Leapfrog Leaptop Review [2021]

Posted On September 12, 2021

Kids absorb everything like a sponge, and that’s exactly why we correct our behavior around them. By displaying nothing but best manners, best intentions and present ourselves in the best possible light, we give them an example to follow. They tend to imitate our actions as well, and in time will want “toys” that we are using. Of course, you can’t get a laptop or a brand new smartphone to a toddler. Instead, we get them copies that resemble the real thing but are essentially toys.

2 to 4 years

1 and a bunch of interactable buttons

Entertaining, educational, promotes the development of cognitive and fine tunes motor skills.

With Leapfrog Laptop your baby will feel like a grown up using what mommy or daddy are using as well. Here’s all you need to know about this amazing toy for toddlers.

Leapfrog my Own Laptop: the Basics

Why should you buy a fancy tablet or a smartphone that costs a fortune and isn’t optimized for kid’s use? The might break it, misuse it, and in the end, you’ll have to buy another one, thus spending over your budget for toys. Instead, you can get them this amazing kids tablet and laptop that fits their set of skills and has everything they will ever need to entertain and educate themselves.

It’s a great way to prepare them for using the technology available nowadays. It’s a simplified way of using a laptop and a tablet. Because the toy acts as both tablet and laptop, your child will be able to adapt its use to their will at all times. With a simple switch of the display, they’ll transform it into a tablet. This goes vice versa. Next to its practical features, the toy tablet is also quite educational.

It’s easy to learn numbers, letters, animals and much more with Leapfrog Laptop. And it’s so easy to use it. It has a switch that slides vertically allowing you to choose functions whether it’s to entertain your kid or teach them letters, let them guess the animal by listening to specific sounds. It keeps their attention while entertaining them and educating them. What more can you ask from a toy, right? So if you’re looking for a way to keep your child in one spot, without gluing them to a real smartphone screen and suppress their development, Leapfrog is the choice for you.

What You See and What You Get

Before you decide to buy it, you’ll naturally want to know exactly how it looks like unpacked, what comes with the toy, etc. And it’s only natural as you only get user information and features that can give you some idea how good it is and how well it will serve as a toy for your child.

To start, it looks like a simplified version of a classic 14‘’ laptop. The design implies that it’s easy to use it and that it will keep your child’s attention for quite some time. It comes in two colors or color combinations: green & blue, and pink & purple. It has a neat handle on the side to carry it from one spot to another. Once you lift the lid of the laptop, you’ll notice that the display is fixated only in the middle part. This allows it to rotate and transform from tablet to a laptop.

Finally, there’s the keyboard. The buttons are easy to use and combine one with another. It resembles the real thing. The only difference is that they are arranged so that the letters are the main part and the number buttons follow the top line above. Also, there are no special function keys being that it’s essentially a toy and doesn’t have a real operating system.

All in all, it’s intelligently designed to be efficient at delivering entertainment while trying to educate as well. And everyone knows that the best way for kids to learn something is if they’re under the impression they’re playing. This toy integrates entertainment and education well and is definitely efficient at helping toddlers learn new stuff and improve their existing skills.

How to Use

Probably the best feature about Leapfrog Laptop is its usability. Every kid no matter if they’ve seen a laptop before, had contact with it, or never seen it all will be able to use it. Not only that but they’ll be able to figure out all the functions without breaking a sweat. It’s designed in such a way that using it comes naturally.

If you look at Leapfrog My Own Laptop you’ll notice that it doesn’t have an input to charge it via cable. That’s because it works on batteries and they will last for quite some time before they run out of power. Other than that everything else works just as you’d imagine. It opens like a laptop by pulling the lid upwards. Make sure you pull it until you hear it click. This will mean that it’s fully open. Now press the power button located on the side of the display.

You’ll see the opening theme on the screen and will be soon greeted by a Leapfrog puppy (Scout or Violet). Now you can use the slider to change its mode depending on what you want to do. The starting point is learning numbers. Slide the switch once to the right to enter a letters mode. Use the same principle to explore the other 3 remaining features.

