Customer Reviews

Vtech Bugsby Reading System Pen and Starter Book

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We first purchased the Tag for our (then) 5 year old son, but could not get the audio to download. After numerous emails to LeapFrog and many tries on several different (family & friends) computers, we just could not get it to work. Very disappointing as I felt that it was truly a quality product. The only book he can use with it is the one it came with.

Enter the Bugsby. Each book has it's own cartridge which has a place for storage inside the back cover. For that reason I gave it an extra star for "ease of use" (at least for us!). As long as you don't loose these you're good to go and can change out the cartridge for a new story as many times as you want(the Tag could only store 5 stories at a time, if you wanted to add more you add to remove another). The pen device works in the same manner as a Tag. It has a place for headphones to be plugged in, buttons to adjust the volume up and down and a "read the whole story" button.

As far as the book that comes with it goes, it's a simple story about how Bugsby, who has lost his glasses, searches within different stories (accompanied by his friends Josh and Hanna)to find them. Along the way it labels different animals, and includes "game" buttons on each page (with "stop", "repeat", "yes" and "no" buttons to be used with it). Games include things such as "Find the animal next to the squirrel", "What animal begins with this sound 'p'?", "Do these words have the same vowel sound, 'cup'/'mat'?" and have different levels. Touching in different areas of the book produce little silly sounds, characters saying a few phrases, and short songs. The back of the book includes a two page spread of the alphabet with games to go along with it and a "Story Writer" spread which allows the child to come up with several versions of a short story, changing the character, action and setting. The book has the option to read each individual page or the whole book. I would say the reading level is K-2 depending on the child.

Overall my son (and I) like this product. I don't think it offers quite as many games or levels of play as the Tag, and the way the narrator voice of the book says certain words sounds strange to me (the T's are overemphasized on certain words - other character voices are fine though). But considering the lower price and the fact that you don't have to worry about downloading anything, the Bugsby worked much better for us.

This review will compare the Leapfrog Tag and the VTech Bugsby. Thought maybe this would help others in their decision making.

We have owned the Tag for some time and my 4 1/2 year old loves it. We have recently turned OFF the TV altogether, except for some on weekends. Before that, he could have cared less about the Tag. Now he loves it. I love it too. Great toy. I haven't had one problem with the downloading part. Only thing...I see no point in owning more than 10 books (do we really need more?). Our Tag only holds ten and I WON'T connect to the computer that often to change around books. The toy is very smart and it's a huge hit.

I recently purchased the Bugsby...mainly because I thought my son would love it. He does miss his "friends" from TV and VTech's books have a lot of the characters that he recognizes. It's nice too. Sings a lot more than the Tag (you have the option of turning off the music). Also when you touch the page on a certain spot it gives three (or more) responses...that's different than Tag. If you touch a spot with Tag, it's the same every time. Adds a bit of variety. It's cheaper than the Tag...books cheaper too. My son loves seeing SuperWhy and World World. But, after seeing a new, exciting toy and playing with it for a bit...he asked for his Tag during quiet time. The cartridges are hard for a 4 year old to put in (sort of hard for a 31 year old too!) My 7 year old handled it well, but my little guy will no way be able to handle that for a while. If they were easier to put in, it might be a nicer feature over Tag because there is no connecting to the computer.

Anyway, overall, they are both very nice toys. The Bugsby is great, but comes in slightly lower than the Tag in our opinion.

I bought this for my 4 year old daughter since she has started trying to read. I also have a daughter who's almost 2.

They both love it so far. It's still early as they've only had it for a day so far. I will update this as we use this more, but initially, I was trying to decide between this and the Tag system. There were good reviews for both systems as well as some complaints about quality issues.

After reading reviews on both, it appears both products do the same thing. Bugsby was onsale and about a third of the price. Bugsby's books were also cheaper, and I didn't see any reason that convinced me that I should get the Tag.

Tag vs Bugsby - summary of differences

Tag hold 10 books which are downloaded.
Bugsby uses cartriges.

There are Pros/Cons to both approaches. Catridges can be lost (there is a plaeholder in each book) Downloads require installing software, downloading, and syncing with the pen)

Tag has more books to choose from

Bugsby costs less.

