I’m always on the lookout for great educational toys for my daughter. This Christmas, I decided to make it extra special by buying the latest addition to the Leapfrog family – The Leapster Explorer. When I heard about its release, I immediately began the grueling search online for great deals. Grueling in a sense that I had to stop myself from buying just about anything that I laid my eyes on.

The Leapster Explorer is geared towards encouraging children to discover something new every day with endless ways to play and learn. It is suitable for children ages 4-7 but although my little one just turned three, I wasn’t skeptical on purchasing it. This kind of learning isn’t new to my toddler who is exceptionally bright and curious and has been introduced to such technological advancements at the tender age of two when I first bought her a Leapfrog toy – The Leapfrog Clickstart. Through that, she learned how to navigate the computer with a mouse and how to use the keyboard. Such learning was a success and it somehow played a role on how I came up with a decision on getting the Leapster Explorer as it has impressed me in a tremendeous way.

Price

Some parents would think twice before investing their hard-earned dollars into a new toy that costs more than 50 bucks when there are cheaper toys lying around. The Leapster Explorer Handheld device retails at $69.99 and each cartridge at $24.99. A separate carrying case is priced at $14.99. Considering that you will be paying for every cartridge you purchase, you will eventually end up spending over a hundred bucks.

Best Deal

I bought mine last October with discounts and I do believe that it was money well-spent. I bought the system with two cartridges of my choice (Dora The Explorer & Penguins of Madagascar), a free leaplet card and a case for just $102. If I am to pay it at full price, it would have amounted to $134.96 which means that I saved $32.96! I am extremely impressed and happy that I didn’t overstretch my budget for one piece of toy. I would personally recommend taking the same steps that I took which landed me on this great deal.

As we all know, Amazon has a wide array of products that go on sale every now and then. They offer discounts on certain items anytime of the day. I discovered this since I usually place items on my Amazon cart before checking out. I’m also the kind of person who goes from one website to another to check for deals. I know I had the Leapster Explorer system on my cart for quite some time and it was priced at $69.99. I was not ready to pay for the full price and so I waited for a few days and alas! the price plummeted to only $52.66 inclusive of tax and a free 2 day shipping using Amazon Prime. It was an exclusive offer from Amazon that was so hard to resist that I instantly clicked on “checkout” although I have not yet made up my mind on which cartridge to buy.

After reading the reviews on each cartridge, I decided to get Dora The Explorer ($15.93) and Penguins of Madagascar ($18.42).

Best Christmas Present Ever

When the package arrived, my heart literally skipped a beat. I then knew that my daughter would also feel the same as we mutually share the same feeling when it comes to toys. I was supposedly going to give this away on Christmas eve but decided to give it as an advance Christmas present because I wanted her to start the learning process as soon as possible and the 25th seemed like a million years away and I know that such agony of waiting would spoil everything. The toy came in a box and I wrapped it in a glittery red Christmas gift wrapper so my daughter could experience the pleasure of opening a present all by herself. We neatly laid the box on the floor and her face beamed with excitement. She slowly untied the big golden bow that seated on top of the box but quickly tore the wrapper down. I couldn’t forget how she flashed the biggest smile when she realized what the content was. Her eyes filled with joy and she giggled a lot as I finally helped her unpack the toy.

What’s in the Box

Explorer Learning System, quick start guide with CD, parent guide, instructions and a free leaplet download card.

Batteries:
Requires 4 AA batteries. (Batteries not included.)
System Requirements:
PC Requirements:
Internet connection (high-speed connection recommended)
Pentium® 4 or equivalent (1 GHz processor or faster recommended)
Windows® XP, Windows Vista® or Windows® 7 operating system
Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768
Available USB port
512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Latest version of Adobe® Flash® Player
CD reader
Mac Computer Requirements:
Internet connection (high-speed connection recommended)
PowerPC™ G4 or Intel®-based Apple computer (1 GHz processor or faster recommended)
Mac OS X 10.5+ operating system software
Monitor resolution of 1024 x 768
Available USB port
512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Latest version of Adobe® Flash® Player
CD reader
MAC, APPLE and MAC OS are trademarks of Apple Inc.,registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Handheld Dimensions:
4.00 x 6.60 x 1.76 inches
Handheld Weight:
1.96 lbs

Color

The Leapster Explorer comes in two colors: Green and Pink. I opted for the unisex variant which is the green one since I knew it would be easier to sell it on ebay if my daughter won’t like it.

