Reviews for VTech V.Smile TV Learning System

Broke after 3 months but was replaced

Strengths: Educational games have good content.

Weakness: 9V adapter not included with purchase, bad graphic

My son received this last year for Christmas. It took batteries to work and my son would always forget to turn off the button, so every time he played it, we would need new batteries! I finally had to invest $10 on a 9V adapter, which should have been included. After 3 months, it stopped working all together. Since my in-laws paid $50 for this toy, I did contact the company. The didn't ask any questions, took it back and replaced it with a new one. So at least the company stands behind their product. My son really never plays it. He enjoys the Leapster much better. The graphics are better and its more educational.

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V Smile

Strengths: Easy to use controler

Weakness: no ac adapter, turns off and won't turn back on

I like the idea of this game. My 4yr old son loves it. But I've been threw three all ready. When it breaks I bring it back to wal-mart and get a new one. I'm surprise that they haven't done a recall on it yet with all the problems that people been having with them. All that I can say if you buy this system is save your reciet because you will be returning it!

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A BIG Disappointment

Strengths: Concept is good.

Weakness: Graphics are sad.

This system is awful. My 2 year old daughter received it for Christmas last year and was unable to play it by herself. A year later, she still can not maneuver the joystick by herself. (Note: She plays games on the computer using the mouse by herself.) The graphics are horrible. They make you question your eyesight.

This is a piece of junk! Don't waste your money.
K. Pruett
Atlanta, GA

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fine when it works, but not robust

Strengths: My 6-year old and her friends liked the games

Weakness: Adapter not included. Joystick difficult to control for younger kids. Although not abused, toy only worked for about 1 year.

This toy looked like so much fun that I went slightly overboard and purchased extra games and a second joystick. I also bought an AC adapter, as this was not included. However, my 3-year old struggled to play the games because he found the joystick too difficult to control. My 6-year old could manage the simpler games, but quickly got bored of them once she had mastered them. She found the games for her own age-group too difficult, again because of the joystick. However, the biggest problem with this product is that, after 1 year of occasional use, it has stopped working. It was kept near floor level, so has never suffered any major falls, and yet it does not come on any more. One of the joysticks is also broken (one of the children tried to insert it the wrong way round and bent the pins -- the design is simply not robust enough to cope with normal use by children). I am very disappointed as this was an expensive product, and I thought that VTech was a reliable brand.

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Loved it!!!!

Strengths: Finally someone thought to make a game system just for kids!!! That actually makes their time in front of the TV worth something!

Weakness: Definately need to be putting out new games!!! We ended up with all the games for my daugthers age and a few advanced ones as well within weeks of buying this product!!

I bought this for my two year old, and she learned so much!! I had been working with her on her number and letter recognition for a couple of months, after purchasing this product, a week later she had her letters down pat!! It was really amazing!! And a lot less frustrating!! Although an adapter would have been nice I thought for the price of the system, compared to Nintendo and X-Box, etc. that it wasn't unreasonable to buy one seperately. I would love more games to be put out, especially a Dora the Explorer game!!

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V.Smile TV Learning System--a graphics disappointment

Strengths: Controls are easy to operate, my son can independently put in the cartridges and turn the games on.

Weakness: Graphics are very disappointing. Grainy, terribly simplistic and movement is jumpy. Not nearly as good as I was anticipating.

While the overall goal, to promote learning through fun, is met with this learning system, I was disappointed that the designers didn't put more work into quality graphics. The intended audience may be learning the ABC's and 1,2,3's, but their vision is fully developed! We've gone back to using the computer games for preschoolers--much better.

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Good, but strange

Strengths: Easy for 2 year old to turn on & understand

Weakness: Joystick WAY too sensitive. ONLY uses batteries. No Enough games available.

My 2 year old would always go directly to this thing in the store, So I figured if she likes it that much, I'd let her do something different with her time in front of the TV. Keep her active, at least. I'm an avid gamer myself, and I can say this is actually an easy to navigate game system for kids. She has trouble with the joystick being SUPER sensitive, so she always misses where she wants it to go, and get frusterated. The carts are too hard for her to put in and take out herself. I think the reason they don't have the AC line on this, and only batteries, is to cut down on the number of cords floating around your TV. I think it's a good idea, and so do battery makers around the world. Still, as parents we have an ample supply of all types of batteries on hand. Also, there aren't close to enough programs available for this system, and it almost really turned me off to it. But, the price of the system, and the games held my interest. Consider the other systems, they are pricey, then you have to spend so much on those accessories and a bundle on the games. All-in-all, it's a good basic system for a beginner.

