Leapfrog LeapPad2 Recharger Pack

WORTH IT. We were going through batteries daily on our Leap Pad 2 tablets without these chargers. They are battery hogs! Literally every 4 or 5 hours or less. My daughter's Disney princess themed Leap Pad was draining batteries significantly faster than her brother's monsters University one some reason. We thought we got a defective device. We were wasting a bunch of money and trash by using up disposable batteries. A relative bought the chargers as gifts for the kids and immediately we doubled or tripled the battery life off one full charge! Daughter's device no longer gave low battery warning 20 minutes into playing like it did with brand new AA size batteries. Fit perfectly in device, but of course this is a Leap Frog brand product made specifically for Leap Pad 2, not a generic one size fits all thing. It's easy to plug in and doesn't take too long to recharge. I never timed it but maybe 2 hrs or less to fully recharge the batteries. The wall plug is huge, that is the only down side, but it doesn't have the polarized prong that requires you to plug it in only one direction. You can plug the wall part in right side up or upside down leave a spot open for something else in the wall. Yes, they're expensive up front, but depending on how often your child uses the device you will eventually save money on disposable batteries. Not to mention the convenience of extending use time with these. (I think Leap Frog says they should last 9 hours instead of maybe 4 hours we were getting otherwise.) My best friend's daughter has the exact same princess Leap Pad 2 and told me she was going through batteries left and right, so I bought her the rechargeable ones and she has had no problems now. They really extend the use time too. We have taken them on longer car rides and even a cross country trip (East to West coast) by air and as long as fully charged before we left hey never died mid-trip. Totally worth it. Get this!

I got the LeapPad 2 for my 5 year old for Christmas, 2 weeks ago and since that time I have put 6, count 6 sets of 4 duracells ( that's 24 batteries ) in it, in 2 WEEKS!! I had to get this battery set, it will pay for itself in no time. The batteries are ONLY for the Leap Pad 2 . It charges through the power plug on the side and the instructions say it should take 4 hours. The batteries themselves are marked as 2100 maH each so total of 4200 maH , that's not as much as a set of alkalines and there are rechargable batteries out there that have at least 2.5 times more power, AnsMann 2850 AA's for example ( x4 would give you 11400 maH of juice ) , but in order to get the most out of those sort of batteries you need a good charger and a charge cycle (charging them slowly) would take over 10 hours. Looking at the way these connect using and different set of pins inside the Leap Pad 2 I'm pretty sure you would have to take regular rechargable batteries out to charge them,, more $ for a good charger ( I have a little LaCrosse BC-9009 that work beautifully). I would think the the car adapter would also allow you to charge these batteries but I haven't tried it yet. According to the instructions the batteries should be fully charged in about 4 hours but according to my math 4200 maH batteries charged at a total of 700 maH equals 6 hours, so I would let the first charge go longer. To give some perspective I have run high end R/C cars for over 20 years and have learned a few things about rechargable batteries. The down side to this style setup is you cannot FULLY cycle the batteries or condition them if they start to get weak, The upside is the convienence this setup offers, no more taking the cover off and fighting the battery doors. The instructions claim you should get 300 charge cycles out of these batteries before you will start to notice them drop off on capacity, and that sounds about right, that will be well over a year and with having put 6 sets of alkalines in this thing in 2 weeks,, it more than covers the cost of batteries plus you get an A/C adapter so if the batteries do die you just plug it in and your on your way again. Overall it's a great product and I highly recommend it. PS. get the car adaptor, you will probably need it. PSS.. If I do get to the point of the batteries in this kit dropping off and not holding a charge well, I will just put some high end AA rechargables in it and see what happens, but I'm pretty sure the Leap Pad 2 will have been retired by then.

Given the way that LeapPad 2 goes through batteries, this product is a must have. However, be careful when putting the rechargeable batteries in the LeapPad as you can easily shatter your screen in doing so. When we first tried to put the batteries in, we were being very careful and we ended up breaking the touchscreen as we tried to press the batteries into their compartment. The rechargeable batteries are a tight fit and seem to fit only in very specific way (above and beyond their Left/Right designation and form). If you get these, take your time and try and work them in very gently. Do not apply any significant pressure at all! Leapfrog replaced our broken LeapPad gratis on a one time basis which was nice, but I must say their response to our customer service inquiry about the matter was irritating. Here is their response: "We're sorry to inform you that we do not repair the screen or offer a replacement screen for the LeapPad. If the device cracked due to an accident, this voids the warranty of the product. In your case, we'll make an exemption and offer a one-time replacement. " Really? I get that Leapfrog cannot be replacing broken products infinitely, but the "in your case" clause comes across as gratuitous and petty. It's a kids toy, and a not particularly rugged one. Given the price of the product (not to mention the high price for apps), how about just making a one-time replacement standard policy in any case. The "we're doing you a favor" vibe of the response certainly doesn't make me want to spend my dollars on Leapfrog products in the future. A simple "We're sorry your LeapPad 2 is broken, we are happy to replace it free of charge on a one-time basis" would be so much more effective and customer friendly and wouldn't make me feel like Leapfrog thinks I'm scamming them.