Batteries

The toy is battery operated and requires 4 AA batteries to function which was sold separately. In fact, I had to run to our nearest hardware store to get some. I highly recommend buying rechargeable batteries with the Leapster Recharger Unit so you need not change the batteries every now and then. My daughter’s rechargeable batteries run for a week or two despite the fact that she spends two hours a day playing with the device. If you are ready to splurge extra $40 on a rechargeable charger, you may also get the Leapster charger which claims to fully recharge the handheld in 4 hours and make it run up to 11 hours. A spare set of AA batteries would also come in handy while travelling as I need not worry about leaving the charger behind.

Hands-on Experience

PROS
Easy to Operate. The Leapster Explorer is easy to use that my daughter easily located the POWER button. The graphics is impressive and it has a huge screen display of approximately 2.5×2 inches. The toy comes with a stylus but you may use your fingers for its touch screen interface as well.

Loads of Fun & Learning. Although a lot of reviewers on Amazon pointed out and became frustrated that the Leapster Explorer has a fewer game selection as compared to the previous model (Leapster 2), I would have to say that the current games are just right since every cartridge included a long game play. For instance, the Dora the Explorer cartdrige provided several levels of fun as my daughter helped Dora and Boots travel to different countries such as Egypt, China, Australia and Peru. Each country has about 5 different places to explore which makes around 20 levels all in all!  She was able to learn about the cultures, animals and landscapes of 4 different countries and it expanded her english and spanish vocabulary too. I usually sit and play with my daughter and I could say that it felt like playing Mario Brothers back when I was a youngster except for the fact that the educational value of the Leapster Explorer is undeniably a great bonus. One cartridge is loaded with several levels of gameplay that your child could definitely not reach the last stage of the game in just one sitting! It’ll take time for them to finish one especially if you keep an extra cartdrige with you since most children switch it up from one game to another.

Free Writing Program. I have also read negative remarks that the system came with only one game that isn’t even half as good as the games on the cartridges. True, the only game built in the system is Pet Pad where your child can create a pet to feed, play with, and learn but I’m not complaining about because first of all, I didn’t pay extra for that and it teaches my daughter how to write her alphabet. I’ve seen several applications that are sold at a cheaper rate on itunes for iPhone that my daughter used to play with but those aren’t as reliable when it comes to writing.

Easy to Install. The handheld came with a USB cable which I plugged into my computer and it connected me to Leapfrog where I was prompted to install the Leapfrog Connect Application for Leapster Explorer. It was very easy and hassle free as opposed to what other reviewers on Amazon said. I didn’t even break a sweat. I believe I waited for no more than 30 minutes to complete everything which was all worth it since it’s another innovative tool provided by Leapfrog to aid parents in monitoring their child’s progress.

Easy to Download Leaplet Games. My order of the Leapster Explorer came with a free Leaplet download card which is totally awesome and also very easy to download and install. Since I already have the Leapfrog Connect Application for Leapster Explorer in my computer, I just clicked my way through the download section for leaplet and downloaded Leapfrog’s Letter Factory. Although this is also sold on DVD, I proceeded to download it to my daughter’s Explorer so she can watch it over and over again all by herself and at her own pace.

CONS
Quite Heavy. The weight isn’t as light as they claim to be since I can even say that it’s quite heavy when I handle it on my own. My daughter also complained that she couldn’t hold it long without resting her hands on a sturdy support because it was too heavy and too much for her little hands.

Too much Marketing. There is a section for trailers pre-installed on the handheld which will give you an overview on the games available for the Leapster Explorer. Unfortunately, this is not useful and I don’t like the idea that Leapfrog is trying to market their products to my child.

Camera not Included. The expectation that the Leapster Explorer would come with a camera was a dismay. It is sold separately for 24.99. Yes, its cheap knowing that it will provide the Explorer a camera and a video recorder but it frustrated me in a sense that I’ve never even paid extra for my phone’s camera. The camera also sticks out at the bottom of the Explorer which is quite bulky and I can’t imagine my child taking it off and screwing back the cover intended for the bottom of the Explorer all by herself. Definitely not child-friendly! On the brighter side, I’m leaning towards buying it for my daughter in the future because I’ve read that the program itself has a lot to offer from being able to store a thousand photos and since it has an added educational value where she can learn how to be creative and explorative with emotions.

In a nutshell
This is an innovative solution that deserves a high regard of praise because children can now learn, discover and explore through gaming. I would highly recommend this game to parents who would love to see their child sharpen their knowledge. Although this is a bit pricey, I believe that every child deserves to get the best education in the world and that is when education and entertainment is bundled in one toy.

My Rating

Quality

Ease of Use

Educational Value

Fun Factor

Would I recommend or buy this for a friend?
Yes

My Recommendation

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