8.1.2015

We purchased this product as a way of weaning our three year old off the iPad, which was awkward to police in terms of usage time and content.I'm not going to go into too much detail about how technically sophisticated a device this is; suffice it to say it charges in a couple of hours, the touch screen is good but nowhere near Samsung Galaxy Tab, let alone iPad good; the screen resolution is perfectly sufficient for the apps the device runs, and response times, lag and reliability all seem to be well within what I'd have expected. It doesn't compare to a full-blown tablet, but it isn't really intended to. If you want the iPad experience,look elsewhere (or buy an iPad).For us the device needed to:- be robust and not mind the occasional unexpected high-speed journey to the carpet- allow access to educational games and apps, that could grow with our son- allow him access to sanitised YouTube content (videos of fire engines mainly)- allow him access to CBeebies via iPlayerIn the main we've been very pleased with the way the Innotab Max has performed. There were a few interesting set up challenges which I thought might be useful for others to know about.Taking the above checklist in order:- it's very robust, has a nice solid cover and has already visited the floor at speed without ill effect. Ports are covered with solid rubber blocks; the included pen is easy for little fingers to grip and use, particularly with the Art Studio app (built-in) which is cracking.- V-Tech provide apps through a portal called 'Learning Lodge', which can be downloaded straight onto the device via WiFi. Some of these apps are also available as cartridges; the device has a slot for V-Tech games cartridges and these can be purchased separately, occasionally offering a saving. We purchased Cars 2 in cartridge form from Amazon, for about half the price of the available download.We had quite a lot of fun getting the cartridge to work. The instructions and website tell you to expect a message when you first insert certain cartridges along the lines of 'you cartridge needs updating; update will be downloaded automatically'. Instead we got a message saying 'cartridge incompatible'. Several hours and one productive call to the helpful V-Tech support folk later, we had an approach to fix the problem: 1. Update Firmware; 2. Restore Factory Settings on device; 3. Reboot and insert cartridge. 4. Select 'Cartridge' icon. It's worth noting that there are no instructions for restoring factory settings provided with it - we got ours in a very helpful email from the V-Tech support chaps.- Sanitised YouTube content: we've used the built-in web browser and created a Google account for the family. You can then use YouTube's Safety Mode to filter the content that can be played through that account. It's not foolproof - relying on user reports of suitability, but it'll work fine until he's canny enough to get round these things himself.- iPlayer/Cbeebies: you can't put the iPlayer or Cbeebies apps onto the device; we've set the thing up so that one of the 'parent-approved' sites on the web browser is a shortcut to the cbeebies YouTube channel. Again, not ideal, but works fine to get him the content he wants.An additional unanticipated benefit has been that letting him self-serve fire engine videos and Peppa Pig has actually reduced the amount of time he spends on it, in favour of other non-screen-based entertainment. Add to that the comfort of knowing he's not watching any more than you've allowed, and we're definitely happy customers. It's a shame it was a bit of a pain to set up; I don't think I can give it five stars when we had to ring support to get it to do what it should have done out of the box. Nevertheless, it's a great piece of kit and has met all of our needs.

