Description

With this smart handheld system, children learn valuable school skills through a variety of animated games and activities. Kids use the interactive touch screen and stylus throughout 30 educational games featuring characters they love. The Leapster2 System also offers several options for creative play. Little learners can easily connect online for extra activities and rewards. And best of all, parents can use the Leapster2 to connect to the LeapFrog Learning Path, an online, interactive tool in which parents can get updates and see firsthand what their children are learning.

Leapster2 System comes with built-in starter games; additional software sold separately. Requires 4 "AA" batteries, not included. Measures 13"W x 10.5"H.

Amazon.com Review

Put innovative creativity and fun at your kids' fingertips -- and watch them learn in the process -- with the The LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game System. This battery-operated handheld game system goes where your children go, and brings plenty of learning fun along. It comes with two pre-installed educational games, and many more are available: purchase an optional SD card separately for access to additional online games and to take advantage of other online features; or you can purchase game cartridges to add to your Leapster 2 repository. The included games have skill levels suitable for children ages 4 to 8.

Children will love playing the educational games. View larger.

Insert different game cartridges (sold separately) for endless fun. View larger.

What We Think Fun Factor: Durability: (what this means) The Good: Battery-powered console goes where your child goes, offers versatile, educational fun. The Bad: An SD card, which must be purchased separately, is required to take advantage of some Leapster 2 features. In a Nutshell: Handheld game console offers fun, educational games that accommodate your child's learning curve. At a Glance Ages: 4 to 8 Requires: Four AA batteries

The console has a comfortable, curved shape, although it may be a tad large and heavy for smaller hands. It features a full-color touch screen and sound that's a far cry better than the beeps of old-school handheld consoles. (Parents will appreciate the volume control and a jack for headphones!) Control and manipulate the console with the included stylus and with the videogame-style D pad and other buttons.

We found the initial set-up to be relatively easy: install the four required AA batteries, and navigate through the self-explanatory screens to create user profiles for up to 3 children (which come in handy for accessing online features). After this quick set-up, a menu screen will appear, where you can choose to play the pre-loaded games, go online, or insert a game cartridge.

Fun and Learning
Leapster 2 games are designed to grow with your child ages 4 through 8. The console is pre-loaded with two games: The "Dragons to the Rescue! Learning Game," is a "video game" type activity with four different levels, the first helping kids identify letters and numbers, the most advanced giving them spelling and multiplication practice, all while navigating a dragon past monstrous storm clouds and scrambling to collect magic crystals. The "Creativity Castle Art Studio" is a rather low-tech art program. Players can select a background scene to "color" using the stylus and "decorate" with fun animated stamps. While it does foster creativity, this program is somewhat clumsy -- your Paint program on your PC does a much better job. But "Dragons" was fun enough to keep even an adult tester enjoyably diverted.

Unfortunately, an SD card is required for taking advantage of some of what the Leapster 2 has to offer -- which is a drawback, because it must be purchased separately. For example, without the SD card (which offers more memory) you cannot save artwork.

In the meantime, without the SD card, you can still purchase game cartridges, as well as download new games, or take advantage of the online "Learning Path". (This online program allows you to register and upload your children's Leapster 2 profiles to show you their learning activities and their progress.)  And you still can plug your console -- with the included USB cable -- into your PC for your children to view and print "rewards" for completing different game levels (for Dragons to the Rescue, they're certificates of achievement) or to print pictures to color with actual crayons (to encourage some "old-fashioned" creativity!) You must first install the Leapster 2 software on your computer, which comes on the included CD-ROM.

What's in the Box
Leapster 2 Game System, USB cable, CD-ROM

PC Requirements

All Leapster games work with all Leapster systems.
PC Requirements

Windows XP or Windows Vista operating system
Pentium III 500 MHz processor
Monitor resolution of at least 1024 X 768
Available USB port
256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Internet connection
Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6 or higher
CD reader

Mac Requirements

Mac OS X 10.4+
PPC G4 or any Intel-based Apple computer
Monitor resolution of at least 1024 X 768
Available USB port
256 MB of RAM (512 MB recommended)
300 MB free disk space
Internet connection
Safari application
CD reader

