We prefer leapfrog.....We have the tag reader, the leapster 2 and a few leapfrog DVDs and every one of these products are really good.
The DVDs are amazing, especially the Talking letter factory and the talking word factory. The preschool one is good too.
I love the Tag reader and the books. And so does my 4 year old daughter. I love that she can read the book by touching words, or it can read to her and she can play games within the book.
I recently bought a used leapster 2 for my daughter. I really am not into the learning part of these handheld games - I don't see it. Yes, the games do revolve around learning things - letters, numbers, etc and I like that the games do have this aspect to them, my daughter never turns to me and says that she learned something, like from the DVDs or the Tag. But it is fun and entertaining for the kiddos and they may learn from it.
But I still look at each of these things as entertainment with expansion on learning, not actual learning.