Getting a Jump on My Christmas Shopping

I got my daughter who will be 4 right after Christmas the mobi go system I so want to get it out of the box and play with it but guess I'll wait till her birthday.

Our daughter is about to turn 7 and our son is 4, too. =0) Santa brought a DS for our daughter last xmas and she adores it and still uses it A LOT! Santa brought the V.Smile Pocket for our son last xmas. He rarely ever touches it. Like you, I've been eyeing the Fisher Price iXL for him for this year. I like all the different things it can do. I'll be anxious to see your responses on it. =0)
As for other gift ideas, I can tell you what we are getting for our two kiddos. For our daughter we've gotten an American Girl Doll, a unicorn pillow pet, a set of squinkies, the new Tinkerbell DVD, a Color Me Flowerz super set, and a light-up tracing desk. We're also gonna get her a new zhuzhu pet, some accessories and then some other odds and ends things. For our son we've gotten the Toy Story DVD, a puppy pillow pet, a set of the Marvel magic beans, a wipe off letters and numbers mat. We're also gonna get him the iXL (possibly), also eyed the new Alphie Robot, a spiderman watch, and My Very First Magnet Kit (because he LOVES magnets).
It's all still a work in progress of course, but I've got a bigger head start than EVER this year. LOL My daughter's bday is in mid January, so I'm trying to buy things for that as well. It's so much nicer to buy things slowly rather than wait until December like I usually do!!! =0) Good luck!

My son, who was almost 4 last Christmas, got a Leapster from me, and a DS Lite from his grandmother. Bad planning. Anyhow, at first, my son gravitated to the DS, being smaller, and with more sophisticated graphics. But we only had a couple games that were truly for preschoolers (i.e. they actually gave clear verbal instruction he could follow), and that got old fast, and the games are pricey, not to mention I have a hard time finding true preschool games for it. So then, he started playing with the Leapster. The games are much more kid friendly, and they are more educationally geared. So now, we definitely prefer the Leapster for him. He'll occasionally pull out the DS, but it doesn't hold his attention long, since it's not as little kid friendly. Now, certainly there are 4 year olds out there that can do the DS just fine, but we are not a video game oriented family, so my son doesn't have much exposure to them.

I know you weren't asking about comparing the DS with the Leapster for your 4 year old... but I just wanted to share our experience, mostly about the Leapster. We really ended up liking it a lot, and it is VERY kid friendly, and age appropriate, with a little room to grow with it. I can't speak to the other models you mentioned, but as you stated, they seem like they'd be a little more complicated to use, with all the features they have. The Leapster is nice in that way - you pop in a cartridge, and off you go. Simple.

I usually do loads of research on this kind of stuff before I buy, and usually have a really hard time deciding, so good luck!

We got my son a leapster along with all the accessories and a few games thinking it would be a huge hit (he was almost 5) He never took to it and wanted a ds which he eventually got and he loves it and is able to play quite a few games. I also was looking at the ixl from fisher price for my daughter except i found out its not very mac friendly. It will say that you cant download the music because the format in itunes is not mp3 format and its pretty difficult if you have a mac (which we do) I've heard its great if you have a regular pc. Ive been looking at the others too but am afraid she wont like them since she likes to play around with her brothers ds (she will be 4 in dec) so i think we will get her a ds as well. That way they can sync up games in the car and play together. although 2 1/2 is too young for a ds. if you have a pc id go with the ixl because it seems like its cooler and has more to offer.

I have a 7 year old and a 2 year old. My 7 year old got a DS last year and he loves it. I also bought a Kid Tough FP3 player for him when he was 3, but he never used it. Wasn't interested. However, my 2 year old girl is always trying to take my son's DS and also my iphone. So, I have dusted off the FP3 player and just set it up for her this week. I'm planning on giving it to her this weekend and I think she will really like it. I would love to hide it and give it to her for xmas, but my son will remember it and that is "cheating". So, I'm going to go ahead and give it to her.

The FP3 player is very kid friendly and durable with large buttons. But, it is only music and stories - it is not games. (It's like a walkman)

Good luck!
L.