Customer Reviews

 Leapster 2 Review - Jul 28, 2010

I have purposely chosen not to write a review on the Leapster 2.... until now. I wanted to see how durable it was in the long run. We purchased the Leapster 2 for our son about 14 months ago. We also bought the recharging system as well as I figured that AA batteries wouldn't last long in a game system like that. I was impressed with it, and ultimately would buy another one. I am not as impressed with Leap Frog's customer service. We were right out of the one year warranty and the Leapster quit working right. The screen quit responding and it would randomly shut off during the games. I first thought it was the rechargable battery going out, but put AA batteries in and it still did the same thing. So I called Leap Frog. Their solution?? Buy another one. They were at least nice enough to give me a 15% off code off of another Leapster from their online store, however, after checking their prices, I decided to wait for a sale on the game system. Considering their high prices on their website, I still have yet to buy another one because 15% off is almost nothing.

My son dearly loved his Leapster. He played it every day, several times a day. There are a couple of games for his age that he gets frustrated with, however over all, he gets a lot of enjoyment out of it. He was definitely sad to throw it in the trash. The graphics are grainy in my opinion, but it doesn't seem to bother him. He even puts it on and takes it off the charger by himself.

I only gave the Leapster 3 stars over all, because for the $70 we spent on it, I would have definitely expected it to last longer than a year. However, I see this as a common complaint, but it would be nice if Leap Frog would offer extended warranties on their items. I will definitely not buy it direct from them again because of this. The only place I have found that offers an extended warranty on the Leapster is Toys R Us and I will be buying the next one from them because of this. From past experience, an extended warranty is a must have on this item.

 Leapsters are awesome - Jul 18, 2010

I got this so that my kids would stop fighting over the one we had. This one is soo much better on batteries. When my sons was on batteries I was recharging them every night it felt like. This one will last about 3 days if she plays all day. There is nothing I dont like about this. I would tell anyone who is looking at this to get it.

 Died in 5 weeks with poor warranty - Jul 15, 2010

I bought the system May 26 and now, 5 weeks later the stylus stopped working... while on vacation :(

Anyways, found online help on how to reset system, but didn't work. Finally was able to call leapfrog during 9-5 EST hours, and spent 1 hour on the phone. Basically, the warranty service is 30 days. They were going to "help" me by extending my original warranty to 1 year (but remember my unit is already dead!) and the warranty on the replacement unit is 30 days. I spoke to a supervisor whom I told that I wanted a 1 yr warranty on the replacement unit and she agreed, until then she said let me go over the terms with you and then back to the 30 days warranty. I don't trust the company!

So I caution you to consider your investment if you would be satisfied with paying for the unit (around $45) + cartridges (I bought 5 for $19.99 each) = around $145 for 2 months of playing.

The cartridges are not upwardly compatible so they will not work on the new Explorer version.

I would caution anyone to buy these units since they know they are lemons! Or else buy one used that has gotten through the first few months of use.

 Fun system, could be more diverse in game options - Jul 14, 2010

We bought Leapster 2 game systems for our 4 year old twins for their birthday. The good news is that they LOVE them! We have a host of other Leapster products, so we were already familiar with their website platform. It's pretty cool, actually. If you don't already have a Leapfrog account on their website, you use the included CD ROM to load the software, go to the Leapfrog Connect program you loaded, and register the system to your child's name. You can then hook the system up to your computer using the included USB cable and then you go to their website and you can track how their learning is progressing based on the concepts they are learning through game play.

When you first register the product you have the ability to choose one free "starter game" to load onto the system (a basic game, not of the sort of Leapster 2 game cartridges you would buy in the store). We chose the shapes game for one system (it shows a picture and you have to select different shapes and drop them into the picture to make the picture with the shapes - kind of like Geo in Team UmiZoomi, if you've ever seen it). For the other system we loaded the dragon game. My daughters both were happy enough with the free games that we waited about a month before even buying other Leapster 2 games!

Another cool thing is that, when you have the Leapster 2 connected and you load Leapfrog Connect you can actually choose from a few games that you can buy and directly download to the system, rather than buying a cartridge at the store (I think this is cool because cartridges can be lost or damaged). The systems are also durable enough to withstand the rough play of young children. Ours have been dropped and thrown many times over (by our two year old!) and we haven't had an issue yet.

