LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Camera and Video Recorder
- Turn the Leapster Explorer hand held into a digital camera and video recorder that stores up to 1,000 photos
- 8 engaging activities encourage creative expression, explore emotions and help build skills with letters, numbers and shapes
- Stretch, stamp and draw on pictures to personalize them, and turn them into tools to zap letters or numbers in fun learning activities
- Unscramble picture puzzles, share favorite photos and use photos to tell a story or tell a different kind of story by shooting movies
- For children ages 4 to 9 years, only for use with the Leapster Explorer hand held (sold separately)
LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Camera and Video Recorder
LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Camera and Video Recorder
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Expected much less and got so much MORE!,
Wow…. I am amazed.. I bought this for[...]buck expecting it to just be a camera/video camera with very limited educational value. What it DOES have is a very cool alphabet “game” that you can customize to have your picture in the spaceship to shoot the letters it tells to shoot. (There is also a math game as well) It also records sound bytes and fairly good video (for $25!) What my 4 year old loves the most is making a “story book” with his own sound effects as the story goes on. There’s also the ability to edit pictures with silly stamps, stretching and kaleidescope. (other things it does is make music videos, greeting cards, and it holds all the pictures in an “album”… it says it can hold 1000 pictures.. (I’m sure that’s not if you had any videos recorded)
All in all, this is probably the best $25 I’ve spent in a LONG LONG time…
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|Fun, but takes a bit of setup,
I was fortunate enough to receive this product as part of the Vine review program. Please note that the camera is an add on product and that you will need to also purchase the LeapFrog Explorer handheld game separately. This camera will not work without that component. If you have both, you’ll need to unscrew the bottom accessory port (Phillps screwdriver required) and attach the camera into the Leapster handheld component. I also needed to connect the Handheld to my computer and download software (free) from the Leapster website. Once these steps were completed, it was quick and easy to take both photos and video. The photo resolution is 640 by 480 and the camera does not have flash or zoom, but does capture crisp, well-colored photos in bright lighting. The camera also shoots video, in a “point and shoot” type of format. The microphone is located on the front of the camera accessory, so if the photographer speaks the sound is not as loud as if the subject speaks. The video results are somewhat choppy but the color is fairly good.
The camera comes with a variety of game and software options, plus the photos can be archived and shared using the Leapster Connect website interface. Once the initial setup is complete, it’s quick and easy to pick up and use the camera, but the voice prompted interface does require a few moments of patience and touchscreen or stylus tapping prior to shooting photos.
Fun for kids, but this product will definitely require some adult setup and supervision to use properly. The camera/handheld unit are solid and would definitely withstand the potential drops and crashes that little users may put it through. This would like be a great way to introduce little ones to the art of photography without putting your good camera at risk.
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|More than a toy, fantastic gadget for a lucky child!,
We received the Explorer with the camera/video attachment a few weeks ago. We have a 10 year old and a 4 year old, and this system is appropriate and interesting for both age groups. The Explorer system with the camera and video attached, is sophisticated, educational, and most of all, fun.
The camera attachment plugs directly into the bottom of the Explorer module, and we used the included CD to install its software on our computer. The installation was easy and seamless. The kids were instantly able to use both the still and video cameras. The whole system is small enough to take on outings. The buttons on the game console were straight forward and easy to figure out. The 4 year old needed some assistance with how to center photos, but it didn’t take her long to catch on. She was also quickly adept at using the special effects software, and she has been having a blast with it.
At four, she needs assistance with PC connections, and file transfers, but, for the most part, she can use the system quite competently on her own. The ten year old intuitively knew how to work everything. The only problem we had was which kid had control of the system! That problem persists.
The video and photo quality is quite good, certainly far better than what has been available in the past. It is terrific to be able to transfer the files to the computer, since the memory on the system fills up quickly, especially with videos. It is easy to transfer and delete data from the card to keep it ready to record.
The Explorer system with the camera attachment is now the favorite video game/camera system in the house, and the interest is not diminishing at all.
The computer interaction for parents for this system is great.
The only change we have to make is to purchase the charger available for the Explorer, since we sure are running through a lot of batteries!
I can’t recommend this system highly enough, it is very impressive, and great fun for everyone.
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