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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program My kids love Leap Frog toys to the point of even saving up their allowance to buy extra games for their devices. The Leappad2 Power is the same great device, but with a few bonuses. It comes with a battery pack for extended play, the AC adapter (nice to have it in a bundle instead of having to buy it separately) and a few extra apps. The apps honestly we don't use. There is now a calculator and a calendar, making the leap pad function a bit more like a smart phone, but apart from opening it up to see what it did, my four year old really doesn't need a calendar.
As for the device itself, both the original and the LeapPad2 are fantastic learning tools for the 3-8 age range, and yet again, Leap Frog does not disappoint. My main complaints with the original version were the easily damaged screen, the incredibly short-lived battery life and the difficulty getting into the battery compartment. With version two, they have fixed the battery compartment issue it is now much easier to get into, but also easier to snap into place without having to wiggle it just so. It overall feels more secure. The screen is still pretty easy to scratch, even with gentle playing with the provided stylus. And after watching my two children play with it, ages 4 and 6, I can tell you that with some games, they want to attack the screen with the stylus. I think this would happen with any touch screen device, but for a game that runs one hundred dollars, we're investing in some screen protectors to try to keep it nice as long as we can. My four year old started out just using her finger for a lot of the games, and really this works fine for most of them. However, once she started playing the art studio and Mr. Pencil, she realized the stylus gives much better control. I've noticed a change in how she holds a pencil when she writes after she started playing the Mr. Pencil game. Her writing has definitely improved, which I think is pretty amazing because she pouts every time we practice preschool writing, but with Mr. Pencil she can't wait to play the game. Leap Frog is very skilled, in my opinion, at making learning fun.
With its large screen, the Leap Pad 2 eats batteries for breakfast. This might have something to do with the app the kids use it seems like if they do a lot of camera time or movies, the batteries go down more quickly. This is where the power option comes in so handy we love having the extra battery pack and the adapter for when we're home.
My kids LOVE the front-situated camera. They can actually take pictures of themselves and put in some pretty neat effects in the art studio. The original Leap Pad had the back-facing camera, and while this was fun to use it just like a camera, my kids got frustrated taking pictures of themselves they kept ending up with great thumb shots or just the nose, etc. They literally had two hours of fun with the front-back camera on a recent road trip.
The leap2 has some pretty neat game options, and I like that the cartridges can move between the Leapster Explorer and the Leap Pad. As with all Leap Frog games we've found, there is some great educational content, for reading, writing and now more math and science oriented as well. I also like that you can hook this up to the Leap Frog site and download games, books and movies directly onto the device so you don't have to worry about keeping track of the tiny little cartridges. The storage capacity is much bigger on this version two than the original, and this is also a nice added touch. I have also found that the app cards at our local store are exact value i.e. twenty dollars cash for a twenty dollar value on the Leap Frog site. I snagged a twenty dollar app card on Amazon for fifteen dollars last week, and while the price fluctuates, it's consistently lower than our local stores. It's a good way I've found to get more apps for a little less money, just FYI.
I'm very impressed with the Leap Pad2, and the power option is a nice upgrade. While a large selling point on the box is the extra five apps, I don't think kids in the targeted age range will use them much. The main selling point for me is the reduced hassle with the batteries and play time.
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