LeapFrog LeapStart Interactive Learning System Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Got it for my niece for her 5th birthday, she loves it and hasn't let go of it since she woke up this morning. It has one sample book that has pages from different other books. Also, purchased superhero vocabulary book with it. Downloading the audio file is pretty simple and the instructions are very helpful. Highly recommended for kids.

My daughter really likes the purple color. I know that the usual colors are designed to be unisex, but she does like having things in pink and purple because it keeps her big brother away from them. The system was easy to set up. We had no problems connecting to the website and downloading the content via USB. It would be nice to have the sampler book preloaded onto the system though so kids can get started right away. Having to wait on Christmas morning is not a small child's specialty. My daughter is 4 years old, so I got her the level 2 books. I think they are great for her age to practice forming letters and numbers properly. Because she is holding a stylus, it is better than apps on the phone/tablet that teach writing because kids are usually using their fingers on those devices.The books themselves are somewhat limited in activities. I really do need to have the set to have enough activities to keep my child occupied. I like the skills covered in these books. I would like to see more though.

Gave this to my 4 year old daughter for Christmas along with the 4 Pre-K books. You have to hook it up to a laptop/pc with the included (short) USB cord to update the software on the system, then download the audio files that correspond with the books you own to the system. In total, maybe 15 minutes for the system to update and set up. Very easy to follow and set up.Once it was setup my daughter jumped right in with the Pet Pal Puppies Math book and had no problems figuring out how it works. Each page seems to have a normal activity and then once that is completed, you can do an advanced activity. When you complete the advanced activity, it lets the child know they can take one of the included stickers and stick it to the Rewards page. She did 4 or 5 pages of activities for about 30 minutes before we put it away. If anything the activities might be too easy, but she did enjoy them.All in all it seems like a great system. It's portable and she will be able to use it in the car.

Great item and the size is perfect for the age range. It only comes with a sample book, but the box says it has 400 activities. You will need to buy extra books for this. Also I've read reviews on the downloading process and mine went without a hitch. Super easy to register and the download took only seconds to finish. Overall great product

Bought this along with several of the preschool and preK books for my 4 year old. I liked the book format and thought the pen would help develop her writing skills. Unfortunately, this would only hold her attention for a few minutes if I encourage her to play with it (she never picks it up and plays with it on her own). The preschool books were too easy. Some of the preK books were also too easy. My daughter is an average 4 year old, not a genius. My parents, not knowing we had purchased this, bought my daughter a LeapPad Platinum. The LeapPad was sooooo much better. My daughter loves playing with her LeapPad, the games are much more interesting and educational. Sadly, her LeapStart remains untouched.

DO NOT BUY! ABSOLUTELY DO NOT BUY THIS!!! This was the first one I bought. I bought this for my daughter a year ago to help prepare her for Kindergarten. I could never get passed the 2nd step of Leap Frog connect set up. It kept telling me updates were needed. I would download the updates, it would say it was successful and then it would start all over again. I also tried on my husband's computer. I moved shortly afterward so it ended up in a box. I finally have unpacked that box and ended up with the same issue. I called Leap Frog customer service and they sent me a link to uninstall and re-install the leap frog connect program to try and fix it. That didn't work so they bailed and put it on Amazon saying to contact them because it was an Amazon exclusive item. Well, of course because it had been nearly a year Amazon wasn't going to refund or exchange it for me (rightfully so). I had purchased many of the books and I didn't want them to go to waste so I bit the bullet and bought a new Leap Start. GUESS WHAT? SAME FREAKING PROBLEM!!! I called Leap Frog again and got the SAME guy "Jasper". After giving him an earful he transferred me to some "upper management" that told me there is no software issue and they would be happy to replace the item. I told her that this one IS the replacement. She finally said to send her copies of my receipts and they would replace it with a DIFFERENT product. Really? I am not the only one having this issue. We researched it and so many people are having this issue. Why wouldn't Leap Frog want to try to fix their software? I'm so angry. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY!!!

Product is excellent. Have not yet given it to my daughter (Christmas Present), however I loaded all of the books on to it and tested it out. If plugging a USB cable in and downloading a file off of a website do not sound over your skill level you should be just fine.

I think this is a wonderful learning tool and my child really enjoys playing with it. I myself have even had some fun playing with it. I recommend this to any parent for their child. Its a great way to learn somethings that you may not know how to introduce to them.