LITTLE LEAPS PLATFORM Reviews

• Set up was easy...

  
  By A22DH85C8AOZ7A on 2006-10-11
  There are other reviews on here that complain of lengthy set-ups. It took me 3 minutes tops. I was even worried about it because I don't have a normal DVD player, we have a Sony Playstation 2. It works great! My son got this for his 1st birthday (yesterday) and I set it up today. I don't think he's really ready for the interaction yet. I was a little disappointed that there are only sample games on these disks- you have to go out and buy the games seperately. A bummer, since the system was $40. But overall, it is good so far. I'll update when my son is able to use the system better. Don't be scared off by the reviews.
  
  

• Good for Baby, Bad for Toddler

  
  By ARHQ6U901HABE on 2006-11-18
  I have a 9 month old and a 2.5 year old and since this toy claims to be for ages 9 months - 3 years, I figured it would be perfect for both of them. It can be played in baby mode with some simple big buttons for babies or in toddler mode with a joy stick. You can purchase games for either mode.
  
  Our baby has been playing with it in baby mode and there are several nice games available for that.
  
  The toddler mode is disappointing though. First of all, there's only 1 game available for toddler mode. Second, the joy stick is a bit hard to use. Even I sometimes have a hard time getting it to select something. There's a bit of a delay between selecting something and your selection showing up on the tv, so you have to have the patience to move the joy stick and wait for a bit. That's tough for a toddler to do. The toddler game that we have is also very simplistic. We have computer games for him that are more interactive than that. If you have a computer, I'd recommend just getting some toddler computer games instead.
  
  On the plus side, set-up was very easy for us and we don't have a major brand name dvd player.
  
  

• My twins love it!

  
  By AF7DUVFZ8XMPK on 2006-10-12
  We got it as an early b-day present. It took me less than 5 minutes to set up(and I have a nontradional dvd player-its built into my tv). The girls love it both can easily operate it(they are 11 months old). Jazzy has started saying duck because of it. Hopefully more words will follow. I do suggest buying one of the other disc when you buy the system(we got Say it Baby and love it). I am suggesting it to all of my friends for Christmas and will most likely buy more discs soon!
  
  

• Wonderful Toy that I hope my 1yr old will grow into

  
  By A2X38AJXN9OIYB on 2006-10-04
  After reading the other reviews of this product I was worried about setup issues but we got it up and running in a small amount of time.
  We went through each of the three sample games (two baby and one toddler
  ) with my 1 year old. He did not have the attention span to actually hit the buttons to play but he enjoyed the music and characters. We tried the second cd that came in a paper sleeve and discovered a no interaction version of sample games/activities. He loved this video because it was continuous. We will watch this until he is familiar and then try the interactive games. So far I would recommend this product. The characters were so cute and the music was great.
  
  

• Nearly Useless Overhyped System

  
  By A2KGQF842HEWXV on 2007-02-13
  Let's be honest. This "learning system" consists of what amounts to an oversized remote control and a series of over-priced DVD titles that only work with said oversized remote control. The multi-level, amazingly counter-intuitive and unreliable setup procedure (at least one step of which you must activate EACH TIME the system is in use) drives the usability of the product down to nearly zero. The sample DVD which comes with the system only contains four activities which actually work witht he remote, forcing owners to shell out $14 - $20 for each additional title. This "learning system" is essentially an elaborate marketing scheme. Beware.
  