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VTech V.Smile TV Learning System

Strengths: *Good graphics for price, *Good learning games for small children

Weakness: *No AC power adapter included, *3 1/2 year old can not change cartridge Cartridges were hard to find around Christmas

Bought this for Christmas this year and my 3 1/2 year old loves it. The one thing that he does not like is that I have to change the cartridge because they stay in very well and require an adult to pull them out and change. This is actually a good thing to me as he can not lose them by taking them out if I leave the room. Other bad things were trying to find the cartridges around Christmas and not having the AC power supply. It takes C batteries and I had to run to the store on Christmas day to get those.

Would purchase again.

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My kids love it

Strengths: educational, easy to use

Weakness: no adapter

My 5 and 6 year olds love this game. They can turn on and off and change the games themselves. They have learned a lot from this game. We have had it for over a year now and it gets used regularly and have had no problems with it.

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Junk!

Strengths: Kids love it.

Weakness: Dies without warning and not able to be fixed! Eats batteries like crazy. (I had to change them at least weekly and they offer no AC adaptor for this item.)

I purchased this V Smile system for my 4 year old son in April of 2005. He absolutely loved it and in my opinion took very good care of it for a young child. After purchasing 6 addt'l cartridges, it now will not turn on if a cartridge is inserted. After reading the reviews I see that this is a common issue with these and I am extremely upset. I re-read the instruction manual only to find that there is no troubleshooting for this issue and it only offers a 3 month warranty. So I'm off to contact customer support but have no high expectations since reading the other reviews and seeing the way others with the same issue have been treated.

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PROBLEM with the joystick and on/off button

Strengths: Kids love it....very educational!!!

Weakness: The on/off button works when it wants to!!! The joystick is very sensitive!!

We are on are third system since March. Simply because the on/off button only works when it wants to. Tech support was a joke. It's almost like the button gets stuck and it won't do anything, then when you least expect it to work it does... Go figure. I've been very satisfied with v-tech products that I've purchased in the past but this one has been an on going issue. The kids LOVE IT! They just need to improve the system as well as tech support.

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Great Toy

Strengths: My son got it when he was 3, its a video game he doesnt need help playing

Weakness: not perfect graphics, eats batteries fast

my son loves this still and hes had it a year, he plays it by himself, can set it up, turn it on, etc. The graphics aren't perfect but he 4 and probably doesn't notice or at that care. Eats batteries fast so we bought the adapter, which is sold separately but its only $10. Overall we love it!!

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Not Impressed

Strengths: It is very educational.

Weakness: I bought this for my 3 year old and could not spend very much time playing it that he did not need my help. Also, he pulled it off of his chest of drawers and it never turned back on again.

I consider my 3 year old very smart but he could not play this game alone. He also could not change the game and get it started alone. It is educational, but I thought the controls were too advanced for his age. Also, he pulled the game system off of his chest of drawers and it would not turn on after that, so if your child is not very careful with their toys, then this is not for them.

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Extremely Dissapointed

Strengths: Great learning tool.

Weakness: Joysticks will not work. On/off button "has a mind of its own" and rarely works.

We went overboard on this one in February of 2006. We bought the extra joystick and six games. VERY EXPENSIVE. We thought this would be worth it for our 4 year old son. We have been extremely disappointed because within the past 9 months we have only been able to get this to work for maybe three months at the very most. One joystick never works and the other joystick only works occasionally. The on/off button gives out 90% of the time. I am extremely disappointed with this product, and V-Smile for making and selling "junk" to consumers. We would have been better off flushing our money for this down the toilet. This product is of such poor quality we can rarely get it to work when my son wants to play with it. We feel bad we bought so many of the extra games.

