Does anyone know anything about - V-Smile V-Pocket system

My2Beauties wrote: I've been looking online to find the perfect learning toy for Hanna's 4th birthday. I found this V-pocket learning system:

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2373380

Anyone have children who have this? Was it worth it? How does it hold up, Hanna is hard on stuff? Did they learn anything from it? The whole V-Smile system that hooks to your TV is similar, it is probably pretty comparable to this system if you have any info on that. TIA!

AlexsPajamaMama replied: We have the Vsmile that hooks to the tv...well it's broken now. I dont know if its a common thing with these systems or if it was a result of Alex being too hard on it...the cords got busted some how and the system turns on but you cant see it or hear it on the tv...

He really enjoyed playing it and the games are fun and educational at the same time. Im looking into getting the Vsmile pocket, it takes the same games that we already have for the Vsmile. I like that you can get games for differant age groups so the system will grow with them for a while, its not like they will outgrow it in a year.

And I saw that Walmart has the Vsmile pocket with dora or diego game onsale for $60 and I think regular price they are $80

MommyToAshley replied: Ashley has both the console game and the hand-held. I highly recommend and think it is well-worth the money. I would buy the hand-held over the console as it can also connect to your TV.

P.S. They even have a Dora game

Here's a product review if you're interested in more details:
Vsmile (console)
http://www.fun-educational-toys.com/editor..._vsmile_rv1.php

Vsmile Pocket (hand-held)
http://www.fun-educational-toys.com/editor...epocket_rv4.php

Boo&BugsMom replied:
I was just reading the reviews for it and many said the same thing....that they just stopped working. Hum. Perhaps now that they've been out awhile they are better? I was thinking of getting Tanner a Leapster, which is similar to what this is. He loves handheld things like this.

My2Beauties replied: Yeah that was my issue, I kept reading reviews and some people said the system stopped working after 1 month, I would be dissapointed if this happened. Especially for what they cost.

lisar replied: We have the v-smile that hooks to the tv and so far so good. Lexi has had it for about 2 years now and loves it. I am hoping to use it on Raygen also.

luvbug00 replied: mya hs had the pocket for about 2-3 years. we LOVE it. it helped her with math and how to read i never have had a problem with it.!

MommyToAshley replied:
We've had both for about 3 years and never had a problem with either one.

My2Beauties replied:
That makes me feel better, a lot better. Most of the time when you read reviews they are either one extreme or the other anyways, maybe that person's kid was extra extra hard on it or something.

punkeemunkee'smom replied: I went back and forth between that and the Leapster. I went with the Leapster L-max because it hooks to the TV as well and seems to have more games available. I saw the other day that the V-smile had a Cinderella game that comes with it right now at Target.

jcc64 replied: You guys- what's the Leapster equivalent of this product- anyone know? Since we spend half of our lives in the car or at sporting events, I think this would be a good thing for Corey. I'd mainly be interested in the portable version.
I haven't had a lot of success getting Corey hooked on "educational" electronic products in the past. She's completely un-interested in the Leap-pad thingie someone gave her- the one that "reads" the book outloud while the kid follows along with the pen. She just never got attached to it- and neither did anyone else I know. Maybe since this product is more like a video game, which she sees her brothers playing all the time, she'll be more interested in it. In the end, I think it'll come down to the characters- whichever system has the girliest games is the one she'll probably like best.

My2Beauties replied:
That's Hanna, she has the same exact Leap Frog system that you're referring to and she tore up the books and tore the daggone pen thing off the entire game console, she doesn't want to have anything to do with it. She loves video games though on her uncle's playstation 2 so I figured she'd love this. Plus I know it has games such as Little Mermaid, Princess type games, etc. Corey would probably love it as well.

MommyToAshley replied:
Ashley doesn't like the regular leappad, but she likes the "write & learn" leappad. It's more interactive than just following along with a story. But, I think Ashley is starting to outgrow the books that they have available for this system.

The Vsmile Pocket is the portable one, but you can also hook it up to your TV. (It's great for the car) It is more like video gaming, but educational. The cartridges are great becuase as they have different difficulty levels within the cartridge and then there are many cartridges avaialable for different age levels.

But, to answer your question, I am not sure which leap frog gaming system is similar to the Vsmile. I know there's a couple different ones avaialable but don't knwo the difference in them.