LeapFrog® Didj Custom Learning Gaming System

The reviewer before me did a great job and said pretty much what I would have said, including Mac compatibility. The unit fits nicely in the hands and has a good weight once the batteries are inserted (you're definitely going to need that screwdriver though!). I also bought it to replace the [blue] Leapster L-Max that my son has had for the last 2+ years (which no longer functions very well...just in time for the move to didj!).Unfortunately, while my son and I are extremely happy with the didj itself, I have to say that LeapFrog's customer service gets a D- from me. I have not been able to get the CD to download the software to let us connect to the web site via the computer. I have loaded it about 7 times; once, it did connect me to the web site, but was not able to find the player profiles on the didj. Every other time, including *after* that one, I got the following error message: "Can not (sic) load LfConnectdriver." This happened on a Saturday, which is a really bad day to need help from LeapFrog. I sent an email (which still has not been answered). On Monday, I rang up the number buried deep within the web site (under returns, if you need it). When I finally got a tech support person, she was very little help; she merely read me a list of things I might have been too stupid to have checked (computer on, internet cxn OK, RAM, cable, most recent operating system blah blah blah). She had no ability to look at the problem and suggest any kind of solution, other than to repeat her litany. The only useful thing she suggested was that I might have a firewall, although its connection (if any) with Google Earth mystified me. In any case, one of the game chips arrived in the post from Amazon yesterday, so my son has been happily playing with that instead of the Jet Pack Heroes.Sorry to go on and on about something rather boring; I'm hoping that if someone else runs into this problem, they might also discover a solution (the driver is a .kext if that helps anyone).Other than my disappointment with the customer service/tech support, I think the didj is great. My son's comment on the Nickolodeon game: "Well, there's only a *little* bit of math, and I get to shoot things, so it's really cool." However we can get math into them.....

I bought this system for my 5-year-old son along with the clone wars (math), indiana jones (math) & sonic heros (spelling) games. We've bought other educational video games over the years including the Smart Cycle and the V-Smile though my son never played long, never really learned much (if anything) & always preferred to be doing something else. The Didj, he never puts down unless I make him or the batteries run out. It was amazing to me how quickly he picked up addition & subtraction even though he had never previously been exposed. Unfortunately, the batteries run out constantly. Out of all the toys we've had, we've never had anything burn batteries so quick and there is no recharging system. The batteries are also very difficult to replace as it is a slot system instead of a screw system and the slot system is designed so that if you push the coin in anyway but perfect, the plastic just snaps off. This is the second Didj we've had. The first we bought straight from Leapfrog and it never worked. Customer service at Leapfrog is a nightmare! After a month of trying to get my money back I still have never seen a refund - exchange would have taken 6 weeks for their mistake, so I opted to buy another one on Amazon while they process my refund. I received a working one on Amazon in two days & their customer service has been flawless. Do buy this product, but do not buy from Leapfrog & be prepared to buy a lot of batteries!

I preordered the Didj back in June and was very excited to recieve it in late July. Unfortunately we had problems from the start. First I noticed that it was shutting off frequently in the middle of the games. That was very frustrating for my 6 year old twins, having to restart the games again and again. I wrote Leapfrog. They had no idea what was wrong with it. They replaced it immediately. Within 2 weeks, I was one of the 12 customers who had the recharging base get so hot that it melted the unit. Wrote Leapfrog...They said it was because it was placed upside down on the recharger...I beg to differ. Anyway, we got another one shortly thereafter... Same problems with the game shutting down again. By this time, the unit had been on the market for 4 1/2 weeks. Wrote Leapfrog again...now they know that the profiles are corrupt...have to delete profile and bits and then reprogram. I had the same issues as another customer with the website. I'd program the footprints in and it wouldn't be there the next time so I would create another footprint and then there were duplicates the next time I logged on. It took forever for the website to get up and running with the spelling word lists. Since my original didj was burned up, the website recoginzes individual units, so I have multiple, duplicate footprints online...wrote leapfrog...they can't do anything about it.Overall, when the games play without shutting down, the twins love it however we still continue to have problems with losing bits everytime we have a corrupt profile and have to reprogram it. Not to mention that it goes through batteries like melting icecream in a sauna. They try to play with it plugged in, but that's inconvenient when we are out and in the car. You have about 1 1/2 - 2 hours of play time on one set of new batteries. The screen graphics are great, hence the frequent battery changes. I see that they dropped the price to 40% off...I guess they may be phasing this bug-prone toy out. Here it is, April, 10 months after I bought it and I'm still having problems. This is so rare with Leapfrog. I have sent them no less than 20 emails over the last 10 months. They always get back to me...within 7-10 days...I really love the idea of the Didj. If they come out with another variation that will accept the 6 game cartridges that I already have, I will probably buy one...after it's been out for 6 months and I read the reviews. I won't EVER buy something without having reviews on it first. This was such a waste of a lot of money, it makes me a little nausious just thinking about it. I would say that I have about $300 invested in it including games. Now it just sits there. The kids keep going back to their Leapsters for road trips.I LOVE Leapfrog...I own Stock in Leapfrog...they just jumped the gun on this one to get it out to the public too soon. Since the price is coming down on it and the games, I'm guessing they may be coming out with a new version soon. I would wait for the newer version...