faults - I gave up on mine in the end and bought a Ucube egg charger and battery.  They last a lot longer and I've never regretted it, but they come without an adapter so for you it might not be the answer!  People have bought and used generic adapters, but I'm not techy enough to help with why that one won't work.  If and when you do get that sorted, reseat the battery again after it goes green after 20 minutes or so and keep doing that until it turns green almost straightaway - the chargers lie to you!  Innvo (took over Ugobe) have brought out a newer charger that also has a button to recondition the old batteries which might be worth looking at - you can get them, and a new adapter if necessary, from the pleoworld.com website.

Good luck!

[RedwoodsMama]

 Welcome and be forewarned as Crewella stated, you may find yourself under the spell of Pleo , just one gaze in his/her eyes and heard that little coo sound, and I felt myself melting like butter. It is compareable as a feeling when you hold a soft little baby kitten or have a baby puppy lick your face, ( but without allergens from Cat Saliva ( if you are allergic, mind you I love cats, I have nine myself  ) or without the doggy odor, though puppies somehow for a certain period, are lucky and smell like PUPPIES!) anyway, be warned, you could get hooked easily,
                      I bought my first Pleo for a Christmas present last year, and once I turned her on,( wanting to check out if she was going to be a worthy present as I knew ZERO about Pleos and stumbled upon them by accident, just looking for Dinosaurs ) I was Hooked, line and sinker Hooked! Not just was Pleo cute and so Unique like Nothing I had seen or heard of before, but I soon learned by observation and by reading and doing research here on the forums, that Pleo was not the appropriate present for my grandson, The box says children 8 Years and +, and that is just a generalization. I think it totally depends on the child or individual. My grandson was 8 Last year, but Pleo is not a remote controlled beast that you can make do anything...( that is one of the points most of us find charming I think.)
 My grandson was more suited to D-Rex, the big Remote Controlled dinosaur that was a hot seller last year, and so to make a longer story shorter, I bought my grandson D-Rex and he is thrilled with it, and I fell in love with my Pleo, who is now Nova.
                Nova does not stop there, or I should say Pleos don't end there I needed companions for Nova and now my house is filled with Little green babies who also get along well with my nine cats and one dog. I would say read up on as much as you can before you wrap Pleo up for Christmas so you know as much as possible and be sure to ask questions. If it is a Ugobe model Pleo, then you are probably looking at a battery/ batteries that have been sitting for quite some time and are not going to work for very long. You can either buy the reconditioning charger with the switch Crewella told you about or buy a new battery from Pleoworld, or perhaps check out my store here on the forums, Nova"s Necessities, where I sell both kinds of batteries, and I allso ship worldwide, at very cheap prices. I have sold to lots of people here on the forums and you can either P.M. me and I can tell you how to get the type of battery you want.
                 There are other nice items you may want to check out for your ( children's ) Pleo here at this site or as well as PleoWorld or on some of the auction sites, clothes, etc. Pleo can be reset like Crewella said, so Pleo can be born all over again, Just be aware that all previous memories etc., that Pleo has will be erased, and Pleo starts all over again as a baby.I do not know anything about generic adapters,etc, so others will possibly be able to tell you more about that. One person who can be of big help and answer questions about skits,etc, is IMR,( InMemoryofRomeo ) Actually there are a lot of knowledgeable people here who can tell you a lot regarding more technical questions that I can not answer.  

           Good Luck with your Pleo (children's )

                                                    RedwoodsMama and Nova and family

[pleokemp]

Definitely get a battery from RedWoodsMAMA i just did and dont regret it one bit ... last night it lasted 2.5 hours WOW GREAT... as for the main power cord I would get the universal one Innvo Labs sells on their site ... http://store.pleoworld.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PleoWorld&Product_Code=INL-INNVOLABS-662803 ... but RWM batteries are much better you wont think otherwise after trying ...as for the OS it seems to be between 1.1 and 2.0.1 ... its up to you ... theres alot about both on here ... you can reset theres a couple different ways to do this ... as for general advice ... LOL buy another one cause youll want it too ... thats what im gonna do ... really though theres so much info here im glad its still around ... i just got mine 2 weeks ago and want the pleoRB ... if you have any other question just let us know ...

