Well now that all of the holiday festivities have ended, I can turn my attention back to my blog (and my disaster of a house). Little Man was spoiled rotten this year by Santa Clause and the rest of the family. I think because he is now three, toy shopping has become a lot more fun, as well as watching his over the top reactions when unwrapping his gifts! But of course every Christmas or birthday comes with at least one non-working or disappointing toy. Well we had both this year, the non working one being the Nerf gun that Santa brought, and the disappointing one being what this particular entry is all about! So without further ado, here is my LeapPad 2 review!
Now I guess I have already given a spoiler as to my feelings toward the LeapPad 2, but it's not all bad. In fact, with just the free pet app, Little Man is already taking his first attempts at writing letters (which we have tried to work on in the past but he became quickly frustrated). The games are quality to the extent that a preschool game can be and, as promised, effectively educational. He has also already taken a spill while holding it, proving it to be quite durable.
A family member purchased the LeapPad 2 for him, I knew in advanced and was really excited about it. We took it out of the package shortly after he unwrapped it and here comes my first disappointment, it is battery run. It is a tablet that requires batteries. It was Christmas day and obviously there were limited places that I could purchase batteries, and none of which were going to charge me less than an arm and a leg for them. So, no playing with the LeapPad on Christmas. In the company's defense, it is not their fault that we didn't have batteries ready, it was really a silly mistake on our part. They also offer a charger (for $20) that doesn't charge the tablet itself, but a set of rechargeable batteries. I have read reviews on this and have decided that I can buy my own battery charger for less and it will apparently work a hell of a lot better than the one they offer.
Then there's the issue of the games (or apps if you prefer, since it is a tablet), They run on average at $20 a piece... for a simple 2D game with limited play-ability. If you're looking to save a few bucks you can buy a package of eight games for...$80! I was appalled, all of the apps I could have got on a regular tablet ranging from free to $2.99 began to flash through my mind. It does come with two free games, one that is already on the LeapPad and one you can download once you hook it up to the computer (which I have still been unable to successfully download). The one it comes from consists of a pet, it's kind of cool. You can customize him, bathe him, feed him, etc. But, it runs out of food. The free game runs out of free food. Now I have to explain to Little Man that he used all of the food and he has to wait until tomorrow to feed his little pet again. On the upside my son is some kind of genius because he found out that there are four account slots. What does that mean for super fun pet treat time? He can use it up on one account, and then switch to the next with a full pantry of pet food.
So my first instinct was "I'm gonna jailbreak this son of a bitch". So I got online to learn more about the LeapPad's hack-ability...only to find what I should have already known. The damn thing is not Wifi capable...the tablet is not Wifi capable. It comes with a USB that you have to hook up to your computer to access their exclusive marketplace. It appears to be air tight, and if there is any way around it its too new and nobody has found a way yet. What does this mean for me? Unfortunately I will be paying outrageous prices for mediocre games and pretty much sinking way more money into this thing than it's worth because Little Man loves it so much; all while taking the proverbial slap in the face from Leapfrog, repeatedly. And what does this mean for you? Let's put it simply, you have been warned. Do your research (which I would have done if I was the one actually purchasing the thing for my son) before buying like, anything.
And I want to wrap this up with an apology of sorts, I have not been keeping up on this blog as I should have. The holidays have thrown me some curve balls but I'm back on track with the promise of a new blog entry every other day. Once again, feel free to continue the discussion in the comment box below :) thanks for reading!
