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(More customer reviews)As the dad of a three-year old book lover, I want to focus on what the Poingo system does differently than the Tag Reader, for those debating between the two systems.
The Poingo system is certainly cheaper than the Tag Reader (and you'll find it even cheaper than amazon elsewhere, like Target). The books are more affordable, too. So for price, Poingo wins hands down. That includes the books it comes with--Finding Nemo and Cars--as opposed to the one story in the standard Tag Reader set.
The Poingo books are physically better, too, in my opinion. Although both systems offer hardcover books (EXCEPT the one book the standard Tag Reader comes with), the Poingo books are larger in size. I personally prefer this. Each page also includes more story, more text, which I like.
Tag Reader beats Poingo, however, when it comes to book selection. Tag has easily two dozen books to choose from, including some beloved classics like Cat and the Hat and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. I also like some of the breadth of the Tag choices, like dinosaurs and pirates.
Poingo seems to be exclusively Disney--besides Finding Nemo and Cars, I've seen a Pooh story, bought Cinderella and Lion King, and I know they make Sleeping Beauty (though I've never seen it). For my little Disney fan, this is wonderful. But be aware that Tag also has Disney licenses, like Cars, a Princess story, and so on. So the Disney-only selection may be a turn-off for some of you.
Both sets of books seem to include mini-games alongside the main story, which I love.
The Poingo pen is larger, easier to hold than Tag, but really, my little one has no trouble with either. The Poingo pen has only three settings--off, on, and on with more volume. Tag has on but more volume options in between. Poingo pen seems to auto shut-off pretty quickly--which is both good and bad (good for batteries, bad for a kid who wonders why he paused for a minute and the pen won't work).
Both pens connect to the computer via USB cable. I find Tag's system easier to handle and navigate, and the Tag system of tracking usage and rewarding game wins isn't a huge deal for me, but still, it's nice to have it. Poingo's system seemed much clunkier, harder to use, with no online rewards or tracking as far I am aware of.
Then again, I've always hated how the Tag pen only can hold five or six books at most at one time (this puts a dent on all that selection I mentioned before). Meanwhile, Poingo holds it all easily.
Tag is more of a word recognition system for early readers. Put the pen on a word, and only that word is "read" out loud. There's an option for reading the whole thing, but really, this system obviously focuses on word recognition and sentence-level learning. With Poingo, point to almost any word and that whole page gets read, not the one word only. Poingo is therefore either more of a story-telling system or for someone who can read along more easily, a more advanced young reader.
Poingo does have vocabulary, unlike Tag, for key words printed in green. These words do not include EVERY word--just some--but still, that seems like a nice option.
I notice that the Tag games are more phonetic (word building) and basic, while the Poingo games are more advanced (geography, species, etc.)
So which should you buy if you are debating between the two? I'm happy with both, myself; they are just different enough to not compete with my son's attention. If you are a happy Tag owner, I would recommend this Poingo system as a supplement.
But if you had to have just one, I think the main factors to consider are:
-price--Poingo is cheaper
-book selection--Tag has more (more expensive, but still more)
-age of your child (if younger, I'd pick Tag, if a little older or more advanced, pick Poingo)
-your own comfort with computer software (if you are a pro, Poingo is no biggie. Otherwise, Tag is a lot easier to use)
Hope this helps--have fun.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Poingo Reading System-2-book Set - Disney Pixar's Cars and Finding Nemo
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