There is one downside though. There is a decent selection of games BUT there aren't a lot that are geared toward the 4 year old group and those that are all seem to teach the exact same concepts, only with different characters, so you can't buy different games and expect to use a variety of games to help reinforce a variety of learning concepts.

 My Kids LOVE this game system. - Jul 06, 2010

Both my 4 year old and 3 year old love to play this system. My four year old can play some of the games...some are too old for her. My 3 year old can play just the drawing game it comes with. They love it. It does run out of batteries quickly. Overall this is one of my fav toys for them espcially on trips in the car!

 DO NOT BUY - Jun 18, 2010

Imagine this. Your child just received this is a present and is jumping up and down for joy, then impatience, then frustration, anger, and eventually walks away in despair. He won't get to play with it today after all! If you did not get a defective product, it will take about an hour to set up given everything else went well! It tells you to hook it up to your computer and starts downloading and installing files for a *long* time. Eventually, that part is completed, you launch the app, there is another long wait. Finally, it tells you, (I am not kidding!) the drivers have not been installed, the device is UNUSABLE. (Their wording, not mine!) Google around - most people are experiencing the same problem. What now? You grab the phone to call customer service, right? LOL. They are closed on weekends and are on VERY LIMITED Eastern time. If it's past noon on a friday in California, GAME OVER, thanks for playing. Please purchase other Leapster products soon! Ours still doesn't work - except for the $20 cartridge games. (Thank goodness I purchased one with the original toy!) If you are going to buy a Leapster, at least buy cartridge games. They should be playable. Good luck!

I am never buying any LeapFrog product again after this experience.

 Leapster 2 - Jun 14, 2010

My little girl loves her leapster. We call them their "DS." This is important when you have bigs kids with the real "DS" and they want theirs. This toy is durable, easy handle, cleans easy, great games to purchase.

 Beware leapfrog will not voluntarily recall dangerous products! - Jun 07, 2010

Dangerous toys! I have one of the older Leapfrog Phonics Learning Systems with individual letters. Once they replaced the letters because the small magnets fell out. When the magnets started falling out again they would not replace or give me a credit for the toy. They just would give me a 15% discount on their website. Mattel recalled toys with small magnets but leapfrog knows of this deadly problem and is doing nothing. The toy letters have magnets with no covering over the magnets. Leapfrog should be recalling this item even though they "no longer manufacture it"! I personally am boycotting their products. Please Boycott their products until they start recalling and replacing their dangerous toys.
Children can still die from this toy and Leap Frog is doing nothing!

 Good toy, but has some shortcomings - Jun 04, 2010

Bought three of these for my kids. One of them no longer powers on after only 8 days of use (under battery or plug in options). Very disappointed in terms of durability. Overall, the kids love them, too much in fact where I'm the 'bad guy' limiting their time on them each day. Titles can get a bit pricey, so good to make some friends where you can all swap games from time to time. Strangely, my kids all seem to like the "free" downloadable game you get with each purchase the best - figures! I enjoy the educational aspect of them - when used in moderation as I won't let them sit for an hour + each on these things. We'll see how the return/replacement is handled before I consider upgrading overal score.

 repacement for broken one - May 29, 2010

i bought this as a replacement for my daughters. she loves her leapster and i love that she's learning as she plays. i will definatley be ordering another as soon as my youngest daughter gets old enough for one.

 Problems with touch screen? Try re-calibrating - May 27, 2010

We've had the leapster 2 system for about a month now.
Here's what I like about it:
small, full color, pretty high resolution for a kid's computer (think about those lousy "laptops" in the toy aisle)
Has lots of games with kids fave characters
good for small hands

what I didn't like:
One of the leapsters we got kept crashing and wouldn't do the function (pencil change, mark a line, etc.) when you touched the screen. This led to enormous frustration for our 3 year old, so I did some googling and re-calibrated the device.
Now it seems to be working OK. If we have any further issues I will take leapster up on their 1 year guarantee.

I get the games used on Ebay, that way if we don't like them I can just sell them again and not lose much.

