VTech MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System – Orange
Vtech MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System 80135800 Learning Toys
Your child can access fun and learning on the go with the MobiGo 2 Touch Learning System. Kids ages three to eight will love the collection of games and apps that teach basic learning skills, including math, vocabulary, problem solving, and creativity. Activities on the MobiGo 2 employ a variety of control methods, including button controls, tilting, and sound. The toy comes equipped with several ready-to-run apps, and you can purchase more from an extensive library available in cartridge form or online.
and e-books are available.
Play Games with a Stylus, a Fingertip, or Buttons
With so many ways to play, the MobiGo 2 provided our testers hours of fun and learning without getting stale. Kids can control the colorful touch screen with buttons on the front of the MobiGo 2 or with the included stylus or a fingertip, just like a tablet device. The MobiGo 2 also includes a built-in motion sensor for games your child controls by tilting the toy from side to side, helping build reaction skills and hand-eye coordination. A quick slide reveals a full QWERTY keyboard. There’s even a sensor on the front of the device that detects sound for the many games and apps that incorporate speech or breath controls.
Apps and Games Offer Developmental Benefits
The MobiGo 2 offers a slew of developmental benefits for your child. The e-reader function and some educational games help children learn letter names, phonics, and reading skills. Some apps that embrace science themes, math activities, and problem solving, while others promote visualization and memory, creativity, and motor skills. The MobiGo 2 offers a variety of activities, so your child can receive a well-rounded learning experience.
Controls and Accessories
Your child can turn on the MobiGo 2 with a simple switch and initiate activities with easy-to-follow prompts. The toy includes brightness and volume control buttons as well as a headphone jack, so children can play quietly without disturbing those around them.
View larger.
More Than 100 Entertaining and Educational Apps Available
The games and apps available for the MobiGo 2 are as fun as they are educational. The toy comes preloaded with four apps: a hamster-ball racing game that employs the motion control, an archery-themed game that teaches QWERTY keyboard skills, an artistic coloring app that makes use of the touch screen, and a photo app. More apps, games, and e-books are available for purchase on cartridges or by downloading when the MobiGo 2 is connected to the online Learning Lodge Navigator via the included USB cable. Many of the games feature favorite children’s characters, such as Dora the Explorer, Elmo, and Mickey Mouse.
The MobiGo 2 comes with a touch stylus and a USB cable for connecting to your computer to access VTech’s online Learning Lodge Navigator and purchase additional apps and games.
Operating the MobiGo 2
Our testers found the MobiGo 2 easy and intuitive to operate. All games provided simple instructions. Like with many children’s toys, this one produces quite a bit of sound during play, but the volume control and headphone jack ensure that children can play their favorite games quietly.
What’s in the Box
MobiGo 2, USB cable, stylus, Learning Lodge Navigator Installation CD, and user’s manual.
Touch Learning System
At a Glance:
- Includes motion, keyboard, and touch-screen controls
- Fun and educational apps address a variety of learning styles
- Builds reading ability, math skills, and creativity
- Purchase apps from the online Learning Lodge Navigator
- Easy to operate for kids ages 3 to 8
Age/Weight Requirements:
- Three to eight years
Assembly Requirements:
- Four AA batteries or AC adapter (sold separately)
Product Features
- Four different modes of playing: Motion, touchscreen, microphone and slide-out keyboard
- Qwerty keyboard helps kids become familiar with a keyboard layout
- Toy can also function as an e-reader, photo album, photo viewer and art studio and coloring book
- Large library of downloadable games and e-books are available online at the Learning Lodge
- Comes with three great games that take advantage of all the MobiGo’s cool features
Super Improvements on an Already Great Toy My daughter received the original Mobigo when it first came out– when she was three years old. She loved it almost obsessively. It was terrific for car rides and times when Mommy needed time to take a shower! After two years, it still works perfectly and still holds her interest, though she had begun favoring “apps” on my iPhone and tablet. When I was offered the chance to test out the new version, I was thrilled.From the moment I put it in her hand, I had to fight to get it back out. All the old games are compatible, and they also kindly let you download any of your previously downloaded games onto this one, too. Nice, Vtech.THE NEW STUFF IN VERSION 2-Motion SensorMy daughter adores the preloaded “Hamster Highway” game, which is the one that highlights the new motion sensor. When you tilt the Mobigo left, right, back, or forward, you control the action of the hamster rolling around the race track in his hamster ball. It’s one of the rare Mobigo games that isn’t educational, but that’s fine. I don’t need there to be an educational lesson in everything she does… pure entertainment is good, too! Plus, it helps with motor skills.-Microphone and Photo StorageThe other main new feature is the microphone, which is highlighted in the “Photos” feature. You can add your own photos, making this a great spot to keep some of your child’s favorite photos, but to start, they preload it with eight generic kid-friendly photos: a dog, a hot air balloon, etc. When you press the star, it tells you to “blow into the microphone to see the special effects.” Actually, you can make any sound into the microphone, and it’ll do one of two funny things to the picture: “warp” it or add bubbles to it. Not much variety, but you get the idea of what the microphone could be capable of in other games.-StylusIf you have trouble with accuracy of the touch screen (it’s great for most games), you can now use a stylus, which is easily stored in the back of the device-Shape/SizeIt’s slightly larger overall than the original Mobigo. I worried that the old case wouldn’t fit, but it does… barely. The touch screens themselves are the same size, and so are the control buttons.