Leapfrog Vs. Vtech Toy

Based on my experience w/ both companies & w/ which product my 3 kids have enjoyed most & benefit most I say get the Leapfrog tabl
et. The games are compatible w/ the handheld, you can download more items, keep track of their progress & also see where they need improvement. Like another person mentioned - you can personalize it to include theit homework! We also have their. TAG system. W/ the pen & books & it's awesome! My 4 year old kindergartener has learned letter sounds, recognition & can read simple sentences already! My oldest had a Vtech he received as a gift & it wasn't anything to brag about, their customer service was rude & just plain awful.

I am not sure how good their learning products are, but I will NEVER buy another Vtech product again! I bought a vtech camera for my son last year. Right out of the box it didn't work. Called customer service who tried (smugly) to walk me through some trouble shooting. When it didn't work, the guy told me to send it back to the address that came with the packaging, a company called Sakar industries. It took 4 1/2 months to get a replacement camera. I called every 3 weeks (after the next promised arrival date, and the camera hadnt arrived). I got every excuse from "they're out of stock", "it's on it's way (which turned out to be a lie because the next guy told me it hadn't been sent yet), to "we don't make that model anymore." I finally got a replacement and guess what? It didn't work right out of the box! So I just returned it to the store for a refund instead of having to wait another 4 months. Come to find out, Sakar industries has hundreds of complaints w/the better business bureau. Sadly, nothing on the outside packaging said Sakar industries, it was on the inside for returns.
I am considering the leapster for my son this Christmas also. I have heard only good things about leapster, especially the Tag system.

I got my son (now 5 1/2) the Leapster Explorer last year to entertain him when had to sit through my work meetings on the weekends etc. This year, my parents got him the LeapPad tablet (the leapster is getting donated... we do not need TWO of this kind of toy in our house).

The LeapPad is fantastic. It comes loaded with a few apps (a pet you take care of and earn "tokens" to buy things for by making progress on your games/skills... the camera is built in and it has programs to edit pictures and videos) the cartridges are about $20 a piece. My son has 4 cartridge games (accumulated over the last year... it plays the same ones as the Explorer handheld) and no longer asks for new ones. The games are adaptive, so they get harder as the child gets better. Also in LeapWorld (when you connect the LeapPad to the computer) you can set specific skills etc to work on in the games... like I can set his spelling list from school so that THOSE are the words that come up in the spelling games etc.

I was going to write this exact same question a few hours ago but then got busy at work and forgot about it. I don't have any advice but I will definately be checking back for your answers. I have a 3yr old and I want to get her something educational for Christmas and have been reading up on the reviews on each of these toys.

Thanks for thinking like me and posting this...lol!

I have used leap frog and each book must be downloaded in order for the pen to be used on that book.

I appreciate your feelings about using the imagination, however, I have found that the schools are now offering a lot more technology, these days. You dont want them to struggle trying to keep up with those who have been well exposed to a computer or other means of technology.