Pet-pals so far is the winner by a slide! (but way better than tomagachi because there's alphabet exercises, counting, etc.)

 easily broken and poor customer service - May 15, 2010

While the games are great, they only work as long as the stylus does. Once the stylus is broken off, it is easily lost. No other styli work on it. The leapfrog website, and in fact, any website or retailers that sells leapsters, does not carry replacements. The only way to get them, I was informed via email, is by calling customer service. Customer service, of course, has limited weekday-only hours. When the parents are working to afford the high priced game cartridges. My daughter is sad. I am frustrated. I was trying to decide between a Leapster and a Nintendo DS. It is clear now that I made the wrong choice. My advice, if you're going to buy a hand-held console, there are much better options.

 Stopped Working after 3 Months - Apr 26, 2010

We bought the Leapster Pink for our 4 year old for Christmas. She didn't use it a lot but by March it had stopped working. Amazon won't accept the return of defective merchandise because we bought it more than 30 days ago.

And Leapfrog's return policy is "LeapFrog® product is warranted only to the original purchaser for a period of three months from the original purchase date, under normal use and service, against defective workmanship and material."

I had read a lot of reviews warning of this problem but hoped for the best. Unfortunately that didn't work out so well.

So if you're happy paying $[...] for a toy that will only work a little over 3 months then Leapfrog is for you!

We won't be buying anymore Leapfrog products.

 Worth the money - Apr 06, 2010

We purchased this game because it was the only thing my 4, almost 5 year old daughter wanted from Santa. We went with the Leapster2 because of the online features, but have found them confusing and leaving a lot to be desired. She was so excited to go on the computer to see her rewards, but my husband couldn't figure them out and she was disappointed. So we end up rarely using this feature.

But other than that, the game is a hit with our daughter. It has kept her occupied during many a rainy day or long car ride. It has stood up to the abuse of an 18 month-old little brother who is also fascinated by this toy. The graphics are simple and not all that great, but she seems OK with that.

Regular household batteries do not last long in this game. We received a recharging pack as a gift and like it much better. Also, invest in the carrying case for additional protection of the screen. We have close friends who have had their screen break.

 Nice Toy, Poor Quality - Apr 05, 2010

First, I would like to say that we have purchased many Leap Frog Products and have been very pleased in the past. However, we are on our 2nd Leaper. The first Leapster was just the regular leapster and it lasted about 9 months. It just stopped working. Put new batteries in and still nothing happened. I emailed Leapster through their website and basically using some key words from my message, it directed me to Warranty Info related to my problem. Basically the info said because children abuse and/or misuse the product that they cannot guarantee this product more than (I believe) like 30 days. So I purchased the Leapster 2 (because I had all these games) and I made sure that my son only used it when I was around and when it wasn't in use, I put it up. We went through 1 set of batteries and after replacing the batteries, the touch screen did not work. So this time, I called customer service and she walked me through a few troubleshooting steps and now it works again.

Bottomline here is, my 4 year old son does enjoy the product. The games are somewhat educational. If you purchase this, I know Walmart offers a warranty for a small additional cost. Get the warranty! Also, don't forget to register the product with Leap Frog. When I called, I gave them my phone number and she immediately had all my info right there. I'm not saying that you should not buy the product, just make sure your kids take care of it because they aren't made to last. If something goes wrong with your leapster do call them to make sure it can't be fixed over the phone in a matter of minutes. I'm so glad I did!!!

 customer service, what customer service??? - Mar 25, 2010

just have to say that if you are expecting a warrenty on your leapster 2 don't put too much stock in it, especially if your L2 stops working alltogether as my son's did the other day. did all the "canned" support fixes to get it working again and to no avail it's still not working. contacted support through email and got the "canned" answer fix all. on second email to them they replied with:

If you have tried the previous instructions and it did not work, your next option is to get a replacement unit. We are not doing repair and we cannot replace it because the warranty is now null and void.

my question is why should i go spend another $60 - $70 for another one, especially when it's less than a month old? Leap Frog you need to pay for the next one. i can't afford to buy another one each time it breaks or stops working.