  
• Better in Theory than in Reality
  By A1OE5SI8PQDZK4 on 2006-12-07
  We saw the commercial for this toy, but are a bit disapointed after receiving it and getting it set-up. First, regarding set-up -- skip the "Quick Set-Up Guide." The "Quick Set-Up Guide" leaves out an important step -- press the big, red button while the green light is still flashing. Save yourself the frustration. Put in the DVD that comes with the system, and follow the set-up guide on the DVD (you'll need to have the quick set-up codes for your DVD player ready). That said, we did manage to get it set-up after some frustration. Set-up took more than 5 minutes, though! It works fine with our Cyberhome DVD player. The "game controller" is basically a remote control of sorts for your DVD player. The "game" (DVD) operates on a pause/play basis. The DVD will play for a few minutes, showing your child some new concepts, and then, it will pause and ask your child to press a button to continue/help/hear the answer/etc. Your child can press any of 3 large colorful buttons on the "game controller" to get the "game" to continue. The yellow button slides a bit. The blue button is similar to a light switch -- it can be pushed up or down, and is used for scrolling through items on the DVD/game menus. The red button is a standard button, and is used for selecting items from the menus. The problem with the "game" is that it's slow. Baby has to watch several minutes of the program and wait to be asked to press a button (any button will do). My 17 1/2 month old doesn't have the patience to sit, watch, and wait to be asked to press a button. She wants to press all the buttons all the time right now! She pressed the buttons like she was playing the piano until she was tired of that, and then, had more fun climbing all over me like I was a jungle gym as we sat on the couch together. She did not have the attention span to sit through an entire "game" patiently as is intended. The play aspect of the "game" is just too slow. Although I must say that some of the characters ARE cute, and she did enjoy the Baby Cam (from "Say It Baby") through the park with the baby's eye view where she got to identify some of her favorite animals & vehicles -- duck, dog, cat, train, & plane. But I still had to keep the game controller away from her until it was time to press a button. (Baby Cam is one of the samples on the DVD that comes with the system.) Do yourself a favor if you buy this game system & buy a game or two to go along with it. You'll be disappointed in the "sample games" that come with the system. They're just a few samples from the actual games. For what you're getting, it gets expensive when you start adding games to the system. We're sure that she'll never use the toddler mode due to the slow pacing. By the time she's that advanced, we'll need to buy her a better game system that's more interactive and more responsive. If your child has the patience to sit, watch for 2-3 minutes or more, wait to be asked to press a button, & watch patiently some more, then you & your child may enjoy this together. If you don't expect too much, then you might not be disappointed.
  
  
• Two hours to set up!
  By AIWGM9MBXF56O on 2006-09-25
  I purchased this for my toddler thinking this was a cute concept. It took several hours to set up....they list codes to enter based on the make of your DVD player. I finally called the 1800# and they gave me more codes, one of which finally worked. Save yourselves time, just call the 1800# first! Now that it is working, it seems to hold his interest and is easy to use.
  
  
• Frustrating but worth it.
  By ACFZFBS1LMQP2 on 2006-11-01
  I almost returned the product with my 3rd failed set up attempt.BUT I took a breather and hit it again with success. Once it was set up the kids were happy and enjoyed using it.
  
  
• MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR UNIVERSAL CODE 1ST!!!
  By A8TC5A9HTLTN8 on 2006-12-30
  Horrible: I have a headache and mad child, due to spending more then 3 hours trying to get just the remote access setup complete and over 45 minutes on hold w/ a CS rep that offered no additional help. I should have heed the warnings of other parents, but I assumed that since I had an RCA DVD player that was still being sold in major stores in every state that I would be okay...WRONG! I have the basic RCA DRC200N player that is a common player in most stores and NOT ONE code, trying over 40, worked! The rep told me to return the item or get a new DVD player! I even tried to contact RCA for the universal code with NO LUCK! Horrible! What made matters worse is after I spent 2 hrs trying all the codes form online and in the manual I spent another 45 min. on hold trying to get a rep. It cannot be this difficult and they make it seem like setup is so easy, but not for all! There is ZERO warning anywhere that one of the codes may not work and in fact it keeps you hopeful trying code after code. This isn't worth the headache or money! Good luck, bc our's is going back on principle!
  
  
• After 2 hours, gave up on linking to DVD player
  By A1GGQK7CGQXDZQ on 2006-09-23
  I just saw this toy, and bought it for my 20-month-old because she loves the computer but hasn't figured out how to use a mouse yet. This toy seemed perfect. However, the "easy" setup proclaimed on the box turned out to be 2 hours worth of entering 50+ codes into the machine trying to get it to recognize our 4-year-old SONY DVD player. If you go to the product site, most of the FAQs address setup, so it seems to be a common problem. Maybe a newer DVD player would be easier, but we finally just gave up and returned it with the 2 games we had bought.
  