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VTech V.Smile TV Learning System

Strengths: I wish I could find one, but so far I can't

Weakness: No plug included, no batteries included, won't turn on with cartridge inserted, bad tech support

Where do I begin? First off, do NOT believe the hype for this product. It is disappointing in so many ways. #1, how can a company manufacture a video game system and NOT include a DC adapter? Can you imagine Nintendo, XBox, Sony Playstation etc not including a way to plug it in? No batteries, no plug to plug it in. Ehhhh... So anyways, I drive down to my local Radio Shack and spend an extra $16 for a DC adapter and plug. I get home, hook it up for my 5 year old, and the included cartridge does not work. The system powers on just fine without a cartridge in it, but will not work when the cartridge is inserted (and yes, it was properly inserted). Nothing but a black screen. Tech support was horrendous, long wait, only to get a disinterested employee who simply said "you could always exchange it for a new one wherever you purchased it". Well, that would be just fine with me, if this wasn't the single most popular toy released in the last 5 years!!! You can't find this thing anywhere in stores, they've been all out since early December when I bought it.

So, I have a sytem that doesn't work, I already payed $16 for an adapter, tech support can't help me, and I can't exchange it. Great product huh? I should have known better, not to buy a VTech product. They were always notoriously known for producing garbage cordless phones, (which I found out from experience) and now I made the same mistake twice.

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Love It!!

Strengths: Educational and fun

Weakness: Button can stick

The whole family loves this system. We enjoy watching my son as he accomplishes each task. I am impressed with the things I didn't even realize he knew. My husband and I even enjoy playing the games with him - Scooby Doo and Toy Story are great games. I have recommended this toy to friends and they are satisfied also.

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Bad Investment - BUYER BEWARE!!!!

Strengths: 3 year old daughter really enjoyed it when it would work.

Weakness: I got mine for my daughter's 3rd b-day and it quit working a month later.

I eventually sent the system back to Vtech and they replaced it, but now the new one does not work anymore either. Like others, we have been very careful with it. It is just not a quality product and I would not recommend it to anyone. The sad thing is this was the only gift my daughter got for her B-day because of the expense of it and it is a piece of junk collecting dust in her room.

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I Love It and so does my 4 year old!!!!

Strengths: Easy to operate, lots of games, very educational

Weakness: Doesn't come with an adapter

My 4 year old son has loved this product since we purchased it last Christmas. He has mastered the 6 games he has now but still enjoys playing them. The Dora game being his favorite right now.Its a childrens game so the graphics are acceptible for his age and I enjoy playing along with my son. I don't know what the fuss is over it eating batteries I have only had to switch them once since it was purchased. I would highly recommend this product my son has been telling me his colors in Spanish!!!

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Fun and Educational!

Strengths: This toy is fun and educational. I noticed that there are lots of new game cartridges this year also.

Weakness: None.

We've had ours for a year now and it works well. It's been dropped by my kids (ages 5 and 7) quite a few times and no problems with it yet. It has been a sturdy and good toy for us. The graphics are not that important because it's actually made for small kids and not for adults. It not for professional gamers. The adapter is less than $10 and it pays for itself if you check the price of batteries now. I love this toy and so do my kids.

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Good learning system for the begining gamer

Strengths: Child friendly; Great learning program

Weakness: No adapter included; graohic could use a little work

We bought ours last year, the console worked great, there was a power surge and it didn't want to work again, so I thought. Six months later (last week) I got the console out and it worked just fine. I assume that it needed a break. As far as the graphics go, I recently found out that kids (2yrs to 5yrs) aren't as impressed by graphics of ANY nature when we bought them a Classic Cartoon movie (EX: Betty Boop and Three Stooges from the '50's the graphics are not what's important to them, it's the content. I'm glad the manufacture has kept up with that. We only have the original game and my 4yr old still loves it a year later.

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JUNK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In March I bought it for my son for his birthday and it wouldn't work at all. I took it back to the store where I bought it and they didn't have anymore so I got my money back and then purchased one online and its been only a little over a month and this one isn't working. It seems to only work when it wants to. I can't believe there isnt a recall on this piece of junk.

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v smile

Strengths: none

Weakness: everything

i have bought fouir of these darn things . the last one we bought borke " along with the other three" and my fiance threw away the reciept and box . so returning it was a bust . im going to try and contact the company and try to get a refund or replacement . thins is rediculouse . the system is horrible and im pretty upset that i have to keep buying crap . im a contractor and if i produced work the way this machine is made i woul be out of buisness !

