J.G.
After some research and thought, hubby and I decided to skip the Leappad and just buy our 5 year old an actual tablet. The Leapfrog pad's games are ridiculously expensive, and you can't do things like stream Netflix on it. And it isn't cheap! It comes with nothing on it, so by the time you load it with some games and stuff, you are almost at the price of an actual tablet.
I didn't look into the Vtech. I have a friend that has one, and her kids love it, though.