-Fixed the Downloads Issue!This is a great one– one of the few negatives about the original Mobigo was that it didn’t save your downloaded games onto the device. Every time you turned off the device and turned it back on, any games you downloaded from the Vtech site would need to be re-downloaded, and I think you could do only three at a time. Now, awesomely, there’s actual storage in the Mobigo. Sufficient storage. Once I downloaded the required software (not hard– took two tries to get my device to work with it, but was fine after that), it provided me with free access to every game I’d ever downloaded on the original Mobigo, plus gave me three credits for free games. I happily discovered that I could fit all of them on the Mobigo 2 and that they’d stay there until I wanted to erase them! As of now, I have 15 downloaded games on the device and it’s less than half-full.THE NEGATIVES-The downloadable games are really short and simple– nothing exciting, and few are in the older children range.-The “number keys” are really just the top letter keys, and the number placement is confusing. For instance, when you want to type the number 2, you’re supposed to type the letter W. However, the number is situated right in the middle of the letters Q and W, so depending on your perspective, you might think you were supposed to type Q.-These great new features don’t yet have great new software to go with them… I’m sure Vtech will soon release software that takes advantage of the motion sensor and microphone, but in my search of Amazon and Vtech’s sites, I don’t yet see a single game that has these added features. Therefore, if you don’t yet have a Mobigo at all, clearly you should get this new version– Vtech has even been kind enough to price it the same as they priced the original. However, if you have the original and want to know if it’s worth it to upgrade, I’d wait until there were at least a couple of games available to support the new features, or else you’re really spending the additional money just for the few built-in games and the photo viewer.-Touch screen is very good, but not perfect. I got frustrated a few times when the device instructed me to “use the arrows” to do something, and then I did hit an arrow, and it repeated the same instruction twice more before I got it to recognize that I was already hitting the arrow. Still, doesn’t happen often.MY RECOMMENDATIONEven despite these drawbacks, I’m still considering this a 5-star product. We’ve had most of the major electronic devices for kids in the preschool-to-1st grade range, and this one…
Souring on Vtech- Great toy that doesn’t last I am sad to say I am starting to sour on Vtech products. This past December I purchased two mobigos (the 1st version) for my 3 year old twin boys. By the end of January one of the mobigos sound did not work at all and by March both began freezing in the middle of games and scrambling the screens. Very frustrating for 3 year olds. This summer when I saw the Mobigo 2 coming out I decided to try them again mostly because I did not want to have to buy all new games if I switched to the competitive brand. I pre-ordered 2 of the mobigos 2 for both my boys and they arrived the beginning of July.The mobigo 2 is def. a step up from the first and my boys LOVED all the changes especially the new “pen” with it. I also loved that all the downloaded games could go right on the device and didn’t have to be loaded to the cartridge. So the toy itself is very entertaining and my boys love it. The only problem is this didn’t last yet again.It is not the beginning of September and we have had problems again. One of the mobigos began freezing again and a few days later while my son was routinely opening up to the keyboard the lever snapped causing the screen to tilt up so you cant see it while using the keyboard. You could hear the screw that is supposed to hold it rattling inside. But the unit still worked until a day later. Now today the whole unit will not even turn on. I have tried changing batteries several times and nothing. Same thing with screen freezing on both versions. A battery change will not work to fix the problem.Also it is not due to poor care on our part which is what one might assume with 3 year old twin boys. We have cases for both and I take them out myself and make sure they are put back. I also supervise them while they are using them so this isn’t a case of them being dropped or mishandled. The damages are caused by normal, routine use. For our house hold this is a max of 30 min a day.Bottom line the product is great for AS LONG AS IT LASTS but in my experience that is not that long with either version. I hoped the Mobigo 2 would last longer but it did not.
How I use the VTech MobiGo 2 to help with Home Schooling My son is 3.5 and still not potty trained. He’s mentally ready for preschool but since he refuses to pee on a toilet, he can’t go to school yet. I decided to home school him this year. One of the tools I’m using is the VTech MobiGo 2. Each morning I read a book to Little Man and then we do worksheets for a letter, number, tracing, coloring, cutting and pasting, etc. After we finish our paperwork he gets to spend 30 minutes playing on his MobiGo. I love that the games on MobiGo are educational. There’s a shooting gallery game which uses the keyboard and in order to shoot the target you have to press the correct letter on the keyboard. The easy level pretty much follows the keyboard along the QWERTY keys so that the kids learn where to find them. The VTech MobiGo2 comes loaded with Hamster Highway, Shooting Gallery, Art Master and Photos. It also comes with 3 free downloads that you can choose any of their games that are available for download. I like that they don’t limit you to a small number of games or books. Right now all downloadable games are $2.99 each. That’s a steal! The have downloadable e-books coming soon, as well.Not only is this a great tool to help reinforce my home school efforts, it gives Little Man something to do on the go when his big brother and sister are playing their DS’s. The VTech MobiGo 2 retails for $59.99. Not bad for a game system and 5 games!All of the kids have enjoyed the MobiGo, but Little Man uses it the most. The few downsides I’ve noticed are:It is rechargeable, with rechargeable batteries if you supply them and buy the separate power cord. Otherwise you’re using batteries like water.You can only make one account on the system so if you have multiple kids you can only track the progress of one. The others can sign on as a guest.There’s no way to tether the stylus and with my children that’s a disaster waiting to happen.Overall we are very pleased with the VTech MobiGo 2 and would recommend it to anyone.I would suggest this as something for kids aged 3-7.I have received VTech MobiGo 2 to facilitate my review.