 Buy a leapster! - Mar 20, 2010

My husband and I both have teaching backgrounds, and I was initially against any kind of handheld device for fear of my children hovering over it for hours until their little eyes glazed over and their brains turned to mush. This was not the case. My 5 and 4 year old girls LOVE their leapsters (yes, we bought two). Generally, the games are educational and we don't feel like the girls' brains are going mushy. Also, it has kept their attention for months now. They play an average of 2-4 hours per week and still love it! You can't beat it on long car trips! Some of the games are duds-just check reviews carefully before purchasing. I would give it six stars if I could.

 Excellent learning and lots of fun for 4-year old! - Mar 18, 2010

My 4-year old son absolutely loves playing with his Leapster 2! From the first instant he played it, he was hooked so I actually have to make sure he doesn't play this too much. There is a great variety of games to buy for it and he is learning a lot from the different games as well as working on fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. I highly recommend this toy and I am so glad we bought it for him! It's a bit heavy to carry around but it is great for long road trips or plane rides! You get to download one free game when you buy this and I highly recommend the dragon game. It is one of my son's favorite games still! This is definitely a nice alternative for younger kids that want to be like the older kids that have the Nintendo DS.

 Perfect for little computer fans... - Mar 15, 2010

I like the outfit, the handling and that it's easy-to-use etc... perfect for little computer fans. Our 3years old daughter loves it!

 My kids LOVE IT!!!! - Mar 09, 2010

My son is 3.5 years old and he LOVES IT!!!! I highly recommend it to anyone!! It's educational and lets me see how well he is doing with different games. My 14 month old tries to "play" too!!! Definately worth buying!!

 Pathetic! - Mar 07, 2010

I never write reviews of products, this is my very first good or bad, and I have nothing good to say about this toy.

This toy is absolutely pathetic. I will NEVER buy anything from this company again. I have spent almost my entire Sunday trying to get the toy connected over their website, and it just plain doesn't work. Why? Because they are just to darn cheap to spend money to host their site on a decent server so that the online tools ACTUALLY WORK!! They lure you in with this great marketing ploy of an online community to do all these fantastic things, and yet, their software is just HORRIBLE!

On top of that, they include absolutely NO INSTRUCTIONS in the package. They force you to their website, which, if I haven't mentioned DOESN'T WORK!!

PATHETIC - PATHETIC - PATHETIC!

The only reason I gave it one star is because the cartridges they make you buy to get the toy to work did occupy my 4 year old for an hour or so.

I can't say enough about how disappointed I am with this company. My daughter was SO EXCITED to get this, and after wasting my entire day I had to break her heart and tell her it just doesn't work. Just visit their website, it takes FOREVER to load. Don't break your kids heart with this piece of junk. BUY SOMETHING ELSE!

 One of the ALL-TIME BEST toys! - Mar 03, 2010

I love books! And usually my favorite toys are the simple, old fashion toys and toys that require imagination or pretend play (blocks, cups that nest into eachother, dolls, play kitchen) That being said I love the leapster 2! This is one of the best toys EVER! We bought a Leapster 2 for our oldest daughter when she was 4yrs old. Her then 2yr old sister played it as much or more, so a year later we have bought this one to have two in the house. My now 3yr old plays it alot!!! We have to limit her time on it. But I love to have something that is educational that holds her interest for so long. She will play it all through the grocery store, we take it on car trips, or anytime I know there will be a wait! I highly recommend the recharging station to go with it.
I must admitt, I've never connected either to the computer, which I know I should and hope to, but can't comment on that part!

 We LOVE our Leapster 2 - Feb 21, 2010

Got this Leapster 2 for my 3 year old son for Christmas. He loves it! He is already a video game junkie, so it is really nice to have something that is educational, too.

 Very pleased!!! - Feb 21, 2010

Update 18-June-2010: Leapfrog has a new system. Apparently it will be on the market July 1, 2010. But you can pre-order it already. It has much more functionality then the Leapster2. The screen is better, it has more memory, and faster processor then the Leapster2. It can also be expanded with a camera-add-on, for taking pictures and video. If you don't have any Leapster system yet, I'd advise to check out the LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game System (Green). But if you already have the Leapster2, you may want to stick with it, since the games for Leapster2 are NOT compatible with the Explorer. That's not so good new for Leapster owners. Didj owners on the other hand won't have this issue, because the Didj games ARE compatible with the Explorer.

