Desperately Looking For A LeapPad Explorer Tablet

[Piecey]

I've heard of it, but all the reviews I've read said the opposite: LeapPad is better, hands down.

 

[Colleen27]

Have you checked out the VTech Innotab? I hadn't heard of either until I read this thread. Like you, I could not find the Leappad Explorer stocked anywhere online so I went to my local WalMart. They did not have it instock but gave me a raincheck and said it was very doubtful I would get one before Christmas. I went to Target. They had quite a few of the Innotab's so I got one just in case I didn't score the Leappad. After reading reviews and watching the video's on you tube I am very happy I could not find hte Leappad. The only thing the Leap pad has over Vtech is the camera. Other than that, the VTech innotab seems to be better.

Check it out. Good luck.

Unfortunately the camera is a key feature for us so that makes the LeapPad the hands-down winner. All the big kids in our family have DS systems with the built in camera & paint program so the little kids (my DD3 and nephew5) want the same. From the reviews I've read it seems like the two are basically a toss up - the LeapPad has the camera and attached stylus, the InnoTab has the MP3 player and SD card slot, and it is just a matter of choosing the features that matter to you.

 

[mjaclyn]

I was so surprised at how popular these became overnight. Before Thanksgiving week I went to Target and picked up a pink one for my DD 5. There had to be at least 10 of them on the shelf and more in the back when I was there. When I got home, my DS 2 was very upset that he didn't have one (of course) so I went back the next morning to get one and they were completely SOLD OUT! I went through the same search as many parents have by now... checking online, nearby stores, etc. There was not one to be had anywhere near where I lived or online. Then later in the week DH had to go to NJ for a business trip and I searched the nearest Target there and they had some in stock, so he picked up a green one while he was there.

There are a couple of things you can do besides constantly checking online and calling stores... On LeapFrog.com and (I think) ToysRus.com you can sign up to be notified when an item is in stock. They will send you an email or text message as soon as it becomes available and you can go right on and order it. You can also try ordering from walmart.com (if they are in stock) and pay for it online and just go to the store to pick it up. That way, if you check and it IS in stock, you don't have to go to the store and hope it's still there.

To add a short review: My kids really like them so far. I think the LeapPad is a little too old for my 2 1/2 year old because he can only really play the Pet Pad game that allows him to take care of a dog. It's difficult for him to try and maneuver the small stylus because he's still young. My 5 year old is really enjoying the games. My one complaint about the system is that the games, downloads and accessories are EXPENSIVE. I initially purchased this as a cheaper alternative to the kids playing with my iPad2 but by the time I bought a case, rechargeable batteries, games and apps the price skyrocketed. I really hope LeapFrog decreases the price of their downloads because I'm used to paying no more than $1.99 for games on my iPad2 while LF's start around $5 and go all the way up to $25 for a DOWNLOAD. Just be prepared to shell out at least $100 more than the LeapPad itself in order to get started with it. Rechargeable batteries are a must... each tablet takes 4 AA's and the kids went through 12, YES 12 in the first week even though they only played with it for small increments at a time.

 

[Jey12]

Has anyone actually had success using that tracker site? I've been watching it and even clicking on the link within 1sec of when the alert pops the LeapPad is never really available... Either outright out-of-stock or shows available but can't add to cart/check out. ToysRUs supposedly just had the Mr Pencil bundle available for 17min but at no time in that period could it actually be added to cart, and when I looked at the forum on the tracking site apparently this has been the case for KMart, FAO, eToys, and TRU... IOW, the stock availability on most of the sites being tracked is unreliable to the point of useless.

Yes I've had great luck with the tracking site. I signed up for text alerts though, and not just email. I get the text and if I can immediately hop online I go to the site and click the link they provide and probably about 40% of the time I can add one to my cart and most of the time I can check out from that point. I don't bother with the TRU alerts due to issues with them online and black friday. Today I was able to buy one directly from the leap frog site for a friend. It was the ultimate boy's bundle with a green leap pad, the case, an A/C adapter, Mr. Pencil, Start Wars and some other little accessory for only $199. Late at night seems to be better than in the middle of the day if you're up late.

 

[Jey12]

Well, I've decided that was less frustrating than this... I now have two $110 holds on my debit card, one for an order that failed (out of stock) according to the confirmation e-mail and another for a successful purchase that is backordered with no estimated ship date available, and the phone rep wouldn't even hazard a guess as to whether the order would be filled before Christmas. In stock alert my foot!

