As our 15 months old has taken a keen interest to my laptop, we felt this would b nice alternative. Turns out, not really, they know the difference. Still, this is a fun toy for the little ones.
Essentially this unit makes an assortment of music, sounds and interacts with keyboard input. Two volume levels are present and we find the lower setting to be perfect as it can get a bit loud on the higher setting. There are plenty of voices, sounds, and music to keep things from getting too repetitive. There is also a little mouse that-well-is shaped like a mouse, that can be moved up ,down, left ,and right with a corresponding voice stating the movement. The mouse is attached to the unit and cannot be removed so nothing can be lost or swallowed.
Durability is very good on this item with no small items that can break off or removed for consumption or chocking ( This is of primary concern for us as it should be for all).
One thing to watch out for and as another reviewer stated, is my boy closes the lid on his fingers or hand. Now for some reason after he closes the lid he places all of his 8 month old might into ensuring it is closed. So I would not walk away and leave him long with it alone as who knows how much pressure it takes for him to feel it. So far he has not injured himself and he has not cried or made any other type of commotion -yet. Just something to watch out for. I am sure if it really hurt he would stop but I am a paranoid father.
EDIT: Well, my boy finally did push too hard and hurt himself with his finger inside the lid. No damage to either finger or toy but something to look out for.
Now my boy does tend to get bored easily and this item is no different. In fact now when I open the screen and play with it with him, he just casually reaches over and closes the screen-often. I think my wife taught him that so that I would do the same with my own laptop.
The toy itself is great and though no where near the sophistication of the real thing it certainly did not cost as much or as dangerous either (he pulled the L key off my laptop keyboard).
Battery life so far is very good with the unit being used everyday for 3 weeks and no sign of weakness. This is a relief as some toys eat through batteries very quickly and things get costly over time as the good batteries are not exactly cheap. We tend to go through 10-15 batteries a week in his other items such as rockers, toys, etc..
Oh, how I envy him and his simple laptop; no investments, no news, no work emails, no etc.... just lights, music, and sound.
Our boy really does enjoy the time with this toy and though he seems now to be more fascinated with closing the lid than anything else there are times he enjoys just slamming his fist at the keyboard and looking up at the screen. Now THAT he did get from daddy! ;)
I work from home on a laptop often, and my 6 month old loves to play w/my laptop so I thought this would be a perfect toy for her.
She does love it, and bangs on the "keyboard" just as she bangs on mine the lights and sounds are great love that it has an OFF button so many toys don't!
However, she also loves to bite on anything she can get her hands on including this toy laptop. While trying to use her left hand to pull the cover down into her mouth, the right hand was caught and pinched between the lid and the keyboard. The plastic is shaped in a way which hurts even when I closed the toy on my own thumb to test it.
I recommend parents do not let their child play with this toy unless you can literally sit there and stare at them the entire time. VTech would be wise to put some sort of safety on the lid of this toy.
Buy VTech - Baby's Learning Laptop Now
We bought this for our son when he was 6 months old because he is always wanting to play with our computer. All the other toy laptops I've seen are for older babies/toddlers so we got this one. He is having a lot of fun with it and it's a great toy. He really likes pressing the buttons and hearing the songs, and opening and closing it. There are three modes, and right now he likes the music best. There are two volume levels which is nice. It's very durable. The only issue I have is that he keeps closing the laptop on his fingers. It doesnt really hurt him, but does pinch his fingers a bit. He's learning now to get his fingers out of the way! I think he'll like this toy for a long time.
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My son (like most kids) is totally fascinated by adult laptops I got this with the hope that he might leave mine alone, but he isn't easily fooled. However, he has spent time being absorbed with this toy. He likes pushing all those buttons, and the movable mouse is nice too. It has 3 modes the one that plays the music jingles seems to be his favorite. Personally, I don't think it has much learning utility. There are better educational toys out there. But hey, when a kid needs a laptop, he needs a laptop.
One more thing at the time of writing this, the price on Amazon is 39.99, which seems rather steep to me, considering I just bought this for 9.99 at Toys R US. So it might be worth your while to do some comparison shopping before you spring for it at this price.
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My son got this as a gift at around 4 months old. After hours of screaming while we were out of town meeting family for dinner, he instantly stopped when this got turned on, and proceeded to stare at it for the next hour of dinner and start of the drive home until he fell asleep (of course at that point I had to keep turning the music back on, but hey, can't argue with quiet!). He went through a phase where he just kept shutting the lid, which seemed to be great fun for him (although it was several months until he could also OPEN the lid too). He also went through a phase of trying his best to bend the lid all the way backwards, which I think is what finally did it in. Now that he's a year, it still works great MOST of the time. Once in a while it starts sounding like a broken record, it just gets stuck in a loop. My guess is that in the bending it backwards process, he loosened a wire or something. Like I said, most of the time it still works great, it still holds his attention. You've got to figure no matter how durable something is, after 8 months of banging, drooling in, chewing on, and bending backwards, just about anything's going to have problems! Also, battery life it pretty good. Haven't had to change them yet.
This was bought for the top of a large diaper cake and it was gorgeous!!!! Now it sits on Zoey's dresser and, when she is old enough, I am sure it will be her favorite stuffed animal. It was the hit of the baby shower decorations. Love it!
