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As of September 5, 2009 the Leapster/L-max recharging system was available directly from LeapFrog for $27.99. Shame on LeapFrog for not including one with the Leapster in the first place. check Amazon first. 95% of the time Amazon gets the order, but occasionally I find an anamoly like this one.
My 6 year old son has been lusting after the DS, but doesn't yet have the skill set to play it (he's still not reading). Well made, solid as a rock and age appropriate. Noticing the unit has a jack for an AC adapter, I checked Amazon to find one. This included shipping. And the reviewers for this recharging system steered me away from the re-seller vending the product through Amazon. Then, if the reviews have been good, I'll google the product in question to price and availability elsewhere. Walmart was out of stock (at their web site) and their advertised price was $34.99 - the Leap Frog list price.
The downside of the game is that it comes without so much as an AC/adapter. (I average an order per week through Amazon and have been a customer since they opened their virtual doors). Surprized that this was only $9.99, I almost bought it but opted to read the reviews first. My 8 year old daughter, who has the Nintendo DS, constantly tries to sneak the Leapster from my 6 year old son.
So, this game was a Godsend. The reviewers, who noted that unplugging the adapter brought the game down and that a player was confined to the vicinity of a power outlet to benefit from this, steered me away from the adapter and towards this recharging system. As to the reseller asking $84.99: if people buy from him, they haven't done their due diligence. Once again, my thanks to the reviewers who reported better pricing elsewhere.If you have a Leapster, this item is a money saving necessity.
I thought I was addressing the LeapFrog Leapster Recharging System here and not the toy itself, but here's my review of both.The toy is great. It runs through batteries waaaaaaaaaay too fast. I always, ALWAYS.
Buy this product elsewhere though, unless the folks at Amazon get their heads out of their butts with their overinflated prices. You just set the whole Leapster unit on the charger and a light indicates that it is set on correctly. I do highly recommend the charger. (Although he has never run the battery all the way down yet anyway). (This was not a clearance price).
I wouldn't want to deal with the batteries on the Leapster otherwise. It has worked well and taken the hassle out of having to replace or recharge batteries that must be removed from the Leapster. I do not understand why Amazon's prices have become so inflated in the past few months. I purchased this charger directly from Leapfrog for around $30 in January '09. This is absolutely not worth the $99 that it is now listed for from Amazon.
My son knows to put his Leapster on the charger each night so it is always ready to go with a fully charged battery.
My advice - buy the toy, but register your product on their website and keep track of all conversations and problems with your unit. And be aware that it takes persistance to get the unit replaced. The second time, the screen "froze" and would not allow any play at all. The first time, the LCD screen didn't work right (specifically - the pen did not allow accuracy on the screen). My 5 yr old loves it, and it's a great educational toy while satisfying his thirst for video games. I am on my third l-max in 2 years. But Leapfrog has replaced it twice.one year apart. After recalibration and rebooting attempts by the technicians at Leapfrog, they replaced the unit at no charge.
Now the recharging system allows us to recharge the unit when needed and reduces the need for expensive replacement batteries. We got the Leapster L-Max and were burning through batteries at an excessive speed (4 AA batteries after approximately 12 hours of playing). I would recommend the recharging system for any Leapster game system.
I am a very satisfied customer. She especially loves the plug in accessory that comes with this kit. The educational games are wonderful and the rechargable system is an excellent buy. Thanks so much for this product. I purchased this Leapster rechargable for my 5 year old daughter who never lays down her Leapster hardly ever. She is getting very good at writing straight line for her numbers and letters. She can sit and play her Leapster as long as she wants and never worry about a battery shortage.
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