has anyone tried the Dora Links doll? and?...

[WendyLovesPeter]

I ordered when it first came out because my daughter spotted it and I thought it was a cool idea. I was worried it would sell out fast. Now I am reading the reviews, and there seems to be a lot of hassle with the software. Just wondering if any Disers have tried. I am a little worried because I ordered from Amazon and now I am past my return window. hope its not a bad idea

 

[dizneechic]

We bought it too so I am also curious. We plan on opening it before xmas and installing the software one night while the kids are in bed so this way when my dd wants to play it's ready to go. I also figure the website is going to get hit hard the days after xmas (experienced that with webkinz where you couldn't even log in or set up accounts) so we want to be all set this time around.

I'm curious though about feedback from those who have already tried.

 

[happygirl]

Is it geared for little girls like the other Dora was. Or is it geared for pre-teens?

 

[Bibbidi]

I actually pre-ordered two of these back in the summer. Before I even opened them up I thought it might be better to get a feel for the interaction by purchasing one of Dora's new "friends". My dd6 used her own money to purchase Naiya. This is our experience with the software. We have a brand new computer at home. It took about 30 minutes to download 400mb of a zipped file onto our hard drive. When you extracted that file it opened up to about 600mbs of data. I expected that the interaction would be web-based like with Webkinz--but it was not, rather it is a software program that runs on your computer (duh--that's what the 600mb is for). I thought that the Naiya doll code would unlock that doll and her clothes/room, etc online. It did not--you HAVE to have the Dora Links doll as well in order to see any of her "friends" stuff. All that our $20 doll would unlock was one lousy "find the constellation" game--600 mbs on my hard drive to find a constellation. My daughter was crushed. Now, granted, we did not install a Dora Links doll, but the software had poor graphics (in my opinion) and I can only imagine what the Dora Links doll portions would be like based on the limited details we saw for Naiya--I was really glad that we took a chance on the Naiya doll (who is not electronic in any way, unlike Dora links) first, because it saved me $100 on the Dora dolls--which I promptly returned to Walmart for a full refund (less $1.98 in shipping charges). If the Dora Links stuff had been web-based, I honestly think it might have been worth it--but I felt like the graphics from the software program were very antiquated---that's just my 2 cents. Hope the info helps someone.

 

[actnkidz]

Also I read in reviews if you have a mac the software will not work on it so it would be useless.

 

[Bibbidi]

Also I read in reviews if you have a mac the software will not work on it so it would be useless.

Good point, I had read that also.