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IT SUCKS!!!

Strengths: Great for learning

Weakness: Doesn't work very well once you get the adaptor.

My baby sister-in-law got two this christmas, just in case of an emergency or something, and well, the first one was played with batteries until we got the adaptor. Well, we got the adaptor and it worked......for about two days....so we plugged in the other one thinking well maybe it was just faulty. Well, what are the chances of someone getting two faulty V-Smiles

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My 2 year old loves this

Strengths: Options, clear directions, works great, durable, long cords

Weakness: Game cartridges look weak (although have had no problems with them)Joystick a little touchy, prices a little high for games

Ok I know this is for children 3 and up but my 2 year old daughter loves it! We sit with her and help her along giving her directions which is fine a child of that age shouldn't sit in front of the tv like that by themselves anyways. I highly recommended this for any parent that's child watches tv, this is interactive and educational for young children. We game all the time so how can we expect our children to not follow in our foot steps slightly. I have had no problems what so ever with this. You can even turn the game options so that you never die! Constant directions though out the game tell you exactly what to do next, i don't think they could have made it any simpler.

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On/Off buttons do not work, Will not turn ON

Strengths: Made for Children, Educational

Weakness: Does not turn on when you want to play, doesn't come with an adapter, uses batteries quick

We have only had this system for about a year now, we bought it for my 4 year old son, Christmas 2007. He loved it and then it just wouldn't come on anymore so he stopped playing it after a month. Between now and then he has probably played it 40 times. We switched batteries I tried everything that everyone has suggested called the tech support and nothing!!! Long wait on the phone then a women comes on rude saying, "maybe you didn't clean it good enough." I was going to buy him another one but after reading that we are not the only ones having trouble with it I think we will just throw it away and buy him more games for the Playstation which does come with the essential plugs to play and turns on when you want to play!! If I had read all this before I would not have even thought about buying him the V Smile that you can't even turn on with the game in or out!!! Very frustrating!!!!!

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GoodWill wouldn't even take this gargage!

Strengths: It would be a great footstool for your child to use because the system is junk.

Weakness: After a day of use everything stops working

I have returned this piece of crap several times. The first time I tossed the box thinking it was a great product considering everyone and their brother raves about it. So, I had to buy one and replace it with the defect. But after exchanging this so many times, I realized that they are all defected. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY! Your better off with flash cards. If all else fails, regift it to someone you can't stand! It will sure bring them frustration!

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It is awesome

Strengths: It makes your child think and respond at the same time, a way of making good choices.

Weakness: not enough games to play. ! joystick messed up but there is only 1 kid playing.

I bought it 3 yrs ago and no trouble with it except for the joystick, want more older games for her. She is so rough on toys and this thing just keeps on going.

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AMAZING

Strengths: easy for young children

Weakness: not many games to choose from

finally a game systemfor the younger age group. My son (4) got this for christmas last year. Its the best gift ever. The joysticks are perfect for little children and the games are very educational. I read some of the other reviews and they were just horrible. My opinion is this game system is just amaazing..we've had ours for over a year now and never had any trouble with it at all. We play it every day and just take care of it. With this there should be no problems.

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Not Impressed

Strengths: it looks fun

Weakness: won't turn on

We got this for Christmas for our 5 year old. From the first day we had issues with the system turning on. Whether it has batteries or an AC adapter (not included), it still won't turn on. You have to push the buttons over and over again, some games won't work at all. It's fun once it's on, but getting to that point is too frustrating. We took it back.

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don

Strengths: learning tool for kids

Weakness: doesn

I brought this system for my daughter as a Christmas present and it started to mess up a few days later. She put it up for about a year and decided to play it once again when she got bored and nothing happened. I tried to call customer support and just recieved a recording. Never recieved any help. It was a waste of money.

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THREE YEARS AND GOING STRONG!

Strengths: LOTS OF GAMES, EASY TO USE, NON-VIOLENT GAMES, HELPS CHILDREN LEARN WHILE HAVING FUN.

Weakness: SHOULD HAVE MORE GAMES FOR THE 8-10 YEAR OLD RANGE.

MY DAUGHTER HAS BEEN PLAYING THIS ALMOST DAILY FOR THREE YEARS AND STILL LOVES IT. SHE HAS ALMOST EVERY TAPE AND IT HAS HELPED HER SCHOOL WORK ALOT. SHE HAS EXCEEDED STUDENT EXPECTATIONS FOR HER GRADE AND THIS IS BECAUSE SHE IS LEARNING WHILE SHE IS PLAYING. I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT. IT IS GREAT. THERE IS AN ADAPTER AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE FOR THIS PRODUCT. THAT IS A GOOD IDEA BECAUSE SHE USES IT SO MUCH I COULD NOT KEEP UP WITH BUYING THE BATTERIES. I KNOW OTHER PARENTS WHO HAVE THIS FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND THEY HAVE NO COMPLAINTS EITHER. THIS IS A SUPER PRODUCT!

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Please do not waste your money...

Strengths: Great concept - educational gaming console geared toward a specific age range.

Weakness: Overall quality of product. Does not include AC Adapter; Power supply is temperamental; Joystick is also temperamental.

The overall concept of the gaming console is a brilliant idea however, as we sometimes learn in life, you get what you pay for. A full gaming console geared towards our children for only $50 in comparison to a true gaming system such as XBOX, Playstation, etc. We should only expect that the graphics will not be up to par as in the more expensive consoles however the VSmile does not include an AC Adapter. This is an additional $10-$20 so now the overall price has just become, at most, $70.

My son finds that the joystick is temperamental as the gaming system does not necessarily follow his lead and the power button works only when conditions are just so which are very rare. The game cartridge is extremely difficult to remove and in now way can it be removed by a typical child; I can barely remove it myself after extended usage.

Needless to say, I am extremely disappointed in this product. It has become more of a hassle than an educational tool at this point. How often do you truly want to spend finding solutions to your problematic gaming console? We have found that we spend more time troubleshooting this system that we actually spend utilizing it for it's intended use.

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Waste of Money!!

Strengths: Music is o.k. Educational

Weakness: Graphics are pathetic, sound is bad, power doesnt work all the time, joystick is too hard to use for a child, does not come with AC adapter

I bought this for my son last Christmas. Worked for about 2 weeks. Took it back to Walmart, and got another one. That one worked for like a month. Took that one back, same thing all over again. Power will not turn on. I purchased batteries, but they last for like two days!
There is not a wide variety of games to choose from.
I DO NOT recommend buying this product. You will end up at the store returning it!! Several people have told me they had the same problems so its not something my son is doing, its the product!
SAVE YOUR RECIEPTS!!!! And good luck explaining it to a child that Mommy or Daddy cant fix it!

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We love it!

Strengths: Easy to use, teaches while having fun!

Weakness: I did have to purchase the a/c adapter but it was only ten bucks. The graphics are not that great but my children don't care because they can use it on their own unlike their computer games or PS2.

My 4 and 5 year old boys love their V Smile we have ten games two controllers and the handheld pocket they play it almost everyday and we have had it for over a year and it has never had problems. I love it because their learning from it and I don't have to pay a fortune for the games I usually pay fifteen to twenty bucks a game unlike our PS2 where the games vary from thirty to sixty bucks a game and for small children thats too much.

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Vsmile It is just junk

Strengths: If it works well it works what can i say

Weakness: everything Graphics pore wont turn on or if it wants to it will turn on but for how long had to put the games in the freezer to make them work some times. the system just wants to work some times

If you push the button Pray that it works
If not keep trying for about 6 hours.
graphics and sound is terrible.
Joystick is crap.
now i had to repair that thing 6 times myself with spare parts ordered from v tech.
it will quit working every 2 weeks
Please do not buy this thing.
all it does is give you a frustrated child because the game does not work.
Support hmmmm what support
that is a joke right ???????????
Will never buy vtech products again in my life.
And if my wife will ever come home with vtech stuff it will be back faster then it came in my house.
Little tip :

if a game does not want to work after 6 hours trying
put it in the freezer for 20 minutes
i did that with the bob the builder game
when i took it out it did work after 12 times trying the power button and take the game out and reinsert it.

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