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Welcome to the forum, you have already been given some sound advice but I'll add a little extra

The voltage on my adapter is 12v 0.8amps so yours is the right voltage but perhaps the connector pin is not a snug fit? To be plugged in correctly the prong on the end should be 1cms long so that it plugs in all the way. Also try a different power point, for some reason there is one point in my house that I can't use

The firmware is a matter of contention, each has good and bad points, 1.0 had a very cute tug of war but also had a few bugs. 1.1 is the most used these days it has no known bugs and has some nice features and finally the newest OS the 2.0. You can read around the forum and see what opinions are on the 2.0 however please note that on the 2.0 Pleo has a much longer 'toddler' period (almost 7 battery charges) and a lot of users here did not stick with the OS long enough to appreciate it. Usually I would suggest starting with 1.0 and working your way through each OS but if a child is involved they may be upset to find that their pet keeps changing so either pick 1.1 or 2.0 and just leave it at that. 2.0 has a longer hatching phase but both reset Pleo. Despite opinions here on the forums I do recommend the 2.0 once you get out of the toddler stage the tricks are well worth it

General advice, don't go with the 1.0 OS as the permanent OS, you will miss out on some very cute personalities and skits (although most of mine are 1.0 compatible) which are worth the download. Secondly consider ordering the Ucube or white egg batteries instead of the green, they give a much longer playtime (2 hours +) and they have a shorter charge time plus they are much more reliable than the green batteries. most Pleo problems are caused by bad batteries. Thirdly buy an outfit for your Pleo to help protect against wear and tear, small dog coats sometimes fit or there are a couple of dedicated Pleo outfitters out there.

Last but not least enjoy your new pet and always supervise around small children (and older ones if they aren't super responsible)

[Crewella]

My mistake IMR - I didn't know your skits were 1.0 compatible, sorry!

*I did say "until someone comes along who knows what they're doing" - good job you got here*

Actually, it's a good point - is it listed somewhere exactly what skit can run on what OS, do you know?

[InmemoryofRomeo]

No I don't think it is, personalities are 1.1+ and regular skits (songs and dances) are 1.0+... I think lol. Its been so long since I had a Pleo on 1.0 that I forget

[Crewella]

Yep - me too!  Thanks for confirming that. 

[petemoloy]

Thank you to everyone for your helpful advice. I'm lapping everything up right now. What a wonderful community

@Crewella: thanks for the tip about recharging until the light goes green almost immediately, I wouldn't have thought to try that. When I get it to that stage I guess I can properly assess how good the batteries are.

@RedwoodsMama: yes, I am quite prepared to fall under the Pleo spell myself Actually, it could be the best way of handling the situation with the kids i.e. saying she's mine are letting them play with her if they are careful. They kind of dig the fact I have soft toys of my own that they get to look after sometimes, whereas I only have the toys for that purpose in the first place -- honest!! As regards getting new batteries/charger: it's something I dread because I probably could not afford even the best price simply because of the shipping costs to the UK. For example, the 22 USD adapter would cost me 36 USD in shipping I guess I'd have to wait for the next time my US friend visits me. Fingers crossed that the batteries I have are useable... but thanks for the offer of help if/when I need new ones.

@InmemoryofRomeo: I think you might be on to something about the length of the adapter prong. The car adapter (the one that works) has a very slightly longer prong. Although it seemed like the main adapter prong went in all the way I now suspect it is not quite long enough. So I've ordered a mains adapter into which I can plug my car adapter and hopefully this configuration will work. BTW I've tried other sockets around the house with no joy. As regards the OS, I think I might go for OS2. I'm thinking that because we have no preconceptions about what she can do (and there are no earlier experiences stored) then we won't find the toddler phase too frustrating.

