VTech SilverStreak, User Manual

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Page 2: ...o the best of their ability Whether it s learning about letters numbers geography or algebra all VTECH learning products incorporate advanced technologies and extensive curriculum to encourage children of all ages to reach their potential When it comes to providing interactive products that enlighten entertain and develop minds at VTECH we see the potential in every child 34200Manual 2 28 00 10 01...

Page 3: ...ESN T TURN ON OR STOPS RESPONDING 4 STILL HAVING PROBLEMS 4 AUTOMATIC SHUT OFF 4 CONTRAST CONTROL 4 VOLUME CONTROL 4 MOUSE KEYBOARD AND CURSOR CONTROL 5 MOUSE 5 CLEANING THE MOUSE 5 TOUCH PAD 5 SPEED SCROLLER 6 KEYBOARD 6 SPECIAL KEYS 6 CATEGORY BUTTONS 10 DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES 11 LEVELS AND 2 PLAYER MODE 11 GENERAL DISPLAY 12 TOOLS 12 LANGUAGE ARTS 13 WORD CHALLENGE 13 COMPREHENSION 13 rev342...

Page 4: ...MMON GROUND 15 FACTOR REACTOR 15 COORDINATES 15 SUM IT UP 15 MINUS MADNESS 15 MULTIPLICATION 16 DIVISION 16 ALGEBRA ATTACK 16 GEOMETRY 16 GRAPH IT 16 THIS TO THAT 16 FRACTION ACTION 16 NUMBER PATTERNS 17 MATH CHALLENGE 17 TRIVIA CHALLENGE 17 LOGIC AND GAMES 17 DRAGON CHALLENGE 17 3D RACE RALLY 18 3D TIC TAC TOE 18 DISC CHALLENGE 18 3D MAZE 19 ART STUDIO 19 CARD MAKER 19 34200Manual 2 28 00 10 01 A...

Page 5: ...TA PAIRS 1 32 DATA PAIRS 2 32 TEST TRAINER 1 32 TEST TRAINER 2 32 SYSTEM SETUP 33 FILE CABINET 33 QUICK TAG 33 SOUND EFFECT 33 BACKGROUND MUSIC 33 DATE TIME 33 SCORING STATISTICS 33 PRINTER SETUP 34 TROUBLESHOOTING PRINTER ERRORS 34 HOW TO USE AN EXPANSION CARTRIDGE 34 ACTIVITY CARTRIDGES 35 FOREIGN LANGUAGES 35 TYPING CHALLENGE 35 SCORING 36 SCORING CODE 36 VTECH SILVERSTREAK ACTIVITIES 37 CARE A...

Page 6: ...267 7377 in Canada The VTECH SILVERSTREAK is an electronic learning aid This unit offers a wide range of exciting and educational activities for interactive learning The unit s 73 built in activities and computer skill s tools encourage learning in an entertaining and effective manner LCD SCREEN CONTRAST CONTROL SPEED SCROLLER OFF BUTTON CARTRIDGE DOOR CARTRIDGES LEFT MOUSE BUTTON KEYBOARD LED LEN...

Page 7: ...ing 6 AA size batteries or a 9V 300mA AC center positive adaptor sold separately BATTERY INSTALLATION 1 Make sure the unit is turned OFF 2 Locate the battery cover on the bottom of the unit and open it 3 Insert 6 AA size batteries as illustrated DO NOT USE RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES in this unit 4 Close the battery cover BATTERY NOTICE Install batteries correctly observing the polarity _ signs to avoi...

Page 8: ...ose all the information stored in the following activities Word Processor Money Manager Calendar Telephone Book Scheduler Card Maker Picture Maker LOGO Data Pairs 1 2 Test Trainer 1 2 In addition to these activities newly setup players names and scores will also be lost AC ADAPTOR CONNECTION Use a standard 9V 300mA AC center positive adaptor 1 Make sure the unit is OFF 2 Locate the adaptor jack on...

Page 9: ...ervice representative will be happy to assist you AUTOMATIC SHUT OFF If there is no input into the VTECH SILVERSTREAK learning product for several minutes the unit will automatically shut off to save power After the automatic shut off is activated you need to press the POWER button to turn it ON We recommend that you turn the unit OFF when not playing with it If the VTECH SILVERSTREAK learning pro...

