VTech - V.Reader Animated E-Book System - Pink

Knowing my 3 1/2 year old niece I knew it would be difficult to find any sort of educational tool that would keep her interest for longer than 5 minutes. Turns out the V Reader was a great find! She loves her V Reader, takes it every where with her and has to show everyone the "movies" that her new "computer" plays. I don't think she's quite old enough to catch on to the reading piece of the V Reader but it is increasing her vocabulary. The stories are longer than I expected and she watches numerous books in one sitting (quite a feat for her). One feature I personally enjoyed was the V Reader website where you can download additional books at a much lower cost than the cartridges (keep in mind these do not come with the games that the cartridges do but it's great for my niece because she's more into the books than the games right now). I would recommend this for anyone who would like to introduce their child to reading in a fun, interactive environment. I don't see it being an incredible learning tool but it's a great introduction to reading. My one word of caution is to buy the DC adapter, she went through three sets of batteries in two days. Also, if you plan on using the website to download additional books be sure to pick up a SD card.

I bought this toy for my five year old daughter for christmas thinking it would be an excellent tool in helping her with her reading skills. However, instead of it being fun it has been nothing but a disappointment. The toy itself is a great concept but the "downloadable" ebooks and website DO NOT work. I am fairly computer savvy, and this has been nothing but a headache. When I initially tried to download the website was down....that was fine happens to anybody, but then after a day we went back downloaded the application that you needed to connect the unit with the website so we could download our free ebooks, that part doesn't work at all. We tried 3 different books to download, it would only even allow us to try one book, the ugly duckling so fine, we trandferred it to the vreader thinking it would work, it stated that it had successfully transferred so we went back to get another book but no matter what book I tried it kept adding the ugly duckling to my cart time and time again. SO we exited to make sure that the book had even downloaded on the vreader and low and behold the book says its in the backpack but won't play. I called technical support only to be hung up on twice after waiting 30 minutes each time!!!! Ridiculous! I have purchased othe vtech products and have also been disappointed, such as the cameras that are very low quality that even when my daughter was three she wasn't happy with the quality of the pictures. You think as much as we pay for these products they would actually work. I am extremely frustrated with this company!!!!

*1st TIP: The V.Reader is 9 inches tall so find a toddler backpack 9 and a half inches tall or bigger I found mine at Wal-Mart.Pros: When I bought this I didn't know what to expect but it kept my daughter busy for 2hrs while I finished up some homework so pretty good, I sat watching her play, I was amazed how it reads a story and on each page you can click the background objects (Characters, Vehicles ect.) and it would make a noise or speech; good animation. Also as it reads to your child it has some words highlighted and if you click the highlighted word it gives a definition and a short animation showing an example of how to use the word or object.Cons; I'm Mexican but I really hat Dora lol my wife bought the Dora game and her spanish kills me.Other Thoghts: Many people complained about the V.Reader backpack, luckily a long while back my mother in-law bought my daughter a toddler sized Tinker Bell backpack; works great and fits all our games, the V.Reader is still alive when we take it out of the backpack. Many people complained the V.Reader would turn on & off in the V.Reader backpack so they mention not zipping it up all the way.Age: My daughters only 2years old stuck on this like a computer, not to mention I have a niece only 1yr and she enjoys it as well; little does she know her birthday is coming up.

I looked all over the internet trying to find this product at a reasonable price and I found it here on AMAZON.COM and it was a GREAT BUY!!! The battery life is short, so stock up on those b/c your little one will need them! The V.Reader charger (sold separately) helps, but the cord is short and has to be plugged in while using the system so unless you are home, its not the best at functionality and portability... It would have gotten a better rating if not for the battery life and the limited amount of games that are out for it and the ages the games range in between.. but its a nice alternative to t.v. and its great when you are out with your brood and you don't want them to become restless... the games and accessories are a little pricey but its worth it..