Since I only use the one account for online shopping I have to either wait until the holds drop or transfer more money there before I try again, so I'm taking that as a sign that it just isn't meant to be today.

What stores did you buy from? I know amazon and TRU don't charge me until the item actually ships. The leap pad I ordered Sunday night from amazon shipped today and I haven't seen a charge on my bank account yet, I expect there will be one tomorrow.

 

[Leajess99]

Leapfrog.com currently has the $159 bundle in stock as well as the $199 bundle in stock. This is at 11:44 pm est

 

[Jey12]

Leapfrog.com currently has the $159 bundle in stock as well as the $199 bundle in stock. This is at 11:44 pm est

You beat me to it!

Also keep in mind so far today if you miss this on the leap frog site, they have been showing up at FAO and etoys very soon after leap frog shows available. Not sure if there's any connection or not? Just something to keep in mind.


ETA: Still available as of 12:22 EST

517 EST available on amazon in pink!

http://www.amazon.com/LeapFrog-Leap...B004Z7H15Q/?m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=*******com-20

 

[moonpie85]

The pink one has been available on Barnes and Noble site for about an hour now. They have a limit of 1 and are saying no promo codes can be used but it's the $99 one.

Good luck!

 

[Colleen27]

What stores did you buy from? I know amazon and TRU don't charge me until the item actually ships. The leap pad I ordered Sunday night from amazon shipped today and I haven't seen a charge on my bank account yet, I expect there will be one tomorrow.

FAO and eToys. It is just a pre-authorization, not an actual charge, and I know that's a downside to using debit instead of credit. But geez... Why show the item as available and allow people to buy it if just minutes later you're going to have to send out "oops, we don't really have it after all" e-mails? But at least the message from FAO was clear; they took more orders than they can fill so mine was canceled. EToys, on the other hand, has my order in some strange limbo.

With eToys, I printed my order confirmation at 1:17, got the confirmation e-mail at 1:18 and the backorder notice at 1:20. A call to customer service after the online order status page told me there's no record of my order got me nowhere - they don't know if they'll be able to fill the order before Christmas and that they don't have immediate access to newly-placed orders, call back later if you want to cancel. Total pain in the rear if you ask me. I should have sat tight and waited for one to come available from Amazon or B&N because I know they're easy to work with.

 

[Shmily1]

They had a stack of them in our Walmart this morning. Good luck!

 

[ccgirl]

I've heard of it, but all the reviews I've read said the opposite: LeapPad is better, hands down.

Interesting. I have seen the Leapfrog win due to the camera and the size but that was about it.

Unfortunately the camera is a key feature for us so that makes the LeapPad the hands-down winner. All the big kids in our family have DS systems with the built in camera & paint program so the little kids (my DD3 and nephew5) want the same. From the reviews I've read it seems like the two are basically a toss up - the LeapPad has the camera and attached stylus, the InnoTab has the MP3 player and SD card slot, and it is just a matter of choosing the features that matter to you.

We have the VTech digital camera and it is compatible with the Innotab. The online games and books are MUCH cheaper than Leapfrog's. Some are even free. Plus, I wanted to be able to download movies for my son to watch on our flights and we couldn't really do that with Leapfrog.

Like you said, it's all a toss of on the features that matter. So glad my DS4 is not really into camera's.

 

[CountryKicker1]

It is 8:56 pm EST and eToys.com has the girls version right now...go go go!

 

[Angeni11]

Also for those wanting to download apps. for the Leap pad. Keep an eye on the $20 cards on Amazon as a few days ago they were selling for just under $14 each.

 

[mrseace711]

Innotab by V-Tech... It has always rang true you get what you pay for and V-Tech products have always let me down. Quality, Durability & actual Educational value LeapFrog wins. V-Tech has yet to prove any different see reviews for their past products. Just my opinion =) Leap Frog exceeds all expectations =)

 

[Colleen27]

It is 8:56 pm EST and eToys.com has the girls version right now...go go go!

Be cautious with them... Two minutes after I successfully placed my order I got a backorder notice, and they couldn't assure me that I'd get mine in time for Christmas. They told me they had shipments coming in on the 10th and 15th but that they have no way of checking where my order was in "line" to gauge when it would be filled.