To check out all the Leapster Explorer's functionality and technical specs, look for it on the Leapfrog website. It looks very cool! I think, kids will love it!

*********************

Review 20-feb-2010: First thing first. If your Leapster suddenly appears to be broken... seems unresponsive to the pencil,... don't panic. Chances are it just needs to be recalibrated. This happened to us a few days ago. Our sons Leapster suddenly appeared defect, ... At first I didn't think of it, and was immediately concerned it just broke. Then (thankfully) I remembered it could just be that it needs to be re-calibrated. I have no idea why the item suddenly needs recalibration,... it just happens.

Thing is, when this happens, and your kid comes to you for help, telling you "It's not working !???",... the first thing that comes to mind is "Oh no! It's broken already!???". There is no signal, no message, telling you that it might need recalibration. This time, after turning the item off and on a few times to no avail, I remembered reading somewhere that it probably (and hopefully) only had to be recalibrated. And indeed, it was just that. See the end of this review on how to recalibrate.

Now for the review.
We love the Leapster concept. A handheld system with educational games for young kids. By now, LeapFrog has a pretty extensive library of educational games. I've researched Nintendo DS to check as an alternative, but they have very few educational games. Even contacted their customer support and they were very responsive and very nice, but they have very few educational games. Apparently it's not a market Nintendo is interested in. In any case I find the DS way too expensive for a 5 year old anyway. The Leapster is somewhat better priced.

We find the games very educational. Currently we have 6 games: Thomas the Engine, Cars, Mr. Pencil, Backyardigans, Go Diego Go, and Chicken Cook. The last one we downloaded from LeapFrog. (You get to download one game free from LeapFrog with the Leapster2). Our son loves them all. His favorite currently is probably Thomas, but he plays (and learns) a lot with them all. We're thinking of expanding the collection with the Dora one, and/or SpongeBob.

With the Leapster 2, you can connect online to the LearningPath of LeapFrog. This is a great functionality, if you have the time to explore it. We hope to connect every two weeks or so. You can also explore new games here, and you can see trailers of the games which is a great way to get a feeling of the game before buying a new one. By the way, the first time you connect online, will be a bit strange. The Leapster will need to synchronize, and this will take a quite a while. In our case it took almost one hour. But you see no message, informing you of this. So you really don't know what's going on. I actually restarted the process several time, after 10 minutes or so, since I was first unaware of this. While I was trying this, I was also checking the LeapFrog site, and there's where I learned that the first time can take up to an hour. So then I just left it alone, till it was done. Thankfully this is only the first time. The next times you connect it will be a breeze.

The game cartridges will work on any of LeapFrog's system. That is the original Leapster, the L-Max, or the most recent Leapster-2. The L-Max you can connect to a TV and play the games on the much larger TV screen. But we didn't really use this with our first L-Max. We tried it only once, just to try it out. It worked, but it just isn't practical. And our son didn't miss it either. He just wants to play with the unit where ever he can, and not be attached to the TV. The Leapster-2 cannot be hooked to the TV but it has the much better functionality to connect online, and go to the LearningPath and download games etc. It's the only one of the three that has this functionality. And new games are being developed to make use of this feature to connect online. I really love this possibility to connect online. So I definitely recommend the Leapser-2 instead of any of the other two. I don't understand why they keep selling the original Leapster and L-Max anyway. Seems to me they should just faze them out, and concentrate on further developing the Leapster-2 or games for it. Ah well.

