I have finally narrowed my choice for the gaming handhelds to the Leapster, but now I am stumped about whether to go with the Leapster 2 or the Leapster Explorer. I like the camera option and the touch screen on the Explorer but after reading some online reviews a complaint seems to be the number of advertisements on the Leapster Explorer. I like that the Leapster 2 has a huge selection of games. I would really appreciate any input positive or negative about the one you have. By the way these will be for my 4 year old and almost 3 year old and my 7 year old is getting a DS.
Thank you for asking this question. I am wondering the EXACT same thing, after reading about all the commercials a child has to view before playing the games.
Here's a quick comparison: http://hubpages.com/hub/Leapfrog-Leapster-2-vs-Leapster-E.... My daughter, who will be 4 in January, has the Leapster 2 and really enjoys it. I saw the Leapster Explorer and the screen resolution is great, but I won't buy it because it is not backwards compatible (none of the Leapster 2 games we already have will work with it). We are getting her the Fisher-Price iXL for Christmas -- has has a Nintendo DS feel to it. The iXL is very new so doesn't have many accessories and games yet.
I was having the same debate for my 4 year old and I was totally sold on the Leapster Explorer because of the touch screen interface. Like the iPhone I can't keep away from him I feel like his interaction with the Explorer will last longer and is the new technology that these kiddos will be learning on as they get older.
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I went with the Explorer for my son's soon to be 5th birthday, even with the commercial complaints. My son has an obsession with playing games on our phones so that was part of the reason I went with the touch screen. I also liked that the age grouping goes higher on the Explorer with the hopes that the DS doesn't have to come until we hit 8 or so. I liked the ebooks idea as well since we do travel occasionally. He's played with them both in the store and the Leapster at a friend's house. He told me he liked the Explorer better because it was smaller and easier for him to hold, that's one of the pluses I read in reviews. He also liked the Fisher Price one but since they tend to not stick around when it comes to electronic entertainment like that I stayed away from it.
you can do a lot more with the explorer. If you go to leap frogs website you can compare the features side by side of the leapster and explorer
