Customer Reviews

Quantum Leap Mind Station Connector

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

Where was this stuff when I was growing Up? My son has about 30 new spelling words each week. It is difficult enough attempting to share time with the TV & Video games and still get his spelling words memorized. The Turbo Twist Spelling along with the Mind Station allows me to easily create his spelling word list and download it to the game. The "Toy" does the rest! It even uses his own name when teaching him. I also have called the 1-800 number for help. The people there are knowledgable, friendly, and very helpful to get you up and running with this product in very little time. The "Toy" has a head phone connection for trips in the car. Thank You Leap Frog for making learning FUN!

We have had a chance to download additional material for our Turbo Twist Speller, LeapPad, and Imagination Desk. Selections are limited, but the Activity Sheets are new every week, more selections are available as time goes on. The ability to enter a child's spelling word list from school into the Speller via MindStation has been a big help to homework.

Downside: unit is very light without batteries (we use a 6V DC adapter) and easily slides around on the desk. Leap Pad does not offer an adapter which seems odd, as this unit will most likely stay in the same nook next to a single computer. However they are readily available so this is a minor concern. Cartridge must be removed and reinserted if website is closed and later revisited.

Overall a quality product that delivers.

I bought this item to expand my daughter's leappad, and it is great. She has already had me download three different units for her use. While the unit is slower than I thought it would be and has a few "secrets" (wait for congratulations not the end of the download) overall it is well worth the money. I suggest you order extra cartidges for it when you get it however. The one it comes with limits use to one unit at a time. With multiples, you can change games as your child's attention span goes.

The Leapfrog products are great and educational, but I do not like that after you purchase a product like the Turbo Twist speller you buy the Mind Station and then you have a monthly fee that is not heavily advertised on the packaging of this product. My neighbor and I bought this and were caught off guard by the extra monthly cost. We both would not have bought it if we had known and because it is an electronic toy stores are reluctant to return them.

The leapad turbotwists are fantastic concepts. We bought them intending to use tehm with the mindstation to update them. However, We soon discovered that the mindstation could not be connected to a USB port. THus it could only be used on legacy (older computers) Before you buy a mind station make sure your computer will support a serial interface. I contacted the company and they said they are trying to develop a UB capable Mind sation. Before you buy make sure your getting an interface connection your computer can use

What a disappointment. Downloading problems with audio. I found the Support Dept. to be no help at all. Following their instructions wasted hours of my time. In order to use the activity sheets, you need a special tray which does not come with the Mind Station. It will be sent when you register your product. I registered on 12/8, got an e-mail on 12/14 that it would be in the mail 3 - 4 days; haven't seen it. So the Mind Station is a totally useless Christmas gift being we can't do anything without this tray. The activity packs are 3 sheets. 3 sheets and the cartridge can only be used for one at a time. Also you can not see the activity sheets until you have downloaded the pack so there is no way to know beforehand if it will be something useful to your child. I feel extremely sorry for the parents that will spend their entire Christmas Day trying to hook this up for their child only to find out they won't be able to use it for 6 - 8 weeks when the tray comes in. Leapfrog blew it with this product. They owe a public apology to the purchasers of the Mind Station. For $40+, they should include the tray with the Mind Station and should also include an extra cartridge. The web site should also allow you to preview what you are downloading to avoid wasted time and more disapointment.

What I expected to be the greatest Christmas present has turned out to be the biggest disappointment.

I have read the majority of the reviews here before I purchased the Mind Station.
Many individuals shared concerns of missing AC Adapters, and non-working Mind Stations.
Because of the concerns voiced here, I purchased my Mind Station and a GOLD 4MB cartridge directly from LeapFrog for $29.99 & 19.99.
I will be using the Mind Station with a LeapPad PRO and a Turbo Twist Spelling for my 6 yr old son Jonathan.

I have my PC, an AMD Athlon XP 2600+, running Windows 2000 PRO SP4, and I downloaded the latest Mind Station,
and Leap Print software from the Leap Frog website.
It installed without a hitch, and it contains step by step instructions
on connecting the Mind Station and the memory cartridge.
The new USB Mind Station DOES NOT, I repeat, DOES NOT require an AC adapter to work.
It gets its power from the USB port in your PC.

I was able to download a new lesson for the LeapPad PRO into the Silver 2MB memory cartridge that comes with the Mind Station,
and I was able to download my son's weekly word list into the GOLD 4MB memory cartridge.
LeapFrog allows 100 words on any list you want to make, and the number of lists you can make are unlimited.
You can save these lists on the LeapFrog website and make them available to other users,
or pick and choose words from their own list.

One of the best improvements was the ability for the Turbo Twist Spelling to 'SAY' my son's name, JONATHAN !
The look on his face when it said his name was worth all of the time and effort to add this to his Turbo Twist Spelling.

The downloading does take some time, once the information comes across the internet,
and the speed it downloads with is determined by your INTERNET CONNECTION.
I have Optimum Online Cable Broadband, so downloads take less than 1 minute for me,
from the LeapPad website to the Mind Station memory cartridge.
For those of you still on Dial-up, or using DSL, your downloads will probably take a few minutes.
Optimum Online downloads at 10 Mbps, where DSL maxes out at 1.5Mbps, and Dialup maxes out at 56kbps.
Be patient, it will download and it will work just fine.

This has to be the best add on LeapFrog has made.
It works with not just ONE of their products but almost all of them.
It gives you greater control over your child's usage and education,
and also allows you to see how well they do with the products,
when you aren't around to watch them use their LeapFrog products.

The only thing that I wish LeapFrog would do is to charge us just ONE fee
for a yearly subscription and allow us to use the Mind Station with whatever LeapFrog products we own.
Paying a subscription for using the Mind Station with each product it a bit too much.

We have only downloaded one package and it was really fun for my daughter. However, getting to that point took some time and frustration on my part. There is much to download and set up before you can use this. The biggest problem I had was, in order to use this with the Leap Pad, you need a special (free) tray that fits into the book area and holds the printed activity sheets. Without the tray, Mind Station with a Leap Pad is useless. During registration at Leap Frog, I was told that when I signed up, I would be sent the tray. It took about 2-3 weeks for the tray to get here and I had to email customer service and ask for it. Until the tray arrived, we could not use the Mind Station. Customer service was very helpful and the tray arrived promptly after I emailed. I wish that the tray had come with the Mind Station or was offered during the checkout process. I love Leap Frog products and will continue to buy them. Now that we have all we need, the Mind Station, so far, does just what we wanted. It is a great tool! Buy it! But if you have a Leap Pad, don't expect to use this right out of the box.

It is a welcome addition for my Leapfrog products. It updates the product so that my children never get board with doing the same thing over and over again. I use with with the Turbo Twist Math and with the Station I am able to talior it for my 6 year old and my 10 year old. It is the same iwth oll the products that link to the Mind Station. In the long run you will save money and even be able to track your child's progress.

I recently purchased a Mind Station for my son - he has a Leappad. We are having so much fun working on the computer together and downloading new activities. We are utilizing the 6 month trial membership, but intend to purchase it at the end of the six months. The annual membership costs far less than a mindless video game and is SO much more valuable. I would definitely recommend this product even though it has a membership fee.