Page 10: ...an the mouse open the cover on the bottom of the mouse by using a screwdriver The arrow indicator on the cover shows the releasing direction Once the cover is removed the mouse ball should be taken out and the contents inside the mouse should be cleaned with a dry cloth The mouse ball should also be cleaned with a dry cloth Once you have finished cleaning the mouse place the mouse ball back into t...

Page 11: ...bels Some keys have two different functions These keys are activated when choosing various activities Please refer to the description of activities to learn about the dual function keys SPECIAL KEYS In addition to the alphanumeric keys there are some special function keys Escape Key Esc Break The Esc key allows you to exit the current activity By repeatedly pressing the Esc key you can go back to ...

Page 12: ... a hint The Help key has slight variations among different activities so for detailed usage please refer to the description of the activities Level Key Symbol Level Press this key to select a level of difficulty in some of the activities There are four levels with the first level being the easiest and fourth level being the most difficult Levels can be changed at any time during an activity Symbol...

Page 13: ...t details others uses for the Ctrl key Space Bar Space Use this to insert a space between words or numbers when typing Alt Key Alt Press this key with other keys to access the function shown on the top right corner of the key Repeat Key Repeat Press this key to repeat the instructions and the question Directional Keys HOME PG DN Right Player END PG UP These four keys will move the cursor up down l...

Page 14: ... question is asked the first person to press his or her player key will get the opportunity to answer the question first End Key Right Player END Press this Key with the Ctrl Key in the Word Processor activity will move the cursor to the next word Press this Key with the Alt Key in the Word Processor activity will move the cursor to the end of the current row Enter Key Enter Press this key after t...

Page 15: ...n will be shown For details in setting please refer to System Setup on page 33 Printer button When the printer button is pressed the unit will display the printer selection window The player can press this button to change the printer For details please refer to Printer Setup on page 34 Demo button The Demo button is available at any time to demonstrate any of the VTECH SILVERSTREAK activities The...

Page 16: ...eceive E mail VTech Zone VTech Zone products sold separately can interact with the VTECH SILVERSTREAK DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES LEVELS AND 2 PLAYER MODE ACTIVITY LEVEL 2 PLAYER MODE All Language Arts except 1 4 YES Creative Writing N A NO All Mathematics Activities 1 4 YES All Trivia Activities 1 4 YES Dragon Challenge 1 4 NO 3D Race Rally 1 4 NO 3D Tic Tac Toe 1 4 YES Disc Challenge 1 4 YES 3D Ma...

Page 17: ...enu there are icons that give you quick access to convenient functions such as Help Quick Tag Returning to the Main Menu Today s Schedule Demo Tools Printer Setup and Clock Alarm Click on the Tools icon will access the following functions TOOLS Inside User Preferences you are able to choose the following items GENERAL Personal Information Enter your own personal information such as name telephone ...

Page 18: ...iple choice icon show picture Select the correct answer using the Up Down keys or the mouse Press Enter to confirm your answer You can also type in 1 2 or 3 to answer directly SECRET WORD Guess the secret word by typing in the correct letters Press Enter to see if the letters are correct There is no Help function but you get 20 chances to find the correct answer A correct guess both the letter and...

Page 19: ...filled in SOUND ALIKES A sentence will be displayed with one word missing Two words with the same pronunciation will be given as choices Select the word that fits the meaning of the sentence using the Up Down keys or the mouse Press Enter keys or the left mouse button to confirm your answer You can also type in 1 or 2 to answer directly SENTENCE SHUFFLE A sentence will be shown with its words in r...

Page 20: ...in the correct answer using the number keys and then press Enter to confirm your answer COORDINATES A coordinate plane will appear and you will be asked to give the coordinates of a point points or plot a point points with given coordinates To input the coordinates of a point in levels 1 and 2 use the mouse to click in the boxes to select the x or y coordinate in levels 3 and 4 Then use Up Down ke...