When in numbers mode, your kid can press any key presenting a number and practice its pronunciation as the Leapfrog puppy on the display helps with each term, number, and game by providing instructions. The letter keys function the same. By pressing one of the buttons you can hear the puppy pronounces it. This allows younglings to practice new terms with ease. Also in game mode, when you press a letter key, for example, “C”, the puppy will name an animal whose name starts with that letter. These games are great for kindergarteners and preschoolers.

The tablet mode is easy to set up. First, make sure that you turn it off by pushing the button next to the display all the way up. Now push the display so that it turns 180 degrees. Now simply close the laptop and turn it on by accessing the same button next to the display that will now be on the front of the laptop. This mode is great when your kid wants nothing but entertainment from it. It’s practical and easy to use.

Buyer's Guide

PROS

CONS

The display mechanism tends to break if not used properly
Display graphics could be better
Sound quality tends to fade when batteries run out of juice
Could feature a rubbery finish layer for increased protection from fall damage

Advantages

Leapfrog My Own Laptop is a product for toddlers and does wonders in teaching them numbers, letters and has a variety of games to play. It’s highly educational and effective at presenting them new terms, animals numbers and letters and helping them memorize it. This is the first and most obvious advantage of using this toy.

There’s also the entertaining potential. This toy does fairly a good job of keeping kids entertained while teaching them new stuff. Every mode is playful and not strictly for learning. Even in numbers mode, kids can just bash numbers to hear the sound instead of practicing pronunciation by repeating what they’ve heard.

It’s also a sensory stimulation toy. The keys are pleasant to the touch and the sound is pretty responsive and accurate. They’ll learn about animals, what sound they make and have lots of fun doing it. Every key corresponds to a certain function when used in differnet mode. So for example when in entertaining mode, you can play guessing games by pressing the right buttons, learn animal names, numbers, etc.

The toy is also practical and this being a major feature for this toy, it’s easy to understand how it made it popular. Kids love the interesting design and parent’s love practicality in toys. Combining those two, you get a toy that both parent and the child enjoys playing with.

Also, there’s the design. Nothing speaks more about the quality of a product than the design itself. WIth Leapfrog My Own Laptop, you’ll immediately notice that it’s superior in design from other toys. It’s easy to carry, practical and has vibrant colors and cool pattern. Also using it comes naturally. You won’t even have to show to your toddler how to use it.

Disadvantages

Just like there are advantages, Leapfrog My Own Laptop has some disadvantages as no toy is perfect. The first one and the most obvious one is its durability.

Leapfrog My Own Laptop is a plastic laptop/tablet toy that has no protection against fall damage. We all know how ruthless toddlers can be to toys and how easily they can break them. It could you a rubber layer that would protect it from damage from falling, bashing, etc. Also, the switching mechanism for the display section isn’t perfect. If you don’t hear the click and try to turn it, it might break.

The batteries last for quite some time considering that the toy has lots of features, play modes and sound effects that require lots of problems. But battery life isn’t the problems, it’s that the toy tends to lose sound quality when they are low on power. That’s why you need to have a set of spare batteries on the side at every moment.

The graphics could be better. Kids know how advanced technology nowadays is, and seeing this 2-bit graphic won’t keep them entertained for a long time. Luckily Leapfrog has other features that compensate for poor graphics. So that could definitely be better as well.

To Conclude

Any and every toy can be the perfect fit for your little one. What you need to do is find out whether that’s really the case by reading the reviews, finding more about the product and consulting with your child regarding their wishes. But if your child already expressed their interests towards having a laptop, and you know that getting your toddler a real laptop is a bad move, the only logical thing to do is to get them this all-in-one toy. They’ll be under the impression they’re getting the real thing, and you’ll be glad that they’re using something that’s tailored for their skills, interests and short attention span.

Author: Catherine Evans

Catherine is a writer from Canada who simply loves toys, collectibles and superhero figurines. Writing is her passion, but she also loves reading, enjoying her “me time” and finding new ways to improve her work and ways to entertain the readers.

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