Leapster Game | Leapfrog Game

User Reviews about LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game System - Green

My son is 3.5 years old and he LOVES IT!!!! I highly recommend it to anyone!! It's educational and lets me see how well he is doing with different games. My 14 month old tries to "play" too!!! Definately worth buying!! -- My kids LOVE IT!!!!

I love books! And usually my favorite toys are the simple, old fashion toys and toys that require imagination or pretend play (blocks, cups that nest into eachother, dolls, play kitchen) That being said I love the leapster 2! This is one of the best toys EVER! We bought a Leapster 2 for our oldest daughter when she was 4yrs old. Her then 2yr old sister played it as much or more, so a year later we have bought this one to have two in the house. My now 3yr old plays it alot!!! We have to limit her time on it. But I love to have something that is educational that holds her interest for so long. She will play it all through the grocery store, we take it on car trips, or anytime I know there will be a wait! I highly recommend the recharging station to go with it.
I must admitt, I've never connected either to the computer, which I know I should and hope to, but can't comment on that part! -- One of the ALL-TIME BEST toys!

Got this Leapster 2 for my 3 year old son for Christmas. He loves it! He is already a video game junkie, so it is really nice to have something that is educational, too. -- We LOVE our Leapster 2

First, an informative message. If your Leapster suddenly appears to be broken... seems unresponsive to the pencil,... don't panic. Chances are it just needs to be recalibrated. This happened to us a few days ago. Our sons Leapster suddenly appeared defect, ... or at least it was completely unresponsive to the pencil. At first I didn't think of it, and was immediately concerned it just broke. Then I remembered it could just be that it needs to be re-calibrated. I have no idea why the item suddenly needs recalibration,... it just happens.

Thing is, when this happens, and your kid comes to you for help, telling you "It's not working !???",... the first thing that comes to mind is "Oh no! It's broken already!???". There is no signal, no message, telling you that it might need recalibration. This time, after turning the item off and on a few times to no avail, I remembered reading somewhere that it probably (and hopefully) only had to be recalibrated. And indeed, thankfully it was just that. See at the end of this review on how to recalibrate.

Now for the review.
We love the Leapster concept. A handheld system with educational games for young kids. By now, LeapFrog has a pretty extensive library of educational games. I've researched Nintendo DS to check as an alternative, but they have very few educational games. Even contacted their customer support and they were very responsive and very nice, but they have very few educational games. Apparently it's not a market Nintendo is interested in. In any case I find the DS way too expensive for a 5 year old anyway. The Leapster is better priced.

We find the games very educational. Currently we have 5 games: Thomas the Engine, Cars, Mr. Pencil, Backyardigans and Chicken Cook. The last one we downloaded from LeapFrog. (You get to download one game free from LeapFrog with the Leapster2). Our son loves them all. His favorite currently is probably Thomas, but he plays (and learns) a lot with them all. We're thinking of expanding the collection with the Dora one, and/or SpongeBob.

With the Leapster 2, you can connect online to the LearningPath of LeapFrog. This is a great functionality, if you have the time to explore it. We hope to connect every two weeks or so. You can also explore new games here, and you can see trailers of the games which is a great way to get a feeling of the game before buying a new one. By the way, the first time you connect online, will be a bit strange. The Leapster will need to synchronize, and this will take a quite a while. In our case it took almost one hour. But you see no message, informing you of this. So you really don't know what's going on. I actually restarted the process several time, after 10 minutes or so, since I was first unaware of this. While I was trying this, I was also checking the LeapFrog site, and there's where I learned that the first time can take up to an hour. So then I just left it alone, till it was done. Thankfully this is only the first time. The next times you connect it will be a breeze.

The game cartridges will work on any of LeapFrog's system. That is the original Leapster, the L-Max, or the most recent Leapster-2. The L-Max you can connect to a TV and play the games on the much larger TV screen. But we didn't really use this with our first L-Max. We tried it only once, just to try it out. It worked, but it just isn't practical. And our son didn't miss it either. He just wants to play with the unit where ever he can, and not be attached to the TV. The Leapster-2 cannot be hooked to the TV but it has the much better functionality to connect online, and go to the LearningPath and download games etc. It's the only one of the three that has this functionality. And new games are being developed to make use of this feature to connect online. I really love this possibility to connect online. So I definitely recommend the Leapser-2 instead of any of the other two. I don't understand why they keep selling the original Leapster and L-Max anyway. Seems to me they should just faze them out, and concentrate on further developing the Leapster-2 or games for it. Ah well.

