Nintendo DS Lite

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by Rob Williams on June 21, 2006 in Gaming

After 19 months, Nintendo has released an upgrade to the DS… but is it worthy? Nintendo paid attention to what people did not like about the original, and took care of it. We are taking a fresh look at the DS, and find out what the new revision has over the first.

Page 3 – System, Screen Comparison


And here is what you will be seeing most often when you play:

The D-pad is placed exactly where it should be. It’s spaced out enough so that it’s comfortable to use. On the opposite of the screen are the XYAB and start/select buttons.

At the first power on, you will be asked for preferred language, date, time, birthday, color and nickname.

As mentioned in the intro, the huge deal with this version of the DS is the revamped screen. When I picked my DS at the store, the store manager said to me, “Before you leave, take out the DS and go compare it to the older version we have on display.” Why such a strange request? I quickly found out. After comparing the new Lite to the older DS with the same game playing, the difference was amazing. It made me shake my head, trying to understand how Nintendo could release such a dull LCD in the original DS.

How does it compare to other LCD’s? Well, the following pictures were taken with comparison to my three main LCD’s. Because I had to take out the flash, the quality of the photos are not great, but the difference is clear. The first example is with my 2 year old Dell laptop. That LCD is dull to begin with, so there is no comparison to brightness. The second picture is my desktop LCD.. a 17″ NEC 1740CX. The DS screen is much brighter than my LCD could possibly get. In fact, that’s the brightest you will ever see it. If it was any brighter, it would burn your eyes out after a while.

The last comparison is with my 26″ LG LCD TV. It’s the only LCD I have that can match the brightness of the DS. It may sound funny, but out of the 4 available brightnesses on the DS, only the third setting is used throughout all these photos. The fourth setting is for people who think it’s cool to stare at the sun.

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Rob Williams

Rob founded Techgage in 2005 to be an 'Advocate of the consumer', focusing on fair reviews and keeping people apprised of news in the tech world. Catering to both enthusiasts and businesses alike; from desktop gaming to professional workstations, and all the supporting software.

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