As for durability, ... it's yet to soon to tell. We rated 4 stars for now on durability, but it's really too soon to tell. Previously we had a L-Max, and it broke after 3 month's. (Which is why I researched Nintendo as an alternative.) We did get a replacement from LeapFrog but it took a while, so in the meantime we got this Leapster2. Currently in use for just one month. We really hope this Leapster2 will be much durable then the previous L-Max. I have good hopes it will, but only time will tell. You can read my review on the L-Max.Leapster L-Max Learning Game System

Batteries.
We use Duracell rechargeable batteries with this item. Although LeapFrog does not recommend using 3rd party rechargeable batteries. But I really don't understand why. They do have their own recharging stationm LeapFrog® Leapster®2 Recharging Station with rechargeable batteries for about [...], which I'm sure will also save you tons of money. But at first we weren't aware LeapFrog does not recommend 3rd party rechargeable batteries. Neither, that they sell their own rechargeable system. So we just got a Duracell rechargeable with corresponding batteries, for about [...] Duracell Value Charger With 4AA Pre Charged Rechargeable Nimh Batteries, CEF14DX4N. Have been using them for a while, also with the previous L-Max, and they work very well. Saved us tons of money on batteries! Very happy with it. Then one time I read by chance on the LeapFrog side that they don't recommend using 3rd party rechargeables. I was surprised, so I checked with them why. They replied something about 3rd party rechargeable batteries not being standard format, and some batteries being charged more then others ect ect.... Which to me made no sense. Duracell or Energizer, or any other main battery brand, not being standard??? I don't buy that. Just to be on the save side, I then checked with them if using 3rd party rechargeable batteries would harm or damage the unit in any way. They replied using 3rd party rechargeable will NOT harm or damage the unit in any way. So,.... I don't get it. Been using Duracell rechargeable batteries for quite a while now, and the unit works excellent with it. It seems they even last longer than normal batteries. By the way LeapFrog sells normal Duracell batteries on their side. Which makes me wonder even more about there point of 3rd party batteries not being standard.

Actually, now I think of it, if LeapFrog recommends not to use 3rd party rechargeable batteries, they should just sell their systems TOGETHER with their rechargeable system. Why have customers waste their money on normal batteries!?? This way they will help their customers save money on batteries from day one! Money that customers could use to buy additional games from them! Believe me, the 1st 2 or 3 weeks, you will be wasting money on normal batteries, till you realize you better get rechargeable batteries quick, before you go broke!!!

In any case, whether you use 3rd party, or LeapFrog's rechargeable system, you will save lots of money on batteries. And you probably will be very happy, no matter which one you get. So do yourself a favor and do get yourself either one of them. While you are at it, take also a look at the LeapFrog Leapster 2 Learning Game Case. Very good for protecting the unit. Or if you need more space checkout the LeapFrog Leapster Messenger Bag.

The bottom line: First thing. Our son loves it. Plays and learns a lot with it.
Second, we do love the Leapster concept. We love the system, easy to use, good screen. We love the games, being both fun to play and educational. I guess the pricing of system and games is `ok'. It would be nice if they could go lower, but chances are that quality will then start to suffer. I do like the fact that they have a decent customer support. They respond rather fast. And finally I love the possibility to connect online. We just hope it will be durable and last for a good long time.

How to recalibrate:
The process to recalibrate is simple. You should find it on the LeapFrog website, but here is what I did:
1. turn off the item.
2. press and hold the `Hint' button, while the item is off.
3. press the on/off button to turn the item back on, while holding the `hint' button, (don't release the `hint' button)
4. the item will now turn on, and you will see a menu screen, with a couple of options.
5. touch with the pencil on the option "recalibrate"
(yes, the pencil should just work at this point)
6. you will get an empty screen, and a little small red circle with cross-hair will appear at one of the corners. Touch with the pencil at the center of the circle. The circle will disappear and another circle will appear at the next corner. Continue to touch each circle at the center. The last circle will appear in the middle of the screen. Touch it also at the center.
7. That's it. Turn off the system, and back on.
It should be back to normal.

Or go to the LeapFrog website, go to the support section and look for "Why doesn't my Leapster2 respond to the stylus pen?" in the FAQ.
You will find the instructions with pictures.

LeapFrog has a great website, with a support section, where you can find a pretty extensive list of all kinds of frequently asked questions with corresponding answers. If you don't find what you're looking for, you can send submit a question to them. You don't need to first go through all the listed questions, you can just write your question and submit it to them. They will respond by the next (work)day.

 Great educational toy. - Feb 19, 2010

We had one of these given to us a few years ago. It was an older version. We enjoyed it, as it was fun and educational, and helped my son keep busy when I had paperwork to get done. The old one broke, so this is number two. We are enjoying it now.