8.11.2014

Extremely impressed after first few days of use. I have been an innotab fan since first having innotab 2, then innotab 3 and innotab 3S. We also have other tablet makes for our older kids but this is perfect and very enjoyable for my 4 year old.The good points,The screen size is excellent and the quality is excellent.The 2 megapixel camera is a big improvementThe tablet is much faster than the older model.The stylus with rubber tip is awesome.Looks very fancy and is a bit thinner than the 3SIts a little odd to have to use wifi to download games. I'm used to the older models where i connected the innotab to my laptop and transferred the content across.I guess this is better if you don't have a laptop though.Bad pointsProbably not a huge issue but not all the content I purchased in the past is currently available for the innotab max.For example I had 6 cartridges. Sofia, doc mc stuffins and monsters university downloaded fine but the other 3 do not exist.I'd imagine they are in the progress of upgrading and mickey mouse etc will appear shortly. About half of all content purchased for an old innotab has appeared with the exception of books for which only the ugly duckling is there out of 12 books on the 3S.There are no books to purchase either so i'm 100% sure that they are converting them to play on the new tablet.I'll update this review once I have tried downloading the android apps to see how they perform and also when I have transferred one of his movies to the innotab as he likes to watch films on his innotabs. Easy to do on all other innotabs so i'm hoping i'll be able to transfer his movie collection to his 32GB micro sd card.Update 1: Tonight I got a bit of time and managed to get movies transferred and playing on the innotab max. simple and easy thankfully. H.264 MP4 format for anyone else doing the same. Might save you a bit of time as it took me 3 attempts.Update 2: If you have spent money downloading any cartridges for a previous innotab then only the following are available currently on innotab max so the others will not be there.List available: TMNT, learn to write with cody and cora, monsters university, pixar play, toot toot drivers, peppa pig, bubble guppies, doc mc stuffins, disney planes, sofia the first, Ultimate spider man. as you can see the likes of scooby doo; spongebob; cars;minnie mouse; Hello Kitty and mickey mouse are currently non existant so you may have wasted 19.99 if you downloaded these for your old version innotabUpdate 3: Good news they are converting previously downloaded content to the innotab max format. Jake and the neverland pirates automatically downloaded to the tablets today. That means all previously downloaded content will appear eventually.

7.11.2014

Extremely impressed after first few days of use. I have been an innotab fan since first having innotab 2, then innotab 3 and innotab 3S. We also have other tablet makes for our older kids but this is perfect and very enjoyable for my 4 year old.The good points,The screen size is excellent and the quality is excellent.The 2 megapixel camera is a big improvementThe tablet is much faster than the older model.The stylus with rubber tip is awesome.Looks very fancy and is a bit thinner than the 3SIts a little odd to have to use wifi to download games. I'm used to the older models where i connected the innotab to my laptop and transferred the content across.

26.4.2020

OK so I got this for my 3yo son who loves using our phones and my ipad, but I live in fear when he uses them, since he has been deleting apps and content from my devices, and I feel bad telling him off as it is new-ish to him and I feel he should have room to play and learn freely so I wanted to get something for just him so he can do so. I obviously wanted something more aimed at little ones with lots of educational games and creative content with lots of parental control (you can set time limits, add and delete sites and even see a progress report) .With expandable memory (micro sd upto 32gb) you can add to the internal memory for all their photos and videos as well as extra games to download.

30.12.2014

The original VTech Innotab Max that was delivered by Amazon continually froze and only seemed to manage to work for 2-5 minutes which obviously as a device for a child could result in a lot of frustration.Luckily Amazon's excellent customer service replaced the device and the new device seems to be working perfectly.If you are used to a tablet like an iPad you will find this device is a little slow at starting, changing applications and generally doing anything... but if you can cope with a few seconds delay it seems pretty good. Our 3 year old boy has already got to grips with the basic functionality and knows where to find his games, we bought the Peppa Pig game which so far he is really enjoying.The camera is dire and almost not worth having,

9.10.2014

I received this today in advance of Christmas so my son is yet to receive it, I have however had a good play with it and am very impressed. My sons currently have the Innotab 1 which for those that know it is very clunky, the "touch" screen is very very hard to navigate, the screen is small and the picture is rubbish. This new much larger screen on the innotab max is massively improved, obviously its not as sharp as your retina Ipad but you are not paying ipad prices and your child is unlikely to care for that level of clarity. The touch screen is fully responsive, I had no trouble with selecting the wrong thing or having fat fingers like I do on the Innotab 1.Another positive is the ability to add multiple child profiles,

7.12.2014

Had problems with first innotab we purchased but returned easily and placement works much better, no freezing or problems loading games now. V tech support line very helpful too. Would advise setting up in advance if Christmas present. Had a good look around features and think will be a good product for my 4 year old autistic son. Hoping to steer him away from ipad and you tube addiction and on to more educational apps. Ok, so it's not as fast as Apple technology and has limitations in use but is designed for kids and will definitely be sturdier than ipad, ours is completely trashed! Price at the moment is fab and plenty of discounted games available too, just check for compatibility.