With all the consumer electronics nowadays, it is easier than ever to find examples where manufacturers did NOT do a good job managing power consumption and choosing battery packs. This battery pack is one of the best I have ever used. What really makes this a must-have add-on is that the LeapPad2’s battery doors are not designed well, in that they are difficult to remove and install. If you add a skin to it, that makes it even worse. You install this once and plug it in. The LeapPad2 has battery charge management. The power button turns yellow while it is charging, and goes out when it is done. It turns itself off, so no worry about overcharging. This is the second pack we have bought (got another LeapPad2). The other one has been running (practically non-stop) for the last two months. The run time is truly impressive (worlds better than the computer I am writing this on) and it spends very little time on the charger.

My daughter's LeapPad1 sucked down battery life way too fast... Her Leapster Explorer had a rechargeable battery pack that you could replace the regular battery pack with, and the lifespan on that sucker between charges is amazing. So, when the LeapPad2 was released and I replaced her 1st generation with it... I ordered this recharger pack to go with it. WORTH EVERY CENT! It does not take long to reach a full charge, and my daughter can play with the device while it it plugged into the adapter for charging. When it is fully charged and unplugged from the adapter, the device gets a ton of use before it needs to be plugged in again. It does not quite rival her Leapster Explorer's battery life, but it certainly saves us money on one-time use batteries and it still gets several days of use before we have to charge it up again. I highly recommend investing in one of these for your child's LeapPad2.

Great product! The leappad 2 goes through batteries far too quickly to even consider not puchasing this. You will save money. Works great, my 6 year old knows to plug in her leappad when she gets a low battery warning. UPDATE 6/12/13 We've had the charger for about 6 months now. The charger no longer works. We've plugged it in several outlets to test. There is no visible damage to the two parts that go inside the leappad 2 and the cord appears to be in perfect condition. I've emailed leap frog customer service and opened a ticket. I'll update the outcome. If I have to replace the charger every 6 months I will not be a happy Mom!

****This is not a toy, but an accessory for a toy. As such those questions re enjoyable and educational should not be asked**** I bought this in November 2012 on Amazon from Amazon. My daughter started using it with her Leappad from Christmas 2012. It charges and she can use it for a few sessions over a few days before we need to recharge. Update: JUST BE CAREFUL WITH ELECTRIC OUTLETS.I went to London in June and over there i got an adapter (i.e. to amend the plug prongs to the UK sockets) for my netbook. I used this same heavy duty, regulated adapter to charge the Leappad. Now SHE CAN ONLY USE IT NOW FOR 10-20 MINUTES BEFORE IT MAKES THE BATTERY LOW SIGNAL!! I have fully discharged it and recharged it at home - no foreign adapter - still not charging fully. Although the indicator light comes off as if fully charged. And it makes no difference how long I keep it plugged in for. And I charge this on the same power bar as I do my Smartphones, bluetooth headset. IT STARTED BACK HOLDING CHARGE SO I UPGRADED MY RATING.

I ordered this product along with a Leappad2, said item was in stock ready to ship but did not receive for another 4 days after I received the Laeppad. I could have purchased the charger pack locally at a higher price so I purchased batteries so that my daughter could use her new Leappad before we received the charger pack. The batteries lasted anywhere from 4-5hrs/4AA. The money I spent in the four days on batteries was more than the difference in price and will make up the cost of the charger pack within the first 40 hours of use. I have charged the charger pack two times (including initial charge) and my daughter has gotten close to 14hrs of use(6.5-7 hrs per charge) I am happy with this purchase and would recommend over using AA batteries. The "batteries" fit the Leappad2 perfectly and the battery doors closed just as they should, unlike prior reviews.(there is a right and left door if mixed up won't close all the way) It looks and feels like it is solidly constructed and uses quality materials. Have not needed it yet, but the ability to plug the Leappad into an outlet and use without batteries adds functionality and versatility to the Leappad and I think is almost a necessity.