leapster vs. leap pad?

Our boys will be 4 right after Christmas, and DH and I want to get them either the Leapster Explorer or a Leappad 2. The Leappad is more expensive to start off with, but it seems like the Leapster might require more money and storage for games. DH especially is worried about losing the game cartridges for the Leapster.

Also, if you download a game, can you put it on two devices, or do you have to pay to download it twice?

Any advice??

 

I don't have any experience with the Leapster, but my boys got the Leappad 2 for their 4th birthday. They have had them for about 6 months and I can answer ANY question you may have about them. Here is some info:

I have never had a problem with storage space on either pad and my boys take a ton of pictures and save a ton of drawings (of course, I go in every so often to clean stuff out). It is very rugged... it can take a fall! Be prepared that your boys won't get the hand of them at first. It may take some time and your help before they can use it by themselves. Also, it is nice to have leverage with something they love to play with. Losing pad time is the main punishment in our house and it is very effective!

You CAN buy an app and put in on both pads very easily. If you opt for the cartridge, it's nice because you don't need the storage space on the pad but there may be fights over who gets to play the game... it's a trade off! While there are some apps that are $10 or under, the full featured games are $25. Watch leapfrog.com and amazon.com for sales. My boys turned 4 in February and I was assuming I would get a killer sale after Christmas. It never happened. In fact, there was a fantastic sale in the beginning of December that I passed up thinking that something better would come up after Christmas. Nope. A good sale is 30% off or buy one get one half off.

The Leapfrog software can be kind of annoying, but it's not a huge deal. The pads sometimes freeze up and you have turn it off then on again to fix the freeze. Using it with AA batteries is a complete waste of money... it will only last 4 hours TOPS before it needs new ones. Definitely buy the rechargeable batteries for it.

Along with the rechargeable batteries, I recommend getting gel skins (we got one green one and one blue one), and the carrying case. We also got head phones but my boys don't like using them.

FWIW, here is a list of the apps or cartridges that we have in order of their popularity in our house right now:

**Mr. Pencil Saves Doodleburg** (We have this on a cartridge and they are always fighting over it. Get the download instead.)
Spurgle
Leap School Math
Stretchy Monkey
Rollie Pollie Picnic
Leapfrog Letter Factory
Crayola Art Adventure
Jake and the Neverland Pirates
Cars2 Ultra eBook

 

My boys got the original leap pads when they turned 3 and my daughter was 2.5 when grandma got her the leap pad 2. They like them but they prefer my phone and kindle fire. I wish I would've saved my money because we now have 2 kindle fires, more $ initially but there are so so so many free apps to download compared to $5-25 per game for leap pad!!

Otherwise I have no experience with the leapster but my kids do like the pads

 

We preferred the leap pad as well! I had one from my older daughter, and I thought about buying a second one for my other twin when they got old enough. Instead I opted to sell the leappad and bought a kindle fire for my 4 kids to share. As someone mentioned, there are a ton of free apps to download, and even more .99 or $1.99 apps for them. We've got Team Umizoomi, Dora, Mickey Mouse, Buzz Lightyear...etc. And several ebooks to look at.

I do love leapfrog products overall. The cost of the games versus apps for the kindle is what put me over. Spending a couple of dollars versus $25 for the full game.

 

Thanks for the tips....I doubt I can convince DH to go for a Kindle....too much money upfront, and my kids are VERY rough on things!!!

 

I was going to say go for itouch. with good cases. My girls got their itouch when they where 5. They knew how to treat them. I made sure they had proper restrictions. I think It has cost so much less in the long run than their DS's. Most if not all of the games are free. I think all of the games we purchased are ones that cost 99 cents after we played the free version and really liked the game.
Just have to add the correct parental controls with an itouch or a kindle fire

 

This is what we did. We got a good deal on iPod touches when they were 3. Love those things. The games are cheap, they can watch Netflix, and they grow with them. My kids are obsessed with pictures and video right now.

 

If you got the iPod touch is it like my phone enough to put the otter box defenders on them? Swear my phone bounces when it drops!!!:-0. The kindles are still big for my kid so they have to sit to use them so we haven't worried too much....but they're older and know better...Hannah doesn't use it as much because her frustration:throwing toys ratio hasn't matured enough yet

 

Almost positive they make Otterbox cases to fit the Touch.