beavermom Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 I'm deciding which handheld to get for 5yr son for christmas. Help PLEASE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveNcMountains Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Probably what you need to do is at the games he might like and which has more of those games. I noticed in Leapster (2 yrs ago) that I didn't find many games my son who was 5 at the time would play. But then again, he is the youngest with 2 older brothers and he wasn't into Dora or Spongebob or so much the learning games though I did buy him 1 Dora and 1 learning game. He played with the Leapster for a few DAYS and it has been waiting to be listed on Ebay ever since. Slightly OT- Also unless you own stock in battery companies BUY RECHARGABLE or buy the recharging base (leapster had one 2 years ago). IMO one of the best things Nintendo did was come out with Game Boy that you recharge instead of swapping out batteries. I can NEVER find AA batteries in my house, yet I seem to buy them constantly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpape Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 We have both (the boys are 4 and 6). They definately prefer their V-Smile Pocket. (You must have the charger though...thing eats batteries). The games are slightly less expensive ($20 for V-Smile vs $25 for Leapster). The games are really good (with several versions and playing option on each cartridge). The cartridges are also easier to find marked down or on clearance (I have been finding them for $7 - $11 for the older titles!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmConMom Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 Now my daughter loves her leapster. She only has 4 games, but she plays them ALL the time. We have rechargeable batteries and they actually last about a week before having to swap them for the other set. She plays it most everynight, in bed before she goes to sleep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christib327 Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 I was having this same debate with myself. My boys will be 4 in March and I want to get one of these systems, but I have no idea which. I'm glad you started this thread beavermom :) I was leaning towards the leapster only because I saw a Schoolhouse Rock game and my kids LOVE Schoolhouse Rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mf47960 Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 We have the Leapster too. It actually belongs to my oldest daughter who is almost 9 but her sister who just turned 4 has taken a liken to it now also. They both love to play with it and they fight over it all the time. The 4 year old has no problems trying to figure out how to play each game. Trying to decide if I should buy her one of her own or just buy her games geared for her and make them share the base since the oldest is getting older! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mulkey Posted September 7, 2007 Share Posted September 7, 2007 My youngest son preferred the Leapster. Plus Wal-mart in my area has some of the games on clearance now. But I also have two older boys that had Game Boys. I found that my 5yo was hiding out and playing their GameBoys. The GameBoys have games for the younger kids too. It turned out to be cheaper for me to get the 5yo a GB and make all three share the games instead of having to buy GB games and Leapster games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beavermom Posted September 8, 2007 Author Share Posted September 8, 2007 i had thought about the gameboy but was afraid he would be to little for most of the games and thought the others would be more educational Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublehsmom Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 We have both and personally we have had problems with the v smile from the start only some of the games work in it and we never know whats going to happen and then we have a sad boy because he doesn't understand why we can't get it to work..He LOVES his leapster and even if they can't play the games that they have out there for them my son loves to play the games that are already in the leapster. But he does play the 4 games that we got him also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2twoblessings Posted September 8, 2007 Share Posted September 8, 2007 we have a vsmile and a leapster. They play the VSmile at home and the leapster in the car. We got the VSmile the first year it came out so we never got the pocket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_mulkey Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 If you decide on the GameBoy just make sure that you get the games that are Rated E. You will be surprised how quickly they catch on to the games. My 6yo and 8yo love the Mario games, but they also liked the Sponge Bob, Dogs, Shrek, and other movie related games. I am clueless on the games, but they are pros at them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferUK Posted September 9, 2007 Share Posted September 9, 2007 My five year old girls both have the v-smile and they love it. They got the vsmile game unit 3 years ago (I think! It was several Christmases ago!) and last Christmas they each got a vsmile pocket. They take them EVERYWHERE and have about 10 games they share. We haven't tried a Leapster so we can't compare, but we are definitely more than satisfied with the vsmile product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droolbug2 Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 We have both and my almost 5 y.o. ds uses the leapster the most. My 7 y.o. ds played with it quite a bit but has now gotten more into the PS2. We are now going to get him the DS lite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smjrm Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 I have two boys (ages 5 and 6) and we have the V-Smile and Leapster both. The V-Smile wins hands down in popularity, and has since day one. Every once in a while they will play the Spiderman game on the Leapster, and they like the letter game, but that's about it. The V-Smile has a great selection of games and some of them are really educational. We were waiting in line the other day and my 5yo starts rattling off all these facts about different planets. I think it's great that he's learning but he's having fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delphernina Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 My 6 yo has both, and he really dislikes his vsmile?!? But LOVES his leapster. We finally caved and got him a gamecube - he really really didn't like the vsmile at all. I thought the games were rather crappy personally. Just shows there are different strokes for different folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikesgirl Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 My DD has the vsmile and recently got the gameboy. she had quit playing the vsmile by the time she got the GB. Our experience with the vsmile is great she has 13 games for it and all work perfectly she loved it and played with it daily for several years. well worth the money on it and the games i would highly recommend it. i am just not sure what to do with the one i have.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadedmomof2 Posted September 10, 2007 Share Posted September 10, 2007 Leapster has a much bigger catalog of games for it than VSmile does. That's what got me to buy the Leapster for my son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autumnroser Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 We have both. My son just turned 4. Leapter gets used the v-smile collects dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bargaingal2 Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I have both. My sons leapster works awesome and grows greatly with the child. The vpocket worked for about 3 months and stopped working. A couple others I know have had the same problem so Leapster hands down on this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guilliam Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I have both. My sons leapster works awesome and grows greatly with the child. The vpocket worked for about 3 months and stopped working. A couple others I know have had the same problem so Leapster hands down on this oneMy son's vsmile also stopped working about 4 months after he got it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen hurford Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I gave my 5 year old girls v-smile pockets for their birthday-----they love them----play them all the time-----KK:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now