Page 21: ... one chance to answer the question GEOMETRY A 2 dimensional or 3 dimensional object will appear and you will be asked to find the area perimeter or volume of the object Input the correct answer by Press Enter to confirm your answer Press the Help key to show a formula By pressing the Help you lose one chance to answer the question GRAPH IT A graph will appear followed by a question and a multiple ...

Page 22: ...nt A question on that topic will appear followed by a multiple choice box Select the correct answer using the Up Down keys or the mouse Press Enter to confirm your answer You can also type in 1 2 or 3 to answer directly LOGIC AND GAMES DRAGON CHALLENGE Your quest in this strategy game is to find and defeat your opponent s dragons before yours are found First select a team Next place your dragons o...

Page 23: ...ursor keys to control the car Press the Up key to increase speed the Down key to decrease speed Use the Right and Left cursor keys to turn and to avoid obstacles Note If you release up key the speed of the car will decrease automatically 3D TIC TAC TOE In this strategy game you can play either with a friend or against the computer First select a game piece by pressing the cursor keys or by double ...

Page 24: ...the Print icon to print the card printer sold separately Under the File icon you can save or delete the card or start a new card PICTURE MAKER This graphic tool can help you create pictures easily You have access to a wide range of painting and graphic editing tools The main toolbar is on the top of the screen In the menu you will find 12 graphic tools 1 Select Use this to select an area of the dr...

Page 25: ...shades of gray you can use to create your art When your artwork is finished you can save it or print it using the icons under the File menu PERSONAL OFFICE WORD PROCESSOR The VTECH SILVERSTREAK learning product offers you one of the most important applications found in computers word processing With the Word Processor documents can be created edited saved and printed The Word Processor activity ha...

Page 26: ...ocessor provides a way to view documents on the screen Print Preview allows you to see how a document will look on a printed page To get back to your text once you have checked the print preview press the Esc key EDIT Most simple editing can be accomplished by using the Backspace key and the Del Ins keys When you need to change larger blocks of text use the block editing features The Edit menu is ...

Page 27: ...lling of a word highlight the word and select Spell Check from the TOOLS menu If the word does not exist in the Spell Check memory you will be given a list of possible words to replace it You are also able to select one of the suggested words for replacement Press the Esc key to return to the document FORMAT Tab The unit will display this screen to let you set Tab spacing Fonts The Word Processor ...

Page 28: ...nto your document Date Allows you to insert the date into your document Picture Allows you to insert a picture into your document Page No The Page No tool enables you to insert page numbers HELP The Help tool is a reference table of commonly used shortcuts Menu Menu Item Shortcut key File New Ctrl N Open Ctrl O Save Ctrl S Print Ctrl P Edit Cut Ctrl X Paste Ctrl V Copy Ctrl C Find Replace Ctrl F F...

Page 29: ...Date Search This command lets you search for an existing record by date SPELL CHECKER This activity is used to check the correct spelling of words Type a word you want to check and press the Enter key to confirm If the word is spelled correctly the unit will advise you that the word is correct If the word is not in the Spell Checker database it will advise you that the word cannot be found or offe...

Page 30: ...ty lets you experience Logo programming which is a computer programming language In Turtle Graphics you can program the VTECH SILVERSTREAK to draw The Logo activity has seven menu icons along the right side of the screen Each of these icons has a list of functions Load Load a saved file from a RAM cartridge or the main unit Edit Edit the commands This is where you can work on your routines There a...

Page 31: ...telling the Turtle what to do For example forward is a command that tells the Turtle to move forward right is a command that tells the Turtle to turn to the right Often commands will require additional information such as how far forward the Turtle should go For example forward 10 tells the Turtle to move forward 10 steps right 90 is a command that tells the Turtle to turn 90 degrees a quarter tur...

Page 32: ...square Once this routine is defined one can write square 25 to have LOGO draw a 25 step square at the current Turtle location Square 50 will make LOGO draw a 50 step square square 100 will LOGO draw a 100 step square and so on A routine to draw an equilateral triangle is as follows to triangle n right 30 repeat 3 forward n right 120 left 30 end After the routines for a square and a triangle have b...

