I read all your comments about the V. smile TV learning system from January. Now 10 months later, how are the systems working? We are looking into one for GusJr. who is 2 1/2, for Christmas. I was reading on amazon.com that many people are having trouble with their units turning off at innappropriate times. Anyone have any comments about their systems? I have looked at the Leapster but it appears too advanced for GusJr who will be 3 in April. I am also wondering about the V. Smile pocket. It looks like it would be wonderful for our trip to WDW in August, we are going to try driving.

Comments, suggestions?
thanks for your words of wisdom. I appreciate it!:)
Mrs. GusMan

My 8 & 5-y/o's don't play with it anymore. They prefer the computer games they have. Our 2-y/o hasn't ever played with it. So my official answer is: I don't know. Sorry I'm no help, I just didn't want you to think I was ignoring your question!

Adrienne

thanks for the info. What pc games are your kids into? GusJr. has Reader Rabbit Toddler which seems to be his favorite and Jump Start Toddler. He just found a whole new set of games on RR that I never knew were there. I have RR PreSchool - maybe I will just introduce that to him? decisions decision....

thanks again!
Mrs. GusMan

thanks for the info. What pc games are your kids into? GusJr. has Reader Rabbit Toddler which seems to be his favorite and Jump Start Toddler. He just found a whole new set of games on RR that I never knew were there. I have RR PreSchool - maybe I will just introduce that to him? decisions decision....

That's what we started ours off with, too! I'll need to dig them out and see if they'll still work on the systems we have now, for the baby. The big boys now play Lego Star Wars. :rolleyes:

Adrienne

My 3-YO daughter is starting to use it now; it used to be used--very infrequently, I might add--by my son and older daughter...who--like adriennek's kids, by the way--are also currently playing with Lego Star Wars II. But back to the original topic--anyways, my younger daughter is now playing it...at least I don't have to feel as if I threw away my hard-earned money for having plopped down near $100 for the V.Smile and a few cartridges. It is not w/o some minor issues--sometimes the cartridge slot will not recognize a cartridge unless I reinsert and jiggle the cartridge in the slot; other times the unit won't power off when I press the Off button--I wind up having to pull the plug in order to get it to turn off. The other complaint is that--and I don't know if current units now come with it--previous V.Smile units didn't come with an AC adapter...guess they had to cut corners in order to market the V.Smile at an affordable price point?

I dunno if the V.Smile is still a fairly-popular purchase choice, but FWIW--there is definitely a greater selection of V.Smile cartridges out there today than there were over a year ago, which is when I bought my unit...so I guess that in itself may reveal something about the V.Smile's relative popularity.

:confused: Hi Tonytone.

thanks for your info. I am surprised that your older kids werent that interested in it. It is expensive by the time you buy games and all. I was considering buying a V. Smile for GusJr. but changed my mind. GusJr. has a VTech bounce and learn honey pot which has begun to malfunction. I communicated with Vtech for about a month trying to fix it and they told me finally that they would replace it but they dont make it anymore. They had me pick out a new toy and then called me 2 days later to tell me that my request for a new/different toy had been denied because the toy was more than 90 days old. (they offered a new toy, I didnt ask) I tried to give feedback to a manager but the manager wouldnt get on the phone. So I told them that I was no longer going to buy any more vtech products cuz they dont stand behind their toys.

One CSR I talked to had convinced me it was a good product (vsmile) then another CSR told me that there were issues with it but it should be able to be reset blah blah blah... Can you believe that they admitted to me that there were issues? the email I got denied any probs. Someone opened their mouth up when they shouldnt have.

Anyway, after much debate and disappointment, I have decided to stick with Leap Frog. I am thinking of getting the Leap Pad for GusJr. The V.Smile had some great Disney games though, I am very sorry to be so stubborn but Vtech ticked me off and i wont deviate. gusMan bought GusJr the Disney NEMO PC game and he installed it today for him. He loves itl At 2 1/2, he told me " not now mom, Im playing NEMO". He sat with it and played about 45 minutes. Now to find something that we can take with us for gymnastics competitions for GusJr to play with. Any suggestions?:confused:

thanks tons!
Mrs. GusMan

Mrs. GusMan--I don't blame you for going with Leap Frog; I only went with V.Smile because both the unit and the cartridges were on sale at the time (I wouldn't pay full price for either, no matter how good the system may be). Actually, I have the Leap Pad also (two of them, as a MOF...a blue one and a pink one)--unfortunately, my kids (when they were much younger) did not know any better about how to handle the booklets correctly...so of course a few pages have been torn out of them. :crying: Regardless, my two older kids (yes, the same ones who also got bored of V.Smile) don't bother using the Leap Pad anymore either--although in all fairness, one of them is in 3rd grade.

P.S.--your screen name gets a laugh out of me...only because it (the name, not you personally!) makes me think of it as "Gus-Gus" (the chubby mouse in Cinderella)...LOL!! :D

P.S.--your screen name gets a laugh out of me...only because it (the name, not you personally!) makes me think of it as "Gus-Gus" (the chubby mouse in Cinderella)...LOL!! :D
I have heard that on more than one occasion. :)
In fact, I still have one friend that calls me "Gus-Gus." I did not know of the reference to Cinderella till after I got married and saw the movie over and over again. Then it clicked.

Thanks everyone for your input. The Mrs. and I are trying to figure out the best edu-tainment options for GusJr and your comments really helped. Too bad VTech really honked the Mrs. off with the poor customer service. I mean, she wasnt trying to get something for nothing as it was past the warranty period, but the lack of customer respect that she described to me was actaully way worse than what she conveyed above.