  
• Little Leaps not compatible with Xbox 360
  By AN2OIEIXBB0N8 on 2006-11-12
  We spent an hour trying to set up the Little leaps with our xbox 360. We called the 1-800 customer service number and they told us only the old xbox was compatible with the learning system. Now we have to consider if we want to purchase another DVD player just so we can use the little leaps.
  
  
• Great, but needs more discs.
  By AKY8OUBDLVPN3 on 2007-02-08
  My son is 16 months old and has been using it since Christmas. He really enjoys the interactive play, and I feel it offers a better use of time over a regular video. The discs are basically DVD games that require them to push one button to continue to play (in baby mode). Therefore, there IS a delay when you push the button, but I don't feel it dampens the experience.
  
  Since it works like a universal remote, it has to be set up like one by entering codes. Unfortunately, my husband set it up wrong the first time so now I always have to switch the language when I turn it on. I do wish it came with a play disc, not a demo disc. Also, the discs should be cheaper (closer to the $12 range for the amount of content). One great feature of the baby discs is that if there is no input for a set period of time, the unit will go to the next activity to stimulate interest. Overall a great system, despite a few drawbacks.
  
  Advantages: Works for both babies and toddlers, great interactive play with engaging characters, wireless controller.
  
  Disadvantages: Limited library (3 baby discs and 3 toddler discs, total), expensive discs, difficulty of setup.
  
  Note: I just got him the "Thomas" disc, and unfortunately, it is for 24 months and up. There is no "baby" or "watch-and-learn" mode, and he just cannot figure out when to press the button and when to use the joystick. It also plays only in English, unlike the other discs. I don't think he'll be ready for this for a few more months.
  
  
• FUN, IMAGINATIVE HOWEVER A PAIN TO SET UP WITHOUT PS2
  By A13ZQB6KFC29H4 on 2006-12-29
  This is an adorable toy that my 9month old grandaughter really loves and can comfortably interact with, however, the setup process and call time wait for assistance was abominable! We entered 20 codes each for our Memorex and Magnavox DVD player. Called support, waited 20 minutes for an answer from someone who gave us 15 more codes. Finally, I gave up, used the PS2 game, entered 000 and it took immediately. Once set up, my grandaughter starts laughing as soon as the music starts and the big buttons are extremely easy for her little hands to use. Worth the money as long as you have a multitude of DVD players available.
  
  
• Glad you could set yours up, but mine...
  By A2YOAW8F8GGC6I on 2006-12-28
  FORGET IT!! I just spent over two hours entering at least 50 codes to try to get this to work with a name brand (Panasonic) dvd player. It seems from the reviews that if you have a generic brand, it will work. I wish I had one now. I had received the Panasonic as a hand-me down, so the option of buying a new dvd player just to suit a baby toy is not there. Looks like that is not a bad thing from what even the good reviews have said. This will be too slow and boring for my VERY active one year old. Very sad.
  
  
• A great educational toy for toddlers!
  By A2ZB9DEHFL0CN9 on 2007-01-02
  I recently bought this system for my 26 month old, and he LOVES it! There are no cords and wires to install, it simply works through your DVD player. The cordless "remote" has two sides, one for babies and one for toddlers- we have only used the toddler side so far, but my son can easily manipulate the joy stick and the two buttons and seems to have no problems following the verbal commands of the games. I have been very impressed with the educational content of the games we have played thus far- focuses on ABCs, numbers, feelings and manners, and the graphics are top notch and super-engaging! I haven't found a large selection of games for this particular system yet, which is disapointing, but I'm sure the selection will grow!
  
  
• Four DVD Players, Zero Help from Leap Frog, ONE unhappy family!!!!
  By A2DI8B32ZW1GBZ on 2007-01-06
  After trying a total of 52 codes on 4 different DVD players in our house, the customer service department at Leap Frog disclosed to us that they do not have all the codes for all DVD players yet. It was explained to us that the push for Christmas Delivery forced Leap Frog to release the product before they determined complete compatability with the current DVD player market. So since we threw the boxes and everything else away, it was recommended to us to buy another DVD player!
  
