For my part, I think Baby Einstein is mostly trash. We have several of them because we had a friend who worked for disney who sent them when I was pregnant with my first. I certainly would never think that they are providing any actual educational value for a child. But TV is somewhat inevitable unless you just don't have one at all, and in my book it's a big step higher than sticking them in front of it and turning on cartoons or commercial TV. There are times when you just need them to sit still, and I think BE is just fine. I don't like that they have the play over and over option though.
To be honest though, if you are buying DVDs for that purpose, I'd much more highly recommend Signing Time -- even for older kids -- my 5 1/2 year old is learning a second language through them. And if your PBS station shows them, you can tivo or record them for free! I'll write a signing article soon as well, but in the meantime, here's the one I wrote in the breastfeeding site -- it applies for more than just breastfeeding mamas!
Signing with your breastfed babyI'll do an article soon on kids and TV with some of my thoughts on that topic as well. Too many things to write about!
Nicki