LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer

• Pros

  Has 4GB of memory. Compact form factor. Backwards-compatible with game cartridges from previous LeapPad and Leapster Explorer devices. Adds a front-facing camera. Leaplet store has a large catalogue of games, videos, and apps.

• Cons Metallic finish may scuff more easily.
• Bottom Line

  The LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer is a toy tablet with its own app platform and plenty of features to keep your young ones entertained and learning.

By Laarni Almendrala Ragaza

My four-year-old wants an iPad bad. It ain't gonna happen, at least for the foreseeable future. But I'm not happy crushing the dreams of my youngest. So, in an effort to compromise without having to dip into his college fund, I thought of getting him a toy tablet. That's where the LeapFrog LeapPad2 Explorer comes in. This toy tablet comes with its own app platform, as well as a rugged design that can take a beating from the kiddie crowd. The newest iteration of the LeapFrog LeapPad Explorer jazzes up the color scheme, adds a faster processor, and doubles the memory of the original, all while staying at the same price point. Add to that a front-facing camera and a vast catalogue of downloadable games, videos, and apps, and you've got yourself another Editors' Choice winner for toy tablets.

Design and Features
At first glance, there's not a lot to distinguish the LeapPad 2 from the original LeapPad. The LeapPad2 measures approximately 5.2 by 7 by 1 inches (HWD), which is slightly wider and thicker than the LeapPad, and weighs about 1.7 pounds. Like its predecessor, it comes in both green and pink, though the latest iteration changes up the color schemes with a metallic finish that unfortunately showed a bit more wear (read: scuffing). The LeapPad2 still features the same 480-by-720-pixel, 5-inch TFT display. Even the locations of the controls around the screen remain the same. The tiny power button lies on the left side of the screen. There's also a standard 3.5mm headphone jack at the top of the device, to the left of the game cartridge slot, and a mini USB port next to the cartridge slot (a USB cable is bundled with the system). There is a small home button at the bottom right of the screen, which gets you back to the main menu, and volume controls located to the right of the screen. Centered underneath the screen is a toggle button.

But all is not identical. The first big change is the addition of a front-facing photo/video camera to augment the existing rear-facing camera. In comparison, the VTech InnoTab 2 (stay tuned for the review) has a single photo/video camera at the top of the device, when held in portrait mode, which pivots from back to front. There are now two thin bars on the side of the device (one near the top, one near the bottom) to tie the string attached to the stylus, depending on whether the user is left- or right-handed. The stylus can be still be stowed magnetically in a slot in the top right side of the LeapPad, but trust me when I say, use the string.

There are even more changes on the inside. At 4GB, the LeapPad2 has double the built-in storage of the LeapPad and the InnoTab2, though the InnoTab2 has an SD slot that can take up to a 32GB SD card for additional storage. The processor has been beefed up, running at 550MHz, compared with the 393MHz CPU of the LeapPad.

Parents considering an upgrade from the original LeapPad or even the LeapFrog Explorer will be happy to know that the LeapPad2 uses the same cartridges. Matthew, my four-year-old tester, was able to use the NFLRush Zone and Ben 10 gaming cartridges that we had bought with the LeapFrog Leapster Explorer. That is a good thing, because each gaming cartridge costs on average about $24.99 (list). LeapFrog also sells other accessories, like the LeapFrog LeapPad2 Recharger Pack ($39.99 list).

By Laarni Almendrala Ragaza Managing Editor, HW

Laarni Almendrala Ragaza is the Managing Editor for the Hardware team. She is in charge of reviewing and testing desktops, laptops, netbooks, monitors, external hard drives, components (such as CPUs and graphics card), and peripheral...

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