  
• Great Buy!! (20 Months)
  By A2EXSL4S3EB1CM on 2007-01-09
  At first I was a little discouraged by my 20 month olds apparent lack of attention span with this toy, but after a few times he really started to enjoy it! He definately understood from the beginning that he was in control of making things happen, although he uses the center red button almost exclusively right now. He now brings his little leaps to me as his way of requesting that we play. He enjoys the characters and the mis of animation, real people and animals and puppets. This morning I sat down to play WITH him, recieved an important phone call, and sat next to him while he played solo for at least twenty minutes (mouth agape, staring at the screen and hitting the button when told to). When I got off the phone, he played with me for a good ten minutes more. The disc that comes with the system is not much good, so I definately recommend purchasing a game along with the system. We chose Say it Baby, because he is not yet talking, but also purchased a game to play on toddler mode (Thomas the Tank Engine) so that he can practice a little now and have it for when he is actually ready. Hook-up was relatively simple, and theres nothing to remember to turn off for fear of wasting batteries. Its also good that this is wireless, and i'm sure this will be a toy that will last a few years for him.
  
  
• Can not get past setup on 2 dvd players
  By AIL7EDEQMDEEN on 2007-01-24
  I couldn't tell you how it works because I've yet to get it to setup. I don't like the other reviewer's comment about how dumb we are. I have a Bose 321 system which I just found out from Leapfrog is not compatible and I have an Apex DVD/TV combo I've tried all the generic codes from the website, the ones listed in the book, and even the ones customer service emailed me and they still won't work. I have yet to try my Hitachi in my room b/c I've already spent all day trying to get this thing to work. My son has several Leapfrog toys and he enjoys them all except for the activity gym and I'm very disappointed that he can't enjoy this.
  
  
• DVD setup and customer service
  By A173KFE8P4AUI3 on 2007-02-09
  I could not set this unit up with my DVD player (Cyberhome). Tired all the codes and the response from Leapfrog customer service was to buy another DVD player. Yes, you read that right.
  Since I got this as a gift, I cannot return it.
  
  
• Great for my son who has CP!
  By A23HX3QQZ7FG4U on 2007-05-07
  I saw this and talked my sons grandma into buying it for Christmas for him. What a great investment for him! He is 2 and plays in baby mode, because his communication and physical capabilities aren't so great, but he has a great time with it. He does already understand that he has to press the buttons to get it to move on!!!! Which is very exciting, if you have a child with special needs! I don't know how I would feel about it if my child were "normal" and could run around and get bored easier, but for our situation I rate it an a+++++! Thank You leap frog!!!
  
  
• Painful set up, but my twins love it!
  By AI5O1ZUDDWLJU on 2007-05-11
  I didnt read the reveiws until after I performed the set up- I had to go thru about 15 additional manual 3 digit codes from the website to finally have the controller communicate with our DVD (Magnavox, bought at Walmart-I would think half the population owns it!). Anyway, I was beyond annoyed with the timely set up- I easily spent over a hour going thru all the codes. I think one of my twins learned, and later said, her first "curse" word- at least it was s--- and not f--- because the latter better expresses my feeling about the set up. That aside, my twins, 21 months old love watching the DVD and "pushing the button" which they learned after watching a DVD only once. They reach for the controller and want to play it every day. I think the educational quality is good too- still to early to tell for sure. Would recommend this buy (its not really that expensive as far as toys ago- definitely more likely to be educational than the majority). Have a drink or two or three during set up so you dont blow your top- especially when the woman's voice giving the set up instructions says "set up will take about 5 minutes"- yea right!
  
  
• Perfect if you are glutten for punishment
  By A2XUI9CJJ9JREL on 2006-12-18
  We got this as a gift for my daughter, we never got it working...you need to press menu on your remote control to get into the programming on your dvd, couldn't even get that far, and we had the right code, just couldn't get to where we needed to enter it....called Leapfrog, 22 minutes before someone who didn't even sound awake picked up, he said they didn't have a troubleshoot for my trouble and i should take it back to the store...this is after 3 hours of trying to set it up....some people seem to get it right away, they are the lucky ones...just pass on it unless you are ready to invest the possiblity of hours of frustration...
  