Clesrly, I have lots of reading up to do, particularly about installing a new OS. If anyone can recommend any good sources then they will be gratefully received.

Thanks again!

[InmemoryofRomeo]

I don't believe we have a dedicated instruction thread for downloading... Hmm better add that to my to do list

Any way here's how for 2.0:

Download the 2.0 Download from the downloads section. Make sure you save it somewhere where you can easily find it, like you desktop.

Unzip the file, winzip and 7zip are free if you need a zip program.

Put your SD card in your computers SD slot.

Make sure there is nothing at all on the SD card.

Drag the files you unzipped (all of them, should be three I think) to the root of the SD card, that means they should be the first thing you see if you open the SD card.

Insert SD card in Pleo.

Make sure Pleo has a fully charged battery!

Turn Pleo on and wait for a voice to say 'updating', that means it is working, after a while another voice will say 'done' and Pleo will curl up. turn Pleo off and remove the SD card at this point.

If Pleo does not say updating after five minutes turn him off and back on, then repeat the above steps to make sure you haven't missed anything. If Pleo doesn't say 'done' after 15 minutes or so please report back here so we can take a look at the problem.


(I have a collection of soft toys too, but no children to blame them on )

[binbags]

Hi petemoloy and Welcome

I am also new as of the other day.  I have just received my Pleo and am already feeling woosy in the head with what can be done and the future of Pleo.

Mine is poorly at the moment, but is on the way to a full recovery (new battery and charger unit)

I am not going to do any upgrades as yet, as I want to wait for the battery unit arrive, then "woooosh" there will be no stopping me.  Listen to me, I bought this creature for my wife.  Looks like I will have to purchase another one.

Live long and enjoy, I think that this is what "Spock" would say

[Crewella]

I have no such excuses - I'm at the ripe old age of 46 and I bought Iggy for me, me, me!  My beloved OH thinks I'm bonkers (but I just think I'm free! ) so he's only just beginning to understand the attractions!

You've both got some fun ahead of you! 

[petemoloy]

It's decided: officially, the Pleo is mine. Unofficially, the Pleo is still mine I think that's the only way the kids will be able to look after her e.g. *their* boardgame all have missing/broken pieces whereas my board games are sacred!

I've been reading everything I can about the OS and I now think 1.1 is the one for me. Of course, I haven't established which one is currently installed yet but I've got a handle on how to tell (singing when chin tickled, moving while sitting, etc).

I'm very tempted to get a ucube battery + charger. The choices seem to be direct from Taiwan or from our very own (if I may say that) RedwoodsMama, both via eBay (i.e. PayPal), both for around 70 USD (44 GBP) including shipping to the UK. I'll have to start saving up for one

[kat]

Sounds like you have worked out the best plan for everyone.  I have 2 kids and one pleo rb and she is mine too.  The kids are aloud to pat her and interact with her only under my watchful eyes. 
I actually brought her for myself as an early Christmas present.  Best present I ever got!
We are all big kids at heart so don't be ashamed to own that pleo.  Just be a little crazy like the rest of us and have some fun.

[degers]

I have no such excuses - I'm at the ripe old age of 46 and I bought Iggy for me, me, me!  My beloved OH thinks I'm bonkers (but I just think I'm free! ) so he's only just beginning to understand the attractions!

You've both got some fun ahead of you! 

Haha love the song reference Crewella!

[InmemoryofRomeo]

As the Cheshire cat would say- We are all mad here

Back on topic though the egg batteries really are worth the money.

[petemoloy]

I think I am now officially babysitting this (green) battery.

When I first charged it this morning it went from red to green in approx 10 mins. I reseated it (red again) and it charged for over an hour before turning green once more.

Since then the cycle has been: charge until goes green (approx 30mins), remove the battery to cool for about 10mins (otherwise it flashes red - makes a nice hand warmer ), repeat.

