LeapFrog® Leapster® Learning Game System - Green
by LeapFrog
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Our Price: $88.88 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $17.49 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of LeapFrog® Leapster® Learning Game System - Green
Customer Review: Suggestion -- Rechargeable Batteries and Recharger
Summary: 5 Stars
Would the regular recharger and NiMH AA batteries work with this product? If so, I've had great success in using these rechargeable batteries with digital cameras, pixter (b/w), toys (like trains), infant swings, crib light/music boxes, blinkies, Swiffer mop, etc. In other words, I use them for the products that get used frequently. I only paid about $20 for a 3-in-1 recharger. Even my older model recharges the AAA,AA, C, and D sizes or you can just buy one that recharges AA for about $10.
I've used both the NiCD and NiMH. I recommend the NiMH batteries for these more demanding devices, and for longer lifetime of recharges. The disadvantage of the NiMH battery is that it will drain over time even if not used. The advantage is unlike the NiCD, they can be recharged even if completely drained and seem to perform better overall and have a longer lifetime of recharges.
The AA batteries cost about $10 for a pack of four Energizer at the discount chain stores. Eventually the lifetime of charges do shorten and you will have to replace them, but they have definitely saved me money over the disposable ones. Plus, you can take these batteries out of one device and put them in another if needed (instead of a battery pack made for an individual item) or have an extra set to use while the others are recharging. Also, instead of buying a particular charger for each toy, you just have to buy one.
I thought I'd check here first as I'm considering buying one for my kids' this Christmas. I've only played with the display at the store, but I had to rate this product in order to post this suggestion.
Customer Review: fantastic , don't even think of a game boy for under 7s
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the best toys around:
Pros: Ergonomically, having the pen in the center is so much nicer for my mostly lefty 4 yr old than the Pixter colors which is geared towards right handed children. The screen is bright, durable, and has stood up to my very rough child much better than other leapfrog products even after 6 months of use. Comparing to the Pixter color: seemingly better resolution, brighter screen and more durable. our pixter screen has gone black now after a couple months use. The screen is twice as large as GBA, and brighter. Games mazes all have accurate quick response time vs the Pixter color which has noticable lag in response in mazes(rescue hero cartridge) games(color arcade) etc. so that pen and line on screen are not correlated.
I added on the recharger pack, and would definitely recommend the Dora cartridge for his age group. Mr Pencil was way too advanced for him 6 months ago, and he struggles and gets frustrated with it even now (just turned 4)since it requires such accuracy with mazes etc.Even I needed a couple of tries on many. on the other hand its incredible training for fine motor skills for my boy who like most boys is more likely to need extra practice than girls, and the lack of value judgement on the part of a computer provides positive reinforcement.
Con: Cartridge that came with it is not the most interesting, as usual way more expensive than the FP alternative etc...
Overall, Totally educational, very engaging, with an order of magnitude more depth in terms of activities than the pixter, tho the pixter is nicer for just drawing.
Customer Review: 1 Broken in Under 24 hours; 2nd One Lasted 1 Week
Summary: 1 Stars
My mother bought my twin four year old boys two Leapsters. The boys opened their Leapsters on Christmas Eve. One of the Leapsters was broken in less than 24 hours, becoming completely inoperable by Christmas morning. It is totally dead and is now the functional equivalent of a doorstop. So for a week, I'd see one child sitting on the sofa and playing with a Leapster while the other watched over his shoulder. Well, now they are even. The other model is now broken too. It shuts down in the middle of games--but hey, at least it still starts up and it lasted A WHOLE WEEK!! I'm totally DISGUSTED with these products. I know what my mother paid for two units, and she blew even more money on three cartridges. You are better off buying a cheap PC for your kids to use. These Leapsters have only a 3 month warranty! To me, that indicates that these are disposable toys, to be enjoyed for a few hours, days, or weeks. Better off to just give your kid a roll of quarters and head to the video arcade. What bothers me even more? These aren't learning toys. This is just grooming. What the toy manufacturers want is for your children to be numb, distracted, glazed over, and totally distracted by pressing video game buttons. Toymakers want your money. That is all that is going on here. I don't believe that my kids learned one damn thing in a whole week with their one functioning Leapster other than Buyer Beware. But by the time I explained that, I realized that I was blowing Santa's cover. Now my kids know that Santa didn't bring these toys--their grandmother got ripped off buying them.Customer Review: BEST toy we've ever owned!!
Summary: 5 Stars
We have 3 boys (ages 3, 6, 8). Over the last 8 years we have had hundreds of toys come in and out of our house and I can honestly say that the Leapster is probably the best toy we've ever owned! We currently have two Leapsters (the green/gray Leapsters). Our oldest Leapster has been played with almost daily for almost 5 years and still works! Our other Leapster is 3 years old and is also still working great. Sometimes we have to do the old 'take-the-cartridge-out-and-blow-on-it' trick, but other than that, they work great! We have 15-20 cartridges that we've obtained over the last 5 years. Our oldest son played Leapster until he turned 8 (which was when he got his ds and suddenly lost interest in the Leapster). We tried to hold off on the ds for as long as possible because the Leapster is educational and the ds is nothing but mindless games. We figured though that at 8 yrs old my son had learned all there was to really learn from his Leapster and he has finally switched to a ds after 5 years of Leapster play. All 3 of our boys started playing Leapster at 3 years old. They have learned SO MUCH from it!! Our kindergartner is reading chapter books now and started reading fluently at 3 years old and I think it has a lot to do with the Leapster. Our Leapsters have been dropped probably hundreds of times, the stylus has been jabbed at the screen hundreds of times.... and yet the Leapsters have not been damaged at all. Very durable. Our ds already has a scratch on the screen from the styles... definitely not durable like the leapster. I highly recommend Leapster for kids ages 3-7.Customer Review: Old or new, both are great
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm not a big fan of video games especially for my daughter who is only two years old. My younger brother, who is a great uncle but pays no attention to age recommendations, bought her a v-smile for Christmas. She couldn't operate it and I didn't like the poor graphics. With his permission I exchanged the v-smile for a leapster and have never looked back.
First let me say, old (triangular) or new (rectangular) you can't go wrong either way. I examined both and bought the old version because of the larger screen and built in games without commercials. The 4 built in games on the triangular model are diverse and allow your child to get accustomed to using the system. This gives you time to determine which types of games your child might enjoy and benefit from before spending $25/each on new cartridges. (Toy's R Us occasionally has a buy one, get one free sale) You can still find triangular leapsters at some Wal-Marts (at the back of the shelf behind the new) and at Kmart.
The advantage with the leapster for my daughter is that many games use a stylus/pen instead of the directional pad which she can't manipulate well. Using the stylus has greatly improved her fine motor skills and she draws and traces letters with a MUCH steadier hand. I think this is primarily due to the shape shop game which involves dragging shapes across the screen to make pictures. The chicken coup (concentration) game is excellent. It keeps her entertained on car trips. Because of her age, I limit her time playing. You determine age and time (you know your child best) but BUY THIS SYSTEM!