  
• Does Not Work with XBOX 360 DVD
  By A1TPQY21LOAGYX on 2006-12-28
  Warning - if you use XBOX 360 as your DVD Player, this system will not work.
  
  
• I wish I'd Gotten a Different Interactive System
  By A10TFATA0IH6LU on 2007-01-23
  We bought this interactive system for my 2 year old for Christmas. We have 3 dvd players. The first time I tried setting this up, on our Panasonic player, it wouldn't "talk" to the DVD player. I then tried it on my Symphonic DVD player and it wouldn't work on it. I couldn't find a setup code in the setup book for our other DVD player,an off-brand, (SV2000). After 2 attempts to call Leap Frog's toll free number and waiting on hold for quite some time, I finally was able get additional setup codes for the Panasonic and Symphonic players, they didn't have a code for my SV2000, but they gave me some generic codes to try. Lo-and-behold, I finally got the Symphonic player to "talk" to this system. Eventually, when I have the time, I'll try setting up the Panasonic and SV2000 players. Right now, I'm ok just getting it to work with one DVD.
  
  Now, as for the games themselves (we bought 2). I find there is to much of a delay between making the selection and getting a response. You see, my daughter is a very active (and impatient) little one. She does not like to wait for anything. Now I'm not saying she hates this system, because when we put the first game in, she started smiling and laughing, but after a while I think she grew bored with it (and so did I). We tried the second game, and just like the first, she was really into it, but then it seemed like she grew bored with the delays in responses.
  
  As for the people who have reviewed this item and have "knocked" other reveiwers statements about problems they encountered when setting up this system. One need to understand that this system may setup fine with your dvd player, but it may have "issues" with other people's players. After the Christmas holiday, I was able to find more comments on other sites about these setup problems, and like me, other people also had to call Leapfrog for assistance. Some people were told to buy a new DVD player because it wouldn't work with their existing player, others said they didn't get any assistance from Leapfrog, simply a "I don't know what to tell you". Yet other people were given codes to try.
  
  Bottom line, I wished that I could have done more research on this before purchasing it, because I think there is something out there a little more user-friendly and snappier (in response time) than this system is.
  
  
  
  
• Setup Impossible...AVOID!
  By A435KUVVQBFOV on 2007-01-29
  I ought this for my son for his second christmas. I also forked out for all the cartidges that came with it. Quite an expensive exercise considering the console was $100 (Aussie Dollars) and each cartridge was almost $30. Thats well over $170 spent on this. And I spent 2 hour christmas morning trying to set this up. After waiting for the Xmas rush to subside, I called Funtastic (the distributor in Australia) and they gave me 24 generic codes to try. These, again did NOT work after much frustration. Their explanation is that almost all DVD players nowdays are made up of differing components. Mine is a Sansui with built in hard drive. I will have to return this to the store that I bought it from and will buy a leap pad instead! Really disappointed as it looks really good!
  