That was on the green so the pink could be different, but I was very put off by a company listing something as available for purchase (and of course processing the check-out) when they can't even tell you when they'll be able to fulfill that order.

 

[ccgirl]

Innotab by V-Tech... It has always rang true you get what you pay for and V-Tech products have always let me down. Quality, Durability & actual Educational value LeapFrog wins. V-Tech has yet to prove any different see reviews for their past products. Just my opinion =) Leap Frog exceeds all expectations =)

Interesting. I have both and like both. As another poster said, some of their features (i.e. camera) are different. A camera wasn't important to me so I went with the V-Tech innotab this time. It wasn't really that much cheaper. $20 maybe. After purchase, I went on you tube and there were quite a few side by side comparisons. Those were the ones I watched.

 

[Leajess99]

Innotab by V-Tech... It has always rang true you get what you pay for and V-Tech products have always let me down. Quality, Durability & actual Educational value LeapFrog wins. V-Tech has yet to prove any different see reviews for their past products. Just my opinion =) Leap Frog exceeds all expectations =)

Leapfrog stands behind their products as well. I was very impressed with their handling of the problem we had with my youngest's Leapster Lmax dying. They replaced her Lmax with no problems.

 

[Order66]

My mom wanted to buy this for my niece, of course not knowing that it was THE toy this year. I've already done the "had to have or Christmas is ruined" thing with my own kids.........so I told her let my sister find one....LOL But I told her give it a week or two and I'll see if I can find one up for her.

I used the tracking site mentioned by pp's and didn't really think I'd have luck. But when it went off last night for Etoys, I went right over and ordered one. It accepted my order. When the order showed online a few minutes later it listed the order as "on back order". I figured, whatever I'll give it a few days and if somewhere else pops up with one, I can click the cancel order button. Today it was upgraded to "locating item in stock" and this afternoon it was upgraded to "stock located" and "expect delivery between 12/6 and 12/9. It's still not upgraded to shipped....but I'm hopeful it's actually going to be shipped tomorrow or Monday.

So my advise is don't panic when it shows back ordered, give it a day. The CS you are calling are probably no where near the actual warehouse. When my kids were younger I ordered a lot from etoys and never had any problems. ToysRus.com .....I'd never order from again, even if they were giving away toys. cancelled items all the time, messed up orders and were horrible to credit refunds.


regards

 

[Piecey]

Innotab by V-Tech... It has always rang true you get what you pay for and V-Tech products have always let me down. Quality, Durability & actual Educational value LeapFrog wins. V-Tech has yet to prove any different see reviews for their past products. Just my opinion =) Leap Frog exceeds all expectations =)

That was another reason I honestly never considered the Innotab.

I bought a V-Tech Blender toy for my son (I think he was maybe 10ish months old? Don't honestly remember) and he LOVED it. Then, later that night, he started SCREAMING and a piece of the "food" had gotten stuck in his mouth. I google'd the product after that to discover numerous complaints about that very thing and V-Tech refused to recall the product.

An email to them just said they stood by their products.

I ended up throwing away all the food, but he still likes the little song it sings (He's 2 now) so we still have the actual blender.

I was astounded that they kept a product on the market with THOUSANDS of choking/etc. issues. One complaint I read said a little girl had to have surgery to get it out of her mouth.


Sorry, totally OT... but V-Tech and I don't mix for those reasons!!!

 

[Jey12]

FAO and eToys. It is just a pre-authorization, not an actual charge, and I know that's a downside to using debit instead of credit. But geez... Why show the item as available and allow people to buy it if just minutes later you're going to have to send out "oops, we don't really have it after all" e-mails? But at least the message from FAO was clear; they took more orders than they can fill so mine was canceled. EToys, on the other hand, has my order in some strange limbo.

That's awful and I hope they get it figured out! Especially since they have claimed to have some in stock since the time you ordered. I would hope they would fullfill their backorders before saying an item is available. This is one of the reasons I try to stick with amazon. I use my debit card and do not see a charge for an item on my bank account until it has actually shipped. They also seem to have a better system for not allowing people to add items into their cart that are no longer available. Although you have to be careful on some items, the price will change from the time you click add to cart and once in your cart it's a higher price! I've had that happen on amazon a few times here lately.