Leapfrog tag or Tag Jr or neither?

[AngB]

I need a few more gifts for DS2 (age 2). He likes reading, especially the annoying electronic books with buttons/noises. I did a search and haven't seen it mentioned here much. Just wondering if I should skip the junior and get the regular one, and how well it went over in general.

Thanks!

[baileygirl]

Neither? I bought both and they were never used. Perhaps it was my fault (I didn't enjoy using them with my kids)? Do you know of anyone who has one that your ds could tryout?

[jam224]

Yes, definitely get the regular one. MIL gifted the Tag Pen to DD 2 Christmases ago, so she's had it since she was about 1.5. She did great with it! It's definitely one of my favorite "toys" for DD. Just so you know, the Tag Junior books are compatible with the regular Tag Pen, but it doesn't work the other way around; the Tag Junior pen won't work with regular Tag books. We did start out with a couple of the Tag Junior books, but they honestly weren't my favorite (they weren't as interesting because they didn't have very many sounds per page). She enjoyed the regular Tag books better. When she was that young, she just touched the illustrations to make the pen talk, but now that she's 3.5, she actually touches the book icon on each page, so that she can listen to the stories. There's even a feature where you press the "play" button and you can listen to the entire book without needing the physical copy. I had totally forgotten about that until DD tried it during our overseas trip to visit family. She was totally content to just listen to the pen read to her sans book; I was so impressed! DD is quite the bookworm, so I'm sure your kid will like it too!

[Chitowngirl]

So I hadn't heard about this until this thread and I went off to search more since I think DS would enjoy this. The tag was hard to find (online at 4 in the morning at least), but I did find the leap reader. Mind if I ask what is the difference between the tag and the leap reader?

[Chitowngirl]

Just to update from what I have been able to figure out it seems leap reader is the new version of the tag. It has gotten mixed reviews as many people are frustrated it is not completely backwards compatible with all the old tag books. If you buy used or have tag hand me downs you may find they do not work with the new system. Also, like many new electronic items, it seems people on Amazon were complaining it was buggy (difficult software interface, books being erased, ect). Not sure if that will be improved or has been improved with updates. I will likely get the new one as I have no old books and I can't even locate a reasonably priced tag reader online.

[AngB]

Just to update from what I have been able to figure out it seems leap reader is the new version of the tag. It has gotten mixed reviews as many people are frustrated it is not completely backwards compatible with all the old tag books. If you buy used or have tag hand me downs you may find they do not work with the new system. Also, like many new electronic items, it seems people on Amazon were complaining it was buggy (difficult software interface, books being erased, ect). Not sure if that will be improved or has been improved with updates. I will likely get the new one as I have no old books and I can't even locate a reasonably priced tag reader online.

Yes, we got the Leapreader for DS1 (3.5) but I am guessing it may be too old for DS2 plus they fight over stuff so I thought it would be nice to get DS2 something of his own. Hoping to find a decent deeal on a used one online, but if I were only getting one, I would go with the leapreader. (Which was down to 29 at Walmart and TRU around Black Friday.)

[wendibird22]

Our tag got regular play and still does, even by the 7yo who can read independently...she likes the games. We skipped the Jr and just went with the regular version. My DDs are now 5 and 7 and both still play with the tag and books.

[baileygirl]

Am I the only one who regretted buying it? My boys had no interest in it, but love books and were early readers.

[Chitowngirl]

Update. I purchased the leapreader and have so far been completely frustrated by it. I ordered online and got two of the regular leap reader books figuring DS could "grow into them". They are MUCH to advanced for him and don't hold his interest at all. Not leapfrog's fault, but still frustrating. I then went to toys r us to buy a few of the junior books. They were $20 a book there!!! So I ended up ordering 2 off amazon for $17 for both. I was excited to use them and excited about my good deal. They arrived last night and I spent almost an two hours trying to load the books onto the reader. Apparently these books aren't compatible. Since purchasing it, I've started to realize that most of the books that my DS would like (Dr Seus, sesamie street) are actually not compatible. I'm a little frustrated as everything has been opened so nothing is returnable. I feel leapfrog needs to make it much more obvious what books work with what system. I knew this was a problem from reading other people's reviews on Amazon, and I still messed it up. So far this has been a big, expensive bust.

[jam224]

Update. I purchased the leapreader and have so far been completely frustrated by it. I ordered online and got two of the regular leap reader books figuring DS could "grow into them". They are MUCH to advanced for him and don't hold his interest at all. Not leapfrog's fault, but still frustrating. I then went to toys r us to buy a few of the junior books. They were $20 a book there!!! So I ended up ordering 2 off amazon for $17 for both. I was excited to use them and excited about my good deal. They arrived last night and I spent almost an two hours trying to load the books onto the reader. Apparently these books aren't compatible. Since purchasing it, I've started to realize that most of the books that my DS would like (Dr Seus, sesamie street) are actually not compatible. I'm a little frustrated as everything has been opened so nothing is returnable. I feel leapfrog needs to make it much more obvious what books work with what system. I knew this was a problem from reading other people's reviews on Amazon, and I still messed it up. So far this has been a big, expensive bust.

Wow, what a bust. I'm so sorry. We haven't had the same misfortune. Every book we've bought has worked with our pen, but we have the previous version, not the new one. DD prefers her Tag books to the Jr version, so I didn't invest a lot in those. I hope LeapFrog listens to its customers and fixes their software!

[PZMommy]

Am I the only one who regretted buying it? My boys had no interest in it, but love books and were early readers.

Neither of my boys liked it either. It was a total waste for us. I eventually just donated everything.

[ang79]

Our tag got regular play and still does, even by the 7yo who can read independently...she likes the games. We skipped the Jr and just went with the regular version. My DDs are now 5 and 7 and both still play with the tag and books.
My girls have had the regular tag pens since DD1 was maybe 3. They still occasionally use them at age 6 and 8 (they like playing the games). Before they were gifted leap pads they always took the tag pens as entertainment on long car trips.

I will say that the latest updates of the leapfrog connect program on my computer has been acting very slow and buggy and I hate dealing with it when I need to load new stuff on their pens or leap pads.