Product Description

Plug the Dora Links doll into the computer via USB, and girls will have access to her online world. Girls can help Dora and her friends solve the mysteries through engaging game play that affects change in Dora’s world. The Dora Links doll offers interactivity that allows girls to customize the doll and watch as she transforms before their eyes. As girls explore and solve the online mysteries,the doll’s speech, eye color and jewelry color can change to correspond with their play.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #108 in Toys & Games
• Brand: Mattel
• Model: N9259
• Released on: 2009-09-29
• Dimensions: 13.00" h x 3.00" w x 4.00" l,

Features

• By plugging the Dora Links doll into the computer (via USB), girls will have access to her online world. There, girls can help Dora and her friends solve mysteries through engaging game play that affects change in Dora’s world.
• Disguise Dora online by changing her hair length, eye color, jewelry, and more…and watch those changes magically appear on your Dora doll!
• Meet the Explorer Girls at their online café to help them solve mysteries!
• Explore new locations, get involved in community & charity functions, meet new friends, play games, and even receive D-mail!
• Your Dora Links doll will even alert you when there’s a new online mystery available!

From the Manufacturer
Dora & the Explorer Girls are here to help! And they need your help too - cleaning up their community, helping friends, solving mysteries, and more –in a totally interactive world! The Dora Links doll offers groundbreaking interactivity that allows girls to customize the doll and watch as she transforms before their eyes: By changing Dora’s hair length online, the doll’s hair magically changes as well; As girls explore and solve the online mysteries, which include Dora assuming a variety of disguises, the doll’s speech, eye color and jewelry color can change to correspond with their play; The Dora Links doll also has a magical alert system-she knows when new mysteries are being added to DoraLinks.com. Even when the doll is disconnected from a computer, it will let girls know what new things are happening in Puerto Verde. Dora Links comes with doll stand, USB cord, purse, shoes and brush. Minimum System Requirements: Windows XP (SP3), or Windows Vista; 1-gigahertz (GHz) Pentium 3; 256MB of system RAM; Video adapter and monitor with Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution; 8MB Video RAM; 1GB of free hard disk space; High Speed Internet access (minimum 768kbps); USB V1.1 of Higher; CD-ROM Drive; Speakers; Keyboard and mouse

Customer Reviews

Daughter LOVES it
My daughter's just over 3, but she loves the new Dora! I like the way that the doll doesn't just interact with the on-screen world, but she seems to take the world with her when we disconnect her from the computer! I hate how most electronic toys say the same thing over and over and over--but this one is different. When you unplug her from the computer, she remembers the mystery that you just solved with her, and talks about it when you play away from the computer. It seems to encourage imaginative play AWAY from the computer--I love that--and the things the doll says are always changing. Big bonus.
It's fun connected to the computer too; there are tons of dressup games (DD loves those) and it's fun to change the jewelry, eyes and hair on the computer and then watch the doll change to match. We play the games and the mysteries together, but I'm sure older kids could do it alone.
Just one thing to be aware of--there is some "download" time you have to be ready for when you first install the software, so be ready to let your daughter play with the doll away from the computer for about 20 minutes or so while you get everything set up.

Great Toy, frustrating software setup.. here's some possible answers.
I had read the reviews for Dora Links before my daughter got it as a gift. We went into it knowing there was a lot of frustration regarding the software. Well, that was definitely an understatement. Having never written a review, and knowing the holidays are coming up, I thought I'd add my opinions to the mix and maybe some helpful solutions to parents. My daughter who just turned 5 is enjoying the doll. Easy to dress, seems durable (tad heavy for a doll, but understandable), etc. Now that she can plug it into the computer, also seems to navigate the Dora world just fine. It is in spanish with sub titles that we've figured out so far, so if you have a non-reader, be prepared to help possibly.

The problem is the software. We spent hours trying to get the software to load etc. We then spent hours trying to download the software from the site. Then hours the next day talking to the company. Here is what we have found out and thought we would share for other parents. This is definitely a toy that I would strongly suggest getting the software downloaded and installed before your child receives the doll as it can be time consuming depending on their server and the traffic on it. The Dora Links server can busy. The disk that comes with the doll is in essence not really the software. It is a program that tells your computer to download the software from the website which is the constant 'content downloading' message you read about. If their server is busy, you may then spend two hours downloading (this is with a cable connection) just to have it drop on you all a sudden. It then does not pick back up from where it left off. The suggestion they finally gave us was to google for a free download manager software. This will allow it to continue to push at their server to download the software and then if it does drop, pick back up where it started. I would not use the disk at all as I've seen others have had issues with it. The 'download' on the website is the software you need and the most updated. Once we did this, it installed perfectly and worked great immediately.

Great toy, very frustrating to setup. If you're reading this, I'd strongly suggest you follow the above way for installing the software.

6 year old Daughter loves it! Mom and dad need to set things up ahead of time or its tears!
I'm also a professional software engineer, and wearing that hat, I'm disappointed with the installation experience. I successfully installed everything on my daughter's modest vista machine. The only word I can use to describe the experience is SLOW! The installation, and mysterious updates and `unpacking' steps took forever. I'd say you're looking at minimum and hour to get things going. More installation guidance, perhaps a README file on the CD-ROM would have been very welcome. I certainly think children's software should be held to a higher standard of quality.

As a parent, if we had tried to get things up and going with my daughter waiting excitedly it would have been a catastrophe! Luckily that was averted by getting everything setup the night before.

One issue we had was at the end of the initial tutorial there were no other mysteries to solve. This took a little while to figure out, and basically was getting out of the game entirely, restarting it, enduring another `update' and `unpack', and then 5 new mysteries were available.

The doll and the game work as advertised. There is definitely is a strong hook to encourage mom and dad to purchase other dolls and accessories as they unlock other parts of the Dora Links play world. It is a little disappointing when my daughter can't enter an error or play a game because it's locked. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this sales tactic using my daughter as the lever.

All that said, my daughter really loves this doll! And my wife and I are really glad we got it for her. She is very attached to it and can't wait to plug Dora in to her computer and change her appearance etc. The mysteries are right at the edge of her game play abilities, and we have to help her a little occasionally. If mom and dad set up everything first, and try it out first before they let the kids loose on it I think it can be a great gift for all involved.