As for durability, ... it's yet to soon to tell. We rated 4 stars for now on durability, but it's really too soon to tell. Previously we had a L-Max, and it broke after 3 month's. (Which is why I researched Nintendo as an alternative.) We did get a replacement from LeapFrog but it took a while, so in the meantime we got this Leapster2. Currently in use for just one month. We really hope this Leapster2 will be much durable then the previous L-Max. I have good hopes it will, but only time will tell. You can read my review on the L-Max.Leapster L-Max Learning Game System

Batteries.
We use Duracell rechargeable batteries with this item. Although LeapFrog does not recommend using 3rd party rechargeable batteries. But I really don't understand why. They do have their own recharging stationm LeapFrog® Leapster®2 Recharging Station with rechargeable batteries for about $30, which I'm sure will also save you tons of money. But at first we weren't aware LeapFrog does not recommend 3rd party rechargeable batteries. Neither, that they sell their own rechargeable system. So we just got a Duracell rechargeable with corresponding batteries, for about $14 Duracell Value Charger With 4AA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF14DX4N. Have been using them for a while, also with the previous L-Max, and they work very well. Saved us tons of money on batteries! Very happy with it. Then one time I read by chance on the LeapFrog side that they don't recommend using 3rd party rechargeables. I was surprised, so I checked with them why. They replied something about 3rd party rechargeable batteries not being standard format, and some batteries being charged more then others ect ect.... Which to me made no sense. Duracell or Energizer, or any other main battery brand, not being standard??? I don't buy that. Just to be on the save side, I then checked with them if using 3rd party rechargeable batteries would harm or damage the unit in any way. They replied using 3rd party rechargeable will NOT harm or damage the unit in any way. So,.... I don't get it. Been using Duracell rechargeable batteries for quite a while now, and the unit works excellent with it. It seems they even last longer than normal batteries. By the way LeapFrog sells normal Duracell batteries on their side. Which makes me wonder even more about there point of 3rd party batteries not being standard.

Actually, now I think of it, if LeapFrog recommends not to use 3rd party rechargeable batteries, they should just sell their systems TOGETHER with their rechargeable system. Why have customers waste their money on normal batteries!?? This way they will help their customers save money on batteries from day one! Money that customers could use to buy additional games from them! Believe me, the 1st 2 or 3 weeks, you will be wasting money on normal batteries, till you realize you better get rechargeable batteries quick, before you go broke!!!

In any case, whether you use 3rd party, or LeapFrog's rechargeable system, you will save lots of money on batteries. And you probably will be very happy, no matter which one you get. So do yourself a favor and do get yourself either one of them.

The bottom line: First thing. Our son loves it. Plays and learns a lot with it.
Second, we do love the Leapster concept. We love the system, easy to use, good screen. We love the games, being both fun to play and educational. I guess the pricing of system and games is `ok'. It would be nice if they could go lower, but chances are that quality will then start to suffer. I do like the fact that they have a decent customer support. They respond rather fast. And finally I love the possibility to connect online. We just hope it will be durable and last for a good long time.

How to recalibrate:
The process to recalibrate is simple. You should find it on the LeapFrog website, but here is what I did:
1. turn off the item.
2. press and hold the `Hint' button, while the item is off.
3. press the on/off button to turn the item back on, while holding the `hint' button, (don't release the `hint' button)
4. the item will now turn on, and you will see a menu screen, with a couple of options.
5. touch with the pencil on the option "recalibrate"
(yes, the pencil should just work at this point)
6. you will get an empty screen, and a little small red circle with cross-hair will appear at one of the corners. Touch with the pencil at the center of the circle. The circle will disappear and another circle will appear at the next corner. Continue to touch each circle at the center. The last circle will appear in the middle of the screen. Touch it also at the center.
7. That's it. Turn off the system, and back on.
It should be back to normal.

Or go to the LeapFrog website, go to the support section and look for "Why doesn't my Leapster2 respond to the stylus pen?" in the FAQ.
You will find the instructions with pictures.

LeapFrog has a great website, with a support section, where you can find a pretty extensive list of all kinds of frequently asked questions with corresponding answers. If you don't find what you're looking for, you can send submit a question to them. You don't need to first go through all the listed questions, you can just write your question and submit it to them. They will respond by the next (work)day.

-- Very pleased!