List Price: $29.99
Sale Price: $24.00
Today's Bonus: 20% Off
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program This is a great addition to LeapFrog's line. Here are my thoughts:
PACKAGING: Easy to get out of the box. Nothing excessive. Comes with a USB cord.
SETUP: You have to sign up for a parent account and go through about 10-15 minutes of downloads and choosing which options you want on the device. It's a simple process and lets you pick which stories, songs, and melodies you want, plus it lets you add your child's name and a couple of personal touches-their favorite color and food (chosen from a list). You can also choose from pre-selected sentiments to "email" your child from you or anyone you choose. You'll get to have 3 e-mails preloaded on the device with simple sayings like "You make me so happy" and "I can't wait to see you."
One down-side is that you can choose only one name, so if you have more than one kid who'd use it, you're out of luck. Of course, you can go back and change it later, but just one name at a time.
BATTERIES: You can't use rechargeables. Requires 3 AAs, and it comes with only "demo" batteries. There's an auto-shutoff feature if you leave the device on accidentally.
APPEARANCE: It's about the size and weight of an e-reader like the Kindle or Nook. The actual viewing screen, however, is much smaller. The screen is just 2.5 inches wide by 1.5 inches high, and I wish it were bigger than that. We could have done without the three characters on top, who don't really have a purpose (they just say things like, "Let's listen to a story!" or "Let's listen to music!" when you press them.
SOUND: The speaker is in the back of the device. There are two volume settings. I found the quiet one too quiet, but the louder one is fine.
WHAT IT DOES: There are four functions:
1. The ABCs. This is a really common part of kids' electronic devices, and there's nothing special about this one. You press a letter and it tells you the name of the letter, its sound, and something that starts with that letter.
2. E-mails and messages. This shows the three pre-loaded e-mails you've sent (at random), plus Scout sends some e-mails, too. Then it writes an e-mail back from the child. ("Hey! Let's write back. 'Dear Aunt Lisa, You make me happy too. Love, [Your Child's Name].") It also provides a screen for the child to write their own stories-but!-and here's part of why I deducted a star-it doesn't actually do anything once the child finishes writing. It doesn't save the story or try to read it. It just erases it once you hit another button. This won't matter for the 2-year-old set, but for kids who actually are learning to write, it's frustrating that there's no way for them to save what they wrote to show anyone.
3. Stories. These are very short, animated stories about Scout and his pals. Some of them are customized with the child's name, favorite food, or favorite color. This is what makes the device different and interesting, in my opinion, and this is the other part of the reason I deducted a star: You can save only 5 stories on the device, and like I said, they're really short. I love that this device incorporates my child's name into the stories... it's exciting for kids to hear their names spoken by Scout. I just wish there were more stories, and options for longer stories. My daughter (age 4) is a real bookworm. I would eagerly have taken the tradeoff of losing the other common features (like the ABCs and songs) in favor of more stories and/or stories with a little more to them.
4. Songs. You can load four songs with Scout singing the vocals (eh) and five that are just melodies. You get to pick from a list of about 20 of each. They're what you'd expect-Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mary Had a Little Lamb, The Wheels on the Bus, etc. plus two classical songs. The music is nothing wonderful, but nothing that'll drive you batty, either.
OVERALL: I think this is a great toy for the 2-4-year-old set, especially for car rides and rainy days.
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My daughter is almost 2 and has already really enjoyed this toy. I was skeptical because I got turned off to Leapfrog with the Tag system my son had. However, I found this tablet was great and easy to use. I especially like the design since my daughter always wants to play with my ipad. The games and connect software are easy to install and it takes a little over 10 minutes. You will need to use your computer for this device it does not stand alone.I found it to also be very durable. We have already dropped it a few times and it has come away fine. However, the screen is really hard to read especially in certain lighting. For a tablet that is supposed to encourage reading it won't encourage anything if my daughter can't read it. She loves the games and the functionality is perfect but the screen is the main reason that I gave it 3 stars. I really wish they had gone with a better quality screen.
Best Deals for LeapFrog My Own Story Time Pad
This is the same thing as the purple one. Screen is sort of small, but it works. Sounds quality is great.
Honest reviews on LeapFrog My Own Story Time Pad
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My son is two, almost three years old and I thought this would be perfect for him. After a week of him playing with it daily, here are the things I loved about this:*It's educational
*It's sturdy. It's been dropped more than once and I can't tell.
*It's the perfect size for his hands
*He loves it. LOVES it.
*I like it that I could customize it
*I like it that it goes on standby if he doesn't interact with it after about two minutes. Saves batteries.
*His favorite things to do are the ABCs and the music. Both he and I like the music selection.
*It's something he could do by himself, unsupervised, that keeps him busy for a chunk of time. Sure beats putting him in front of the TV.
Things I did not like:
*On the story mode, it says "Press the arrow to find out what happens next" after EVERY page, and it doesn't indicate which arrow to press. (There are two.) My son hates this. It's very annoying to me too. Out of all the things you can do with this toy, the story time is his least favorite thing.
*The screen can be hard to see. It's a monochrome LCD display so it's shades of dark gray on top of a light gray background. Also there is a plastic cover over the screen that is reflective so there is often glare.
Despite these things that I don't like, I still regard this toy as a hit because he's always got it in his hands and he's learning as he's being entertained. So happy we got it.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for LeapFrog My Own Story Time Pad
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Does your toddler envy your iPad or Kindle reader? Do they want to use their older sibling's Leapster Explorer?This light, durable toy goes from box to playing within 15 minutes. The pad requires three AA batteries, which are included. There are no books or cartridges to buy.
There is a USB cable included to connect the pad to your computer, and the Leapfrog Connect application. Once you download and install the Connect application, you will connect the pad to your computer using the USB cable. If you already have Leapfrog devices like a Tag, Tag Junior, or Leapster Explorer, the USB cable is exactly the same. You will not need different cables to connect all your toys, they are the same. I had no errors or compatibility issues having multiple devices connected to one computer.
Once the pad is connected, you will be prompted to personalize the device by choosing your child's name, favorite food, favorite color, and favorite animal. You will be asked to select little "e-mail messages" from Mommy, Daddy, or customize. You can choose up to four games, out of ten possible games. You can choose music to sing with and melodies to play, including classical pieces by famous composers.
The only feature of this pad that I did not like was the view screen. It looked like an old pocket game, with a black, grainy interface. I would have preferred a nicer, color screen instead of this one, even if it pushed the price point up somewhat. With no additional books or cartridges to buy, I would have been fine with paying more for a better screen. With all the customization available, I was disappointed that it was only being used in this little screen.
Overall, this is a great product for your two to four year old. It is a good in-between toy if your child is not ready for the Tag Junior reader just yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment