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Mattel Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop

Mattel Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop Review



Overall 3.00 of 5 (by 1 user)




WriterWriter, III
awlafon
Big Island, VA
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Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop: Limited but many good points
3 star rating

buying for a preschooler, buying educational toys
Pros

    Diego, teaches letters, numbers, animals & habitats, self-contained, great travel toy

Cons
    limited

JUN
26
2008
 
Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop

Mattel
SRP: $32.95
Available through Target.com or Amazon.com for less.

Our son is a big fan of Diego, the animal rescuer. Having been through the Dora, the explorer craze with our daughter, we appreciate both for their educational components and the exposure to Spanish. Last year our son dressed as Diego for Halloween with his cute orange backpack and for his fourth birthday he chose to have a Diego party. He received the Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop as a gift and our son has really enjoyed it.

Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop is an interactive laptop that reinforces concepts involving letters, numbers, animals names and facts as well as habitats and geography.

Features of Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop:

* Has 4 double sided flipping pages showcasing different environments for 5 "screens" of play.

* Operates in 3 modes of play: identify, quiz and adventure mode.

*Features the alphabet and a corresponding animal, for example, A and aardvark.

*Has buttons for and opportunities for counting up to 10.

What I really like about Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop:

All parts of the laptop are connected and it folds closed. It's lightweight with large finger slots making it easy for preschoolers to carry. It does require 3 AA batteries but there are no cords and nothing to insert or plug in. This makes it an easy to use, keep up with and a great travel toy. Unlike other toys, once you buy it there are no accessories or new cartridges to buy.

A big bonus is simply that it is attractive to Diego fans. As an educational toy, I really like that it has exposed my child to many different habitats and unusual animals. It is self correcting and reinforcing so it can really be used independently by young children.

Why I say Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop is limited:

While Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop does teach letters, numbers, animals and geography with 5 different screens and 3 modes of play, this is still limited compared to other toys like those by Leap Frog. Once children master all of these concepts and games they will no longer be interested. This isn't a toy that will grow with your child. My guestimate would be that it is a two year toy at most. I would only recommend it for ages 3 -5. While 6 or 7 year olds may enjoy playing with it, I wouldn't purchase it for them. In some ways, it is limited by the very things that I like about it including no cartridges, which would allow the laptop to grow with your child.

My Viewpoint:

My son has really enjoyed his Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop and I appreciate the educational components, easy of use and durability. If I had to choose just one educational electronic toy, I wouldn't chose this one because it is limited. If you don't have to choose just one and you have a little Diego fan, this is still a worthy electronic educational toy.


I_thumb_up Mattel Diego's Animal Discovery Laptop is recommended by awlafon


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I_comment_shdw24 Comments about awlafon’s Review



LisaCarey wrote on Jun 29, 2008 at 11:34PM


Sounds like perfect for Grace, our Diego fan! The limiting nature of it though is why I chose a different one, because I had hoped for them to grow with the games.