Does anybody have a Didj by Leapfrog?

[Shelly888]

I scored one on clearance and had wanted one for my 6 year old about a year ago, how great I thought! Well, now I know why, there have been lots of issues/problems and they have stopped making it.

I called LF since it's been about a month, and they will refund my money. I did see LF has a new one called the explorer and of course it's a lot of money(he is way done with gifts, lol) but I don't want to give him a system and have him get excited and it's a flop!!

Not sure what I should do. I can either keep it, hope it works, and try to return it if it is defective.

Return it, and get the Leapster explorer and spend more money and only get 1 game. I was hoping there might be personal experience since bad reviews tend to trael further and louder than good ones.

Any ideas?

 

[Jaylin]

I had no idea there were problems with it. I just got 2 of them. Gave one to my son for his bday in Nov. and I got another one for my DD for xmas. DS hasn't broken his yet! I guess that explains why the systems and games were so stinkin cheap! What is the problems with them???

 

[ireland_nicole]

I don't know about problems with it, but my kids preferred a DS to the didj. The grandparents bought the ds's soon after we got the didj's last Christmas, and after that the didj's no longer got played with

 

[MomofM&M]

Well, I paid full price for my daughter's right before they decided to pull the plug. I wasn't too happy to hear that but my daughter loves playing on it. I like that I can put her spelling words on there and customize what skill sets she is tested on. Occasionally it will just shut down and say your didj needs an update and then we have to hook it up and update it. Until that point, you can't play on it. So that is very inconvenient. It is very finicky. You have to be sure no cartridge is in the didj when you try to connect with Leapfrog or it won't recognize the didj. Since they have been on clearance, I have gotten almost all the games. Only one of them hasn't worked well with the didj. My daughter is able to play on HSM but the didj doesn't recognize that she's played it so I can't customize her skill set for that game. When they first announced they were discontinuing the didj, I complained on the Leapfrog parent boards that they should give us credit for the unit towards purchasing an explorer. Leapfrog actually has done this but it was a pittance to what I payed for it. If you decide to go for the Explorer perhaps you could do the trade in deal since you didn't pay full price and would get some credit toward the purchase. On the other hand, Leapfrog got out of the didj because they felt the grade school age was not where the money is at. I decided to keep the didj, get all the games since there wouldn't be any more in the grade school range so that it could be passed down to my younger daughter when it became more age appropriate. Overall, I'd be happy with the product if I'd got it and all the games on clearance. Check the Leapfrog site since they seem to have them pretty cheap. HTH!

 

[jessica52877]

I got for DS7 last Christmas. He has enjoyed it and plays it here and there. We have 4 or 5 games, all purchased for $7 or less. I think I paid $35 for the unit and sw game. We have never had an issue with it working or telling me it needs updated.

He got a DSi in July after saving his own $ and he still will play the didj. I don't allow the dsi out of the house (on vacation) and he'll choose between his vsmile, leapster and didj. He will be 8 in a few weeks, but probably is more easily pleased then most kids. No older siblings in the house either.

 

[C&G'sMama]

My kids (10 and 7) have a DIDJ. they like it. But that could also be because that's all they have other than a Leapster. DD has her eye on a DS and we said if she saved her money she could get one. We have no gaming systems at home and the DIDJ and Leapster are usually only allowed to be played with on long car trips (such as to WDW)

We do let them play games in Disney, Webkinz and Build a Bear Ville.

 

[mrs.sammich]

Ds 6 got a Didj for his birthday in October, on clearance at Target in the summer and have been picking up games for less than $10 as I see them. I've got all the 'boy' games that I could find. He's not ready for them all yet. He is in Kindergarten, but he gets so excited when he spells a word or a correct answer in a math problem. He's sounding things out for the spelling and asking questions about what to do with the math as he is playing.
We haven't had any problems with our system. He gets it for road trips and 'down time' 2x a week, if he wants it then. Before this he had a leapster that he liked and still plays with. If the system was cheap enough for you and you have the games, I say keep it.