Be Excellent To Each Other

It's not my own DS Lite, but it's causing emotional distress to the owner. So I must help.

It was bought at launch, mid 2006. White model. Hinge has snapped, basically. Has the box but no receipt, so not really sure what to do. It's affected the top screen to death, so it's not something that can be shrugged off.

Presumably this is a common problem, right? Has anyone been through the same, and how did your DSL get replaced or repaired?

Thanks.

It is a common program, you're out of warranty but call Ninty and they can take care of it for a price.

Hmmm, hopefully not a price similar to that of getting a new DS Lite.

I wonder if it's worth trying to 'convince' Game to take it back for a replacement, in the mean time.

Given it's 18 months out of warranty I think you'd have trouble.

You can register it on their website and they'll then send you a postage-paid label that you stick on to packaging to get it to them; include card details (actually, that might have been via an online link after they've assessed it, I don't think I included them with the DS) and they only go ahead with the repair on your say-so, but possibly they charge for return if you don't have it fixed. The price is then from £29.85-£53.85. Mine was the top whack, but that's cos I dropped it from a height onto concrete and the hinge broke completely, severing the connection and so on. Might well not be quite as much as that - not unreasonable, I don't think.

http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/support_62.html

And, unless you want to wait for a DSi, even £60 is a decent old discount on buying a new one I feel.

Well, guess not. Not ideal, but hey.

http://www.nintendoservicecentre.co.uk/ seems to have all the info there. In the meantime I'll suggest the owner tries to get a replacement from Game by talking their way round it, and send it off to Nintendo if that fails. Win win. Possibly...

I don't see how game will replace it, if it is nearly 2 years old?

Ah, possible. I couldn't rewire the damaged DS Lite into one of those, don't have anywhere the level of skill, but I know someone (well, my dad) who'd do it on behalf of the DSL's poor owner. Thanks for linking to that.


Oh, believe me, you'd be surprised what some shops replace for customers sometimes, with the right amount of luck.

I've had to send DS Lites back to Nintendo about five times with various faults.

I thought shops only offered 12 months, then it went to manufacturers. I could be wrong

Mine has had no problems whatsoever. Then again, I don't use it.

Mines pretty knackered, my hinge is cracked as well but the only way to keep it open is to put the screen all the way back otherwise anywhere in the middle it will slam shut. I havent the money for a replacement and nintendo dont seem to be making anything for it anymore, what was the last good game they made for it?

I've not used mine in ages either. Having an R4 and access to any game actually reduced my interest in it. Maybe I should get rid of the R4 and start buying games for it again.

Give it to me, I think mine is borked.

You can have the old one

Yep, me and DoccyG had this very discussion a couple of weeks ago. The 360 is my most played console ever, largely because I haven't pirated it at all.

Fancy that, eh?

I meant the R4, not the DS.

Mine too but I'm not sure that it's because I haven't pirated it. If I could play online with you lot with pirated games I'm pretty sure it might have got played even more, as it is the only game I have that everyone plays is Burnout.

My DS is fault free and used almost daily. Free games rule.

My DS has been fine but it does have a hairline crack around one of the hinges.

No, what I'm saying is that I've appreciated the games more because I've bought them. Had I got all of the 360's catalogue on ISOs, I bet I'd barely play it. When I just had Zoo Keeper and Brain Training for my DS, I was playing it every day.

Send me a tenner everytime you yarr a DS game if it helps.

It's not the yarring that's the problem, I don't think. I just like having stuff on my shelves to browse through and like taking time choosing what I'm going to play next. Choosing a game from a list on a screen doesn't have the same feeling, for some odd reason...

I have d/l a load of games, and been fundamentally disappointed with 90% of them, some of them have been truly awful. I don't think it is a case of access to games means you play less, that would simply mean you played any single game less. I think it is more to do with the quality of games released on the DS, and also how (un)suited the games are to the DS. For example, CoD4 on the DS is rubbish, and it always would be as it is going to be compared to the Xbox... versions. Also the fact that the DS simply isn't designed to be held for more than 2 minutes at a time.

Yeah. Freak.

I've got a spare R4 kicking about the place, if you're interested? Bought for my daughter who's never used it. Not sure if I've got a Micro SD card to go with it, but you can pick those up for about tuppence and a bag of crisps these days.

An R4/Edge certainly makes it handy for carrying lots of games around. You wouldn't think the tiny cards would be a problem but once you get to about 30-40 games, they can take up a fair bit of space in a carry case, particularly with a few GBA games in there too. I had to do a bit of quality control and put the games I was less likely to play back in their boxes.

I still exercise the same caution I do when buying first - I don't get hold of anything until I've seen it reviewed, preferably from somewhere I trust, though metacritic can help get an idea. And then I'll buy or download it, and if it stays on the wee card then it gets bought. Saves a lot of wasted time plus, perhaps more importantly, I don't get the idea that the DS is full of rubbish, which I would if I tried things more indiscriminately. Wandering into a shop becomes slightly bizarre, as they have relatively few of the things I'd actually fancy, but I'll ignore that side of it and pick from the best. Brilliant machine, in use daily for me too.

I had a go on a DS Lite over the holidays and I really don't like them. They feel small, plasticy and cheap. Yes the screen is better but the entire thing feels like something you could buy on Deal Extreme for a fiver.

Also a severe lack of worthwhile titles has prevented me from buying any DS games lately.