First, you probably want to note that I'm a 20-year-old guy who found this laying around in his room, while the product is designed around middle-school students.

I will talk about the device and what it's like to use it, but first I want to talk about my qualm: that the multiple-choice questions it uses aren't sufficient for education.

The educational features consist of a "Chapter Challenge" and a "Pop Quiz". Both ask you multiple-choice questions. But they're slightly different. The Challenge isn't timed, and when you miss something it will give you hints, so you can "play until you win". The Pop Quiz asks the same questions, but is fast-paced and you only get one chance. I'd say the "Challenge" mode is more contemplative and where the learning happens, while the "Pop Quiz" is about testing your mastery.

My qualm is that I don't believe just going through the multiple-choice questions will lead to education. Many of the questions amount to memorizing things. For example: "What are the main types of clouds?" The answer says iQuest is "stratus, cumulus, and cirrus". But, knowing this doesn't give you any insight into how weather works. The three types could just as easily be "Ted, Frank, and Larry". Terminology is important, but not enough. Not all are like this; a better question was "When two cold fronts collide, what type of weather would you expect?", followed by an explanation of *why* you'd expect that.

Another problem with the multiple-choice questions is that, after a few times, you might know the answers just by memory.

Overall, I found the multiple-choice questions to be decent stimulation for thought (and sometimes spurred curiosity), a kind of background for me to think about the subject, but on their own the knowledge they impart is not generally valuable. It is true though that the iQuest questions are supposed to supplement a course, so this may change things. But when used alone by a child, it seems to me not a valuable education tool.

Another note though: The device I found had only the base cartridge; meaning only a section on "Weather" in Science and a few algebra sections in Math. I don't own the connector and haven't looked at other chapters. Perhaps these aren't indicative of all of them. Perhaps even there is more than simply "Chapter Challenge" and "Pop Quiz".

Now, I'll talk about the user interface.

Overall, I found it easy to use, possibly due to the fact that it's so simple. You start with a main menu with many options (Challenge, Quiz, Address Book, Schedule, Dictionary, Calculator, Options). You select one and can only do one thing at a time. (So you can't be taking a quiz and then load up the dictionary at the same time, for example.) I didn't reference a manual and was able to use it with few frustrations.

The keypad is laid out like a computer keyboard, so your ability should vary based on whether you can type on those or not.

My big annoyance: To fully use the device, you need the sound up. (If parents are worried about the noise, know there is a headphone jack.) Feedback is given with sound and sometimes with no text equivalent. So if you turn down the sound, you in some cases won't know what's happening. But, I often found the sound nagging. If you don't do anything for awhile, a voice starts "reminding" you, "To navigate, use the up and down buttons to select a choice" (or something similar). It made me anxious. I wished for different sound modes, to turn off the "nagging" and only give me the essential information.

This is another thing. For better or worse, it's not customizable. The only options are name, date, and time; you can't configure sound for example beyond using the volume button, and you have to do that whenever the device starts because settings are not saved.

That's my evaluation, given my experience.

I gave the IQuest to my son for Christmas. It worked for less than one day. I have sent three emails in the last three weeks to Leapfrog's customer support, but so far have only gotten an "we received your email, and we will get back to you" type of response. If this ever gets resolved, I think my son will really enjoy it. My advice: if you get one, keep all the original packaging, and receipts handy so you can return it to the store you purchased it from. So far, I am not impressed with Leapfrog's customer "service".

I had to return this item as I purchased it for my son. They sent the pink version of the iQuest and told me that the description said 'colors may vary'. I was unable to find those terms anywhere and with 'Red' in the item title, I felt they were wrong. If you are looking for red specifically, don't think you will get it. I had to return the item for a refund at my own expense on shipping.
I had to purchase the item itself from another vendor. On the plus side, my son loves the one I finally found him. He is 10 and has his own PDA now.

I am interested in buying this iQuest for my children. It appears that main advantage of this would be to download school text books and then practice it. However it says you would need mind station connector ( sold seperately). What is this connector. I did not find it on the web search either. Who sells it. ? How much does it cost ?
Can anybody help me out.?
I will appreciate.

this is a real great toy I got for my birthday! Makes a great birthday present, although quite expensive. I do not like the cartridge system, although, yes, I do buy the cartridges. I love my IQuest and take it with me on road trips. I would very much reccomend this toy for all ages. I love the Scheduler and the Anagram Game. The address book, dictionary and the calculator are also another excellent features of this toy.