Leapster

Please note that there is now leapster 2 out there which is better designed than the original. The chunky console comes with a lead to the mains and 2 games (inbuilt, not catridges). I read somewhere the batteries are used up quickly so I bought 2 rechargeable battery packs, 3 games and 2 carry cases to go with the 2 consoles I got my boys. My boys are 3 and 4 and they are learning double-digit numbers, alphabets and spelling like you wouldn't believe. Very educational game.

My mother brought a leapster handheld for our son for Christmas. He thoroughly enjoyed it for the first few days, however within a week the touch screen had started to play up, and now after only 6 weeks of having the thing the touchscreen is now totally non responsive. We cannot even get past the "select your name" stage, rendering it useless. I am very glad we didn't buy any extra games to go with it, using only the games it came with. Even if you were to get a working model they go through anywhere from 4 to 16 AA batteries a week (depending on how often they are used). In my opinion a big waste of money.

It has helped my 5 yr old with learning how to write his letters better and learn his shapes. He has several games and loves them all. Animal Genius is really neat and my 9 yr old nephew likes to play the games as well. I give leapster a thumbs up!

I really like the leapster games and want to say they have really helped in my 5 yr old son learn. He started kindergarten this year and it is helping as a homework tool to keep him on the up and up. I am looking forward to getting him more games to play and be challenged with.

Portable and can be used with headphones. Great when on the road. We haven't had any technical problems. I have a seven-year old and a ten-year old and they both enjoy using it. Well recommend Leapster.

Value for money, you can get a rechargeable battery pack for it I believe.

A fantastic educational toy. My three boys love it. Works perfect and it has got a very good selection of very interesting games full of help and tests to improve kids learning skills .

We bought one of these on E-Bay, thinking it would be a fun thing for our Grandson to enjoy while learning. The thing finally showed up, but has never worked. We never got a voltage adapter, so batteries are the only way we could power it, but after trying several sets of batteries, I did some research on line and have found out what a dud, we really bought. Everyone says that even when it does work, they go through batteries like the Cookie Monster goes thru cookies. I have tried to get the seller to communicate with me, but appear to be out of luck there too. The only good news is that we had only purchased one game to go with it,.....to the landfill. Don't even consider risking your hard earned money on this junk, if you haven't already wasted your money like so many others of us have.

Leapster - After 6 weeks of careful use my daughter's leapster just went dead as a doornail. Kmart wont exchange it as it was a gift and I don't have the receipt. I was told that Kmart can send it to the Leapster people and that they will CHARGE ME FOR A REPAIR. The darn thing is only 6 weeks old and has barely been released for 6 months in Oz. I have emailed the company in UK as it is the ONLY contact and 3-4 days later am still waiting for a reply. My daughter also has a Leapfrog electronic book which has been replaced as it never worked from the moment we got it. Soooooo - just be really careful because it looks as if you'll have trouble if it doesn't work and we have shelled out $160 in extra games which are useless without a working console. BEWARE.