Leappad/Leapster/Innotab- what would you pick?

[cookiemonster80]

Grandparents want to get some type of Leappad/Leapster/Innotab/Nabi for DD1- who will be 3 in early Feb.

I'm so techno challenged and can't really tell what the differences is between all of these- the apps/games/books seem the same and all are pretty comparable price, but that doesn't really matter in this case.

What are the pros and cons of each? What would you pick for a tech savy 3 year old?

[vonfirmath]

Ate age 3 we bought DS a Leapster 2. It started not acting right, even with new batteries, so we replaced it with a Leappad2 for his 5th birthday.

I think either would have been fine for him at 3 (but I vastly prefer the Leappad2 to the Leappad. memory Management and such). The advantage to the Leappad is you can buy games that are stored in the memory of the machine and don't have to keep track of the cartridges for those games. OTOH the cartridges you DO buy are thinner/smaller. I don't know if the Leapster Explorer also has the ability to download apps to it or not.

The Innotab is appealing to me but I've never used it.

[boilermakermom]

Another vote for leap pad 2. DD loves hers!

[Tenasparkl]

I bought the leapster for my DD last year and it didn't get much use. She prefers the ipad unfortunately!

[stillplayswithbarbies]

what are the advantages of the Leap Pad 2 over the Leap Pad? I see it is rechargeable but you have to purchase the charger separately for $40. Seriously??

We have the Leap Pad but are almost out of space on it. And it eats batteries like crazy. Should we upgrade to the Leap Pad 2? Looks like for the price of it plus charger we could get a Ipod touch instead.

[vonfirmath]

what are the advantages of the Leap Pad 2 over the Leap Pad? I see it is rechargeable but you have to purchase the charger separately for $40. Seriously??

We have the Leap Pad but are almost out of space on it. And it eats batteries like crazy. Should we upgrade to the Leap Pad 2? Looks like for the price of it plus charger we could get a Ipod touch instead.

We have used both regular batteries and rechargeable batteries (not Leapfrog specific ones) for the leappad2. It does NOT eat batteries like crazy. THAT is the main thing I like about it versus the Leappad.

Other things the Leappad2 has:
front and back cameras
more built in memory
faster processor
And evidently better built?

OTOH I never had the leappad just heard others reviews.