7.1.2015

It looks lovely and the touch screen works very well, so far! The stylus is much much nicer than on the Innotab 2 , and i like the cover/stand, which is removable. The only problem we've had is finding that not all the cartridges work, we have Doc Mcstuffins, Princesses and planes with should hope fully work but they need an up date the othe two tinkerbell and scooby doo, are available apparently! this is annoying as someone gave her the tinkerbell for christmas. I think if you want to buy this you need to research better than we did perhaps, but i really love the added bonus of a built in rechargable battery. The previous having batteries which depending on usage could have to be changed every couple of days,

9.1.2015

Daughter loves it had innotab 3s but got her this one because it looks like my tablet, the screen is bigger and lot more on this one. You do need internet to downloads cartridges which you put in which wasn't a problem just glad i could use the ones she had already. All the stuff I got of the learning logde was there and so glad the internet on the last two models because I don't have to go on PC to download stuff anymore. The webpages, videos and game they chose are good there where you tube videos there when frist got all kid friendly daughter loved it had frozen song video let it go but not there any more do have other videos websits like cartoon network but I've tried watching something on there but never works.

8.1.2015

PLEASE NOTE: There are issues with this product and the filmware if you (Like Us) use BT for your broadband and have a BT supplied router. I had to get a micro SD card sent to me by VTech's technical Dept. as their technical teams initially emailed download didn't work. All in all the issue took a week to sort out. (Not good)The Product:Fantastic piece of kit, even for my two year old who has stopped asking for her Mum's iPhone and now carries this where ever she may be exploring. The tablet is packed full of feature rich apps for her to explore with the minimum of fuss (She's only 2 after all!)The battery life is roughly 16 hours and needs a daily charge, however that is with 16 hours of being switched on and left on.

13.12.2014

We have purchased these as Christmas gifts for kids aged 3 & 6 who do not currently have any form of 'kids tablet' device. We have opened them already to see how they work and start programming them. Warning: this is essential prior to giving to a child as it takes a while to set up and download the various V-tech products. The tablet comes with a few built in games and demo videos, but really it is blank ready for you to personalise. We have so far spent about 3 evenings working out how to download music, videos and a few extra games! This has been relatively straight forward, but I would still recommend having a go before your child is given it (unless you have a very patient child!).

7.1.2015

My 3yr old loves playing on my tablet & loves the fact he now has his own! He loves taking photos on it & playing games etc. He's mastered it quickly and can easily find his way around from one app to another. It keeps him entertained & he's learning as well. Thankfully he isn't interested in spending hours on it (yet), and I hope he stays active rather than glued to a screen for a long time. Love the ability to limit his usage as and when he does reach that stage. Seems very solid, sturdy and durable. I did a lot of research into kids tablets before buying this one. Seems to do the job well. He's happy, I'm happy! The flip over cover & carry handle are great for little people too.

3.1.2015

I bought this well in advance of xmas for my 3 year old little boy. Very easy to set up. I added the free apps and also bought a series of Charlie n Lola to get him through xmas until I could have a good play with it. I have since managed to load you tube on his browser, and burn his favourite dvd's and music on to an additional SD card, which slots in the side of the tablet. I am currently adding some you tube movies onto it also. I think its ideal for a child. Plenty of educational games to choose from and from the vtech store I have noticed you can upgrade previous innotab cartridges so they to play on the innotab max. So far I am impressed!

28.1.2016

I loved this until the learning lodge crashed and sensitive information was hacked and stolen by criminals. Since then my son can't play any of his new games. Nearly three months on and the site has not been fixed. Games for innotab max are the same as the other innotab games but need to be updated through the learning lodge site in order to be used. So with the site being closed as a result of the hack my son's new games cannot be played. Vtech is not offering adequate compensation (if you can call 2 free rubbish games that). Think twice

2.12.2015

This is a brilliant tablet for children, giving them the perfect experience they need for technology usage. The size of the screen is just right, and the picture quality is superb. We have had innotabs 2 and 3 in the past and I love that this one comes with a charger rather than having to buy batteries, which makes it so much more convieient and portable. I actually bought 3 of these for Christmas on the 3 for 2, 2 pink ones for my 5 and 7 year old daughters and a blue one for my 8year old son.

Vtech InnoTab Max - Reviews

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