Global Gizmos 48980 8 Inch Mega Plasma Ball/Touch Sensitive & Sound Activated/Multi-Coloured Lightning Display/Retro Novelty Fun Light Up Electric Globe Lamp

The main factor in buying this item was the price - a fully functional plasma ball for under £20 is an easy decision for me.When it arrived I wasn't expecting too much based on other reviews of it being flimsy and cheaply made, but it looked fine to me once I had it out of the package. The glass is clearly very thin, and the plastic base is too - but the whole thing feels well made and robust when held and doesn't feel like it is going to fall apart. Very good build quality, just cheaper materials, but for the money, great value!If this was dropped then it would undoubtedly break, but so would my laptop, my tv, my external hard drives etc. Basically, treat it with care as you would any of your other prized possessions and it should last you for years.The real value in this item is once it is turned on, and it is nothing short of spectacular. Even in a well lit room it looked very impressive, the central ball has almost psychedelic colours melting over it as the electric lines reach out towards the glass - cut the lights and the real magic happens. I could spend hours just looking at it, but the fact you can interact with this only enhances the enjoyment - once you place your fingers on the glass and and the lighting starts channeling directly towards you, well, it was enough to make me believe I was God for a while.I agree with other reviews, keep this away from any other electrical goods you have. Once you touch it, you can feel the electric field surrounding it, and you can actually feel the electrical discharges through your hand and arm! Quite weird at first, but pretty cool once you get used to it. Also the ability to hold the plasma ball, then touch your friends and loved ones to give them and you an electric shock - that alone is worth the money.I use this every day just to relax, and is always on at parties where it never fails to draw a crowd. Buy it, this is too cheap, too much fun and too cool to miss out on.

This is very good and good fun - the 'beams' are intense and dramatic and you can draw extraordinary patterns with your fingers - use the lightest touch and don't stop moving them otherwise a hotspot could cause damage. The globe itself is made of very thin glass which could easily break, so adult supervision of youngsters is required if tears are to be avoided!The only downside was the sound sensitive function, which really doesn't pick up sounds sensitively enough: the idea being that the 'beams' fire only when sounds are made: we found that the sounds had to be very loud to get this to happen. If this function is critical to you, the device probably isn't for you; but if not, it's a fascinating bit of science all ages will appreciate - hence my 5-star rating. (11/17)

Like other reviews I love this device. It is big and gives off a wonderfull show, and you can't help but touch it and watch the beams follow your finger just like lighting strikes. The removable black shield slips on the back of the sphere and really shows the reflections off to their full potential. In regard to the sound activation I was also disappointed as it either didn't work or it must need a very loud noise to make it do something. But even with this drawback it is a stunning buy for the money and well worth it just for the size and display alone.As a gift it positively has the wow factor, my girlfriend loved it and it certainly gained me extra brownie points!If the sound activation had been better or even had an ambient volume control fitted it would have got full points, but definitely recommended.

Ample sized sphere being at 8" my teenage son loves it. Great price too....responds to sound also.

Nice gift

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Very disappointed. The Plasma ball worked just fine for 5 minutes and I was delighted. One excellent Christmas Gift for a Grandchild. Switched on again a few days later prior to wrapping as a Christmas Gift and the light emanating from the 'ball' had noticeably diminished (see attached pictures). The Tip should be fully illuminated as was when it was first switched on and as shown in the item description. Fortunately the fault appeared before it was given as a Christmas Gift and has been hastily returned via Amazon for a refund.

Only bought this one as I couldn't find one any cheaper that was in stock in my area. I had a cheaper one a long time ago that was quite unimpressive and only seemed to send out arcs when you touched it, this one, on the other hand is full of nice plasma strands (or whatever the technical term is) as soon as you turn it on. It does have a noise activated setting which I think is pretty useless but they all seem to have thisfpr some unknown reason. Seems to be worth spending a bit more on one that's slightly more powerful as this one is much better than the one I used to have.Building is a bit cheap though, no real weight to it or anything and plastic base but other than that it works really well.