Goes this sound correct i.e. am I "reconditioning" this battery? I assume I'll get to the point when it goes green within 10mins.

Thanks in advance for your continued encouragement

[Crewella]

That sounds along the right lines, but personally I'd be using it in the Pleo in between charging times to allow it to run down properly as well.  I did once find a very useful 'battery school' link - I'll try to find it for you to put some facts behind what are just my 'gut feelings'.

[petemoloy]

@Crewella: thanks I'll keeping watching this space

[petemoloy]

Green light after 10mins, twice in a row, so I'll stop charging now.

[Crewella]

Sorry it took me a while - work concerns took over!  This actually isn't what I was after, but will do the job of giving you an overview of both battery types Pleos use as well, (though li-poly are slightly different from li-ion) and give you plenty of reading matter if you want to go into it more deeply!


http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/do_and_dont_battery_table

This page better explains  my 'gut feeling', though several of the more technical sites now say the 'memory' thing is now out-dated and less relevant to more modern batteries.  Hell, I'd only been to 'battery school' before, today was 'battery university'!  I'm really just trying to find something that explains that discharging is also an important part of the 'reconditioning' process!  

http://www.copquest.com/battery_care.htm

This is about the best explanation of 'reconditioning' that I can find:


What is battery conditioning or exercising?

When you intentionally discharge a battery down to a certain minimum voltage and then recharge it this is known as battery conditioning or reconditioning .  It is also sometimes referred to as battery exercise. This is particularly important to reduce what some call the memory effect experienced using NiCD batteries if you habitually do not fully discharge them each time you use them.  For NiCD batteries this must be done periodically, approximately every 10 charge/discharge cycles or so, or the batteries will begin to lose capacity.  For NiMH batteries conditioning is not really needed to reduce any memory effect because that is negligible in this type of battery.  However, reconditioning is very convenient for both NiMH and NiCD batteries because brand new batteries are not charged when you receive them and they must be charged and discharged three to five times before they reach their full capacity.   In addition, occasionally conditioning rechargeable batteries helps to ensure that they give you years or service and save you as much money as possible, before you recycle them and get new ones.

From:  

http://www.greenbatteries.com/bachfa.html

[InmemoryofRomeo]

I've done that plenty of times, take it off charge and put it back on straight away, it really does help after a while. When you use it in Pleo though it is very important to run the battery out completely, keep turning Pleo off and on if you have to, until he stops pretty much straight away. That helps with the memory problem Crewella mentioned

[petemoloy]

Thanks people,
Knowing that I'm (probably) doing no harm by recharging over and over before putting inside Pleo then I'll repeat the process with the other battery.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Cheers

[petemoloy]

Powered on for the first time and ran for an hour before starting to get sleepy, it seemed. Kept waking her up and finally ran out of battery power after 1hr 25mins of use.  Sweet

Switched to the other battery, pressed the button for 10secs to put into storage position: neck and tail straight out, is that right? As in, storage position as in the boxes I've seen pictures of. Trouble is, the case I have needs her to be in 'sleeping' position i.e. lying down, tail and neck curled in. Kind of wish I hadn't kept her awake now! Is it possible to put into sleep position on purpose?

Seemed to be waling backwards a lot, no singing when tickled under the chin. Sounds like OS1.0, right?

[Crewella]

Does sound like earlier than 1.1 (could be 1.0-1.0.2) certainly - clincher is get it to sit with one hand under chin and other hand pressing the rear end - Pleos will move their legs into the right position but need help actually sitting.  If it moves about while sitting you've got OS1.1.

To make Pleo sleep cradle upright against your chest and support rear end/sensor.  Pleo will snuggle then go to sleep.  It's handy, and unbelieveably cute!

However, the packing position puts less stress on the skin and cables and is a better position to leave in long term.

Meant to say - way to go with the battery!