I tried it once while he was around, and it was distracting and I think he picked up on it lol. He was like "I'm distracting you aren't I...should I go in the other room?" I felt bad, but it took me like 3 times longer than it would normally would with him around than by myself.
But yes, you can't go wrong with the pocket rocket; screw all the bells and whistles of other, complex looking toys. And they cost like $8!! I've gone through 2 and I don't feel bad, it's less than I spend on dinner!