Leap Pad?

I didn't read if anyone else wrote back yet, but Once upon a child always seem to have a ton of them if you don't want to spend the money on a brand new one. I always see tons of them on ebay too:)

We have the "my first leappad" and the Leap Pad Writing one which both still work fine, but I just got the Leapster TV for my 3-year-old and plan on getting the hand held Leapster for my 6-year-old for xmas because they can share the games then.

We were given a myfirst leep pad a from someone who had two; so it was used. It also didn't work well and I found on line a problem solving number to call; which told how to clean it with rubbing alcohol and that did the trick. Take a Qtip, dip it in the alcohol and rub it on the metal part of the cartrige and then while still wet put it into the machine and in and out two to three times. This helpee with the machine recognizing the cartriges so they worked.
Good luck

L.

My daughter has a leapster which she loves but, I have found that they are not very durable. We have had this one for a little over a year and the screen doesn't work all the time and does shut off also with good batteries. She is always very careful with it. We bought the vsmile and she loves that as well and I think it works much better than the Leapster. I did check with leapster company and they said there was nothing they could do for me about the screen and they just wear out sometimes from use.

I have a 4 yr old and a 2 yr old that loves the v-smile game. We have the main one that hooks up to tv and they love it. You get the 2 player games and they can play for hours (but of course I have to stop them to take a break from staring at tv. My 4 yr old also got the handheld one and that keeps her very busy in car so we're getting one for my 2 yr old son. I have amy first leap pad that my daughter got for her 2nd b-day and she maybe used it 3 times and its been sitting in closet since. I'm gonna sell it I think with 3-4 games that we have to pay for the vsmile I'm getting my son

I would go to the regular one. The reason I say this is because my oldest got his own Leapster and found that littler kids like his better than their own. Also, the books don't hold up as well and the cartridges with the regular Leapster are small and easy to store. I am considering getting another Leapster for Christmas this year because it has been such a hit with the kids ages 2, 4, and 5. And, my oldest is gifted and he can be challenged by some of the games. My 4 year old likes all the Pre-K games and my 2 year old likes to do some of the coloring games on it. It is really versatile. Good luck. Oh, the kdis got a V-Smile last year for Christmas and like it OK, but like the Leapster better to play individually. The V-Smile is good for the kids to play together with 2 players. I am not as crazy about the games they have though.

I have two kids (daughter 8 & son 6) we have had two of the Leapsters for 2+ years. They are WONDERFUL!! We purchased them before taking a driving trip to Alaska and they were a lifesaver! We have many of the cartridges and other than using alot of batteries we have had no issues with them.