  
• Giver Beware
  By A25A7M7MDC6EFH on 2007-02-04
  We recieved this for our one year old daughter for Christmas and are a bit disappointed. My mother sent it because we live in Japan and wanted our daughter to still get a good handle on the english language. The set up wasn`t very hard because it is compatible to so many types of DVD players (ours was a DAEWOO) Some have complained about the difficulty setting it up, but we learned that our DVD wasn`t able to do the quick set up and had to punch in the all the code numbers for it to work. That was the tricky part part. The instructions tell you to use the first one and if that doesn`t work try another. But the really should say you have to repeat the code entering process until all are entered. Our took about 10 codes (but other systems will require more or less). Then you can get started. It says you can set up your controlled to a defult language, but our never starts on English as we have tried several times to get it to do, but once in the program you can change the language there so not a huge deal, just a little annoying. The two sided controller is really neat and the baby side buttons are very easy to move. Hardly any pressure is needed so it makes it very easy to play with for small children. But the biggest disappointment was that it doesn`t come with a game. It has a demo CD, but that is calling it too much. It has one counting activity for baby`s and a scroller ride in the park. But all the child has to do is randomly push any button when asked to continue the "game". And for the toddler side up can do the ABC`s. You pick a letter by moving the joystick and it goes into song mode of the sound of the letter. The rest of the CD is just advertisment for the games and what educational value each disk has. My daughter contanstly wanted to play with the controller and will point to the TV to have me up it on, but the demos are so short, she completes them in less them 5 minutes and then gets bored because there is nothing else to do. I was hoping to see some more learning stuff on the disk, not just random button pushing, something like find the letter A by picking the red blue or yellow button. Perhaps the full game version offers this, but now I have to ask my mother to send a game because amazon doesn`t mail this game out of country. It would have been really nice to have encluded a game or to put that on the box. It was very misleading. When I read the box, I thought it would include more on the "disk included." I think that this could be a very cool learning tool, espically on days when it is too cold to go outside and you don`t want your kid rotting their brain on cartoons. If your giving this as a gift, please be kind and add a game so those recieving it can really enjoy your gift. Little leaps did a good job making it appealing (at least to my daughter) but the just went wrong for forgetting the game.
  
  
• LeapFrog Family
  By A3EWJSRGP7PS6U on 2007-02-06
  I have to say, I love LeapFrog (with the exception of the Leappads which my kids would not touch). The graphics are so much better than the competitors (VSmile, in fact I bought that first and returned it even though the game options were more interesting). It was super easy to set up - but my daughter did manage to get it stuck on German not English so I had to reprogram (took 2 minutes). I can understand that others may complain about having to buy additional cartridges, but this is a reality for most products. It is worth the money, and learning. My daughter, who started on the Leapster early (at nearly 3) learned all her letters and numbers by her 3rd birthday and my son, nearly 6, has been reading since summer after a year of playing with LeapFrog products. I have high hopes for Little Leaps to help my youngest (age 16 months) learn words, be active, and have a fun time with me while we work together on planting seeds for learning.
  
  
• Quality system for the little ones
  By A21T496LROBEXY on 2007-02-19
  This is a quality system for the little ones and I give it 5 stars for that. However, my son was about 20 months when he received it and has no interest in it really. Maybe had we started him on it earlier he would like it more but he is much more of a rough and tumble kind of child and has no interest in sitting and playing a video game. The software for the system is rather comparable with other marketed products so if you start your child on this at about age one they should enjoy it more!
  
  
• disappointed
  By A1GWZBP7Z4PFY3 on 2007-04-08
  The bad reviews of trouble setting up didn't scare me away. I was looking for reviews on how the interactive game actually performed and the reviews seemed good. Well, I think it sucks!
  Set up was easy and the graphics are fine, but the interactive games are corny and slow paced (in baby mode, anyway). My one year old son does not have the attention span for the delay between pushing the button and the actual reaction time of the game, I don't even have the attention span for that. When he pushes a button, he expects something to happen right away.
  My other gripe is that when it's time to push a button, the characters say, "push a button". Well, a 1 year old doesn't know what that means. Sure I can teach him, that's not a problem but I was shocked for a leapfrog toy that the screen just froze. I would have expected an icon matching the keyboard would appear or something to keep encouraging the child.
  I will keep reintroducing this toy. It's been a few months and now he is 17 months old and has a wider attention span. I'm also curious to see if the toddler mode acts differently.
  
  
• Set up is the worst
  By A1SI92ZRF21YJB on 2006-12-03
  I can't actually rate the system when it's up and running because I can't get mine to go past the setup part. I've entered many many codes and none seem to work with my dvd player which is only 2 years old. It seems many have this problem so I know it's not just me.
  
  

• Little Leaps SW: First Steps
• Little Leaps SW: Play & Move
• Little Leaps - Say It Baby! 9+ months
• Little Leaps SW: Leap Ahead/Toddle Think

• Little Leaps - Say It Baby! 9+ months
• Little Leaps SW: Play & Move
• Little Leaps SW: Leap Ahead/Toddle Think
• Little Leaps SW: Baby Creations
• Little Leaps SW: Winnie the Pooh