Page 33: ...colour to N N 0 3 0 white 1 lightgrey 2 dark grey 3 black setbg n set background colour to N N 0 3 0 white 1 lightgrey 2 dark grey 3 black pencolour pc get current colour N of pen N 0 3 0 white 1 lightgrey 2 dark grey 3 black background bg get current background colour N N 0 3 0 white 1 lightgrey 2 dark grey 3 black penup pu put the turtle s pen up When the turtle moves it does not draw a line pen...

Page 34: ...ding occurs log n output the natural logarithm of its input log10 n output the base 10 logarithm of its input product m n output the product of its inputs PRODUCT expects two inputs but will accept more if it and all its inputs are enclosed in parentheses quotient m n output the result of dividing the first input by the second input random n output a randomly selected number from 1 through its inp...

Page 35: ...ts input from the disk to the workspace save n save the contents of the workspace to a file on the disk open n open a device If the specified file or device does not exist OPEN outputs FALSE close n close a device print n print its inputs to the output stream type n print its inputs on the screen and the prompt appears after the last character printed thing n output the value associated with the v...

Page 36: ...ommands can be nested i e the commands part may contain REPEAT commands while condition commands condition must be TRUE or FALSE If it is TRUE the commands in commands are executed If it is still TRUE the commands are executed again and again until condition is FALSE to name inputs This is the command to create a new command in LOGO For example TO SQUARE N would create a new command called SQUARE ...

Page 37: ...f you spend money The net total at the bottom of the screen will keep track of exactly how much money you have HOMEWORK LAB DATA PAIRS 1 In this activity you can enter pairs of data you would like to be quizzed on DATA PAIRS 2 In this activity you can quiz yourself on the stored data pairs from Data Pairs 1 TEST TRAINER 1 In this activity you are allowed to input your own questions and answers Onc...

Page 38: ...ound Effect allows you to turn sound effects ON or OFF as well as select a sound effect for different events BACKGROUND MUSIC The music in the unit may be turned ON or OFF by selecting the ON OFF icon in the Background Music window DATE TIME Date Time allows you to set the time or set the alarm ON or OFF by selecting the ON OFF icon in the Alarm window SCORING STATISTICS This setting provides a Sc...

Page 39: ...rical outlet properly 2 The printer cable is not securely connected between the printer and the unit 3 The printer is not turned ON 4 The paper has jammed in the printer 5 The printer has run out of paper 6 The paper did not feed in time Please check for these faults Once you have solved the problem reset the printer or follow the Printer Connection instructions in the Getting Started section of t...

Page 40: ...ity you will be tested on the French words and phrases that you ve learned in the French Translator activity SPANISH TRANSLATOR This activity will help you learn about Spanish phrases and vocabulary You will be introduced to simple Spanish words and phrases SPANISH TESTER In this activity you will be tested on the Spanish words and phrases that you ve learned in the Spanish Translator activity TYP...

Page 41: ...rocessor Data Pairs 1 Telephone Book German Translator Scheduler Spanish Translator Spell Checker French Translator Calendar Test Trainer 1 SCORING CODE Code 1 Player Mode 2 Player Mode 1 Question per round 5 Questions per round 5 Correct answer on 1st try 20 Starting Score 100 Correct answer on 2nd try 10 Correct answer on 3rd try 5 Correct answer 1st player 20 2nd player 10 Wrong answer 1st play...

Page 42: ... Writing NO All Mathematic Activities 1 All Trivia Challenge Activities 1 Dragon Challenge NO 3D Race Rally NO 3D Tic Tac Toe NO Disc Challenge NO 3D Maze NO All Art Studio NO All Personal Office NO Data Pairs 1 NO Data Pairs 2 1 Test Trainer 1 NO Test Trainer 2 1 German Translator NO German Tester 1 French Translator NO French Tester 1 Spanish Translator NO Spanish Tester 1 Typing Challenge 3 342...

Page 43: ...you might have A service representative will be happy to help you NOTE This equipment generates and uses radio frequency energy and if not installed and used properly that is not in strict accordance with the manufacturer s instructions it may cause interference to radio and television reception It has been tested and found to comply within the limits for a Class B computing device in accordance w...