I went back and forth between purchasing this or the Tag system. What sold me on this one was the books offered. My kids love Wow Wow Wubzy, Olivia, Max and Ruby, Wonder Pets and so on. I did not see some of these characters offered in the Tag system (at least not back in November when I was Christmas shopping).

I also liked that we didn't have to get the computer involved with downloading stuff. The cartridge system works great in our home and my kids are very good about putting away the cartridges after reading each book.

The books are durable and the pen appears to be so as well. My very destructive 4 year old hasn't broken it yet!

I've bought 3 Bugsby reading pen for my son who is 4+,and non of them lasted for a maximum of 5days.Just after reading 2-3books then the battery can function again,if U recharge it doesn't work,if U buy a new one it repeat the same problem.It could have been a nice educational tool but looking at its AAA Battery life,it makes it seem like a toy with no use.I'm not gonna buy a forth one and I'm not recommending it.

We got the Bugsby reading system for our 3 year old daughter for Christmas this year. She is OBSESSED with this toy. Loves it. There are a ton of options with the different books from matching games, reading games, straight reading through the book, and word searches.

My only complaint with this toy is the battery life. It is ridiculously short. My daughter can only really play with this toy for maybe an hour straight before the batteries need to be changed on the little bug. So, get a battery charger and keep the batteries charged at all times.

Otherwise, it's a great toy.

My daughter is 3 1/2 and got this toy for her 3rd birthday. I held on to it and recently gave it to her and she loves it! It is easy to operate (cartidges, on/off, volume, etc.) and the games in the book keep her interested. She loves books and is eager to read. I like that the book not only emphazises the letter but the sound of the letter..."what animal begins with the ahhh sound?" for example. My daughter also knows the alphabet but she had to work a little when asked to point to a letter - she goes through the whole alphabet until she gets to the letter asked for which I think is helpful. I do not really like electronic toys for my young children but this forces my 3 1/3 year old to be interactive and not just passively listen. For the price, it's a fun and educational!

I jus love this product..I found the books @target,but no pen. When I found it here on Amazon I was very pleased. The Bugsby pen has brought my son hours of educational time. Thanks

I went back and forth between whether I should purchase the Tag or Bugsby reading system. I selected the Bugsby based on the reviews by parents and grandparents. Primarily because my son is so "particular" that I felt if the Tag pen didn't line up exactly, it might be a gift that turns into frustration for my son. I read that someone originally bought Tag over Bugsby and ended up returning it for the Bugsby and that was better for them. My son is very bright, but also a bit of a perfectionist and often a color outside a line can be a melt down because "it's not suppose to be". I was concerned about the number of books available for Bugsby, but then afterall, who can afford to buy every book available any way? There are enough books for Bugsby and popular character selections (Max & Ruby, Bugsby, Wonder Pets, Wow Wow Wubzy) so even though there aren't as many books as the Tag, the selection of Bugsby is still great.

My son who turned 4 can absolutely keep himself occupied. The options are easy for him to do "by himself" and he is so glad I don't have to help him. I love the fact that the system tests his comprehensive skills after reading the entire story and has interactive features that encourage him to want to listen and read along. My child seems to feel very good about himself when he gets all the answers right. The Bugsby book that came with it and the Max & Ruby Frog Princess are both big hits! The books have really come down in price too.

Finally, he enjoys "reading" to his 85 year old Nana who is also impressed at how well and easy it is to use.

Our 4-year-old chose to spend some of the money she received at Christmas on this reading system. She was more drawn to it than the Tag because of the pen design (shaped like a cute bookworm). She learned to operate the on/off, volume, and read whole book buttons quickly. I was also surprised at how fast she learned to insert and remove the story cartridges herself.

She still loves for me to read to her, but she enjoys having some independence, too. And she likes to use the pen to "read" books to me. The games at the end of each story and the read the whole story options are her favorites right now. Her 2-year-old little sister has also shown interest in Bugsby, and we will probably buy her one for her third birthday this fall.

We bought three additional books. They ranged in price from $2.50 to $10.00. Her favorite was actually the least expensive, a Max and Ruby book called The Froggy Prince. And she also really likes the starter book that came with the pen.

We've had a good experience overall with this product. The only cons I've seen are that the batteries wear out quickly if she uses it a lot, and she has a hard time trying to switch the cartridges if she's using it in the car.