A story to start:
Back in August of 2010, my DS Phat finally bit the dust. By that I mean, it suffered a blow to the top that cracked the top screen to hell. The touchscreen had been kinda screwy for a few years from just overuse with games such as Elite Beat Agents and the like. I got this DS, titanium colored as they called it, Christmas 2004. I was ecstatic to get it, as I knew if I did get it, I would be getting Super Mario 64 DS as a game to play. Me and my DS had good times and bad over the six years I had it. By the time it got sent in, both screens were messed up beyond usage for their individual reasons, the battery could barely hold a two hour charge at best (no sound on too, with sound, it was a little over an hour), the L button was to the point that I had to blow it out to use it every time it went unused for more than an hour, and the Slot 1 was freaking out on me a little.
Needless to say, it had it's share of problems, and I wasn't surprised since I got the first model of DS only a month after the system launched in the US. Well, I gave in and went to set up a repair order with Nintendo. I had looked for parts around the internet before thinking that maybe, just maybe I could undertake the more complicated task of replacing DS Phat screens. Needless to say, it was a fruitless search. The only way I could get any parts were to buy lots of old DS Phats that may or may not have any working parts in them, much less the ones I needed. This led to me emailing Nintendo and telling my tale of woe and disappointment in their inability to create a handheld as long lasting as say, the Gameboy Color.
I ended up actually setting up a call time late August of 2010. Now, I didn't get a free repair (I wish :3), but I did get $25 off and free shipping via FedEx leading to a $50 total. This was all fine and dandy, but I had another problem. I had no money. I had maybe $0.50 in change at the time of making the repair order. I was in minor despair at the prospect of losing this deal until I saw the repair orders lasted for a full year. Long story short, I managed to scrape together $50 by December through selling an account on an internet game I play (not a penny in, got $60 out).
Basically, I shipped it at the end of December, thought all was good, and waited. Well, this last Saturday, I get a phone call from Nintendo asking me to call regarding my repair order that they had received. I go to put it off until a little later, next thing I know, it's 6 at night PST and I can't call that day. The weekend goes by, I come home from school today and they called again. I figured it HAD to be kind of important. I called them on my friend's cellphone on the way to his house, gave my name, order number, address and such to verify it was my order, then I got the bad news.
They no longer can even service Phats. They are dead in the eyes of Nintendo. Instead they offered me a free, new DS lite of my color choice. I went with the red and black, but am sad. I enjoyed the sound quality of the Phat, the firm hinge, and the generally well working shoulder buttons. I've used a lite before, and am not impressed by the cheap build in the slightest. Still though, it was a money order I had sent, $50 I couldn't get back in their hands, so I wasn't just going to get that and my old broken Phat back.
Thus, I accepted their deal and now have a new red and black lite on the way. Here is to hoping it will last. I guess it isn't that bad though. New lite with a fresh one year factory warranty for $50. I suppose I could have done worse.
Back in August of 2010, my DS Phat finally bit the dust. By that I mean, it suffered a blow to the top that cracked the top screen to hell. The touchscreen had been kinda screwy for a few years from just overuse with games such as Elite Beat Agents and the like. I got this DS, titanium colored as they called it, Christmas 2004. I was ecstatic to get it, as I knew if I did get it, I would be getting Super Mario 64 DS as a game to play. Me and my DS had good times and bad over the six years I had it. By the time it got sent in, both screens were messed up beyond usage for their individual reasons, the battery could barely hold a two hour charge at best (no sound on too, with sound, it was a little over an hour), the L button was to the point that I had to blow it out to use it every time it went unused for more than an hour, and the Slot 1 was freaking out on me a little.
Needless to say, it had it's share of problems, and I wasn't surprised since I got the first model of DS only a month after the system launched in the US. Well, I gave in and went to set up a repair order with Nintendo. I had looked for parts around the internet before thinking that maybe, just maybe I could undertake the more complicated task of replacing DS Phat screens. Needless to say, it was a fruitless search. The only way I could get any parts were to buy lots of old DS Phats that may or may not have any working parts in them, much less the ones I needed. This led to me emailing Nintendo and telling my tale of woe and disappointment in their inability to create a handheld as long lasting as say, the Gameboy Color.
I ended up actually setting up a call time late August of 2010. Now, I didn't get a free repair (I wish :3), but I did get $25 off and free shipping via FedEx leading to a $50 total. This was all fine and dandy, but I had another problem. I had no money. I had maybe $0.50 in change at the time of making the repair order. I was in minor despair at the prospect of losing this deal until I saw the repair orders lasted for a full year. Long story short, I managed to scrape together $50 by December through selling an account on an internet game I play (not a penny in, got $60 out).
Basically, I shipped it at the end of December, thought all was good, and waited. Well, this last Saturday, I get a phone call from Nintendo asking me to call regarding my repair order that they had received. I go to put it off until a little later, next thing I know, it's 6 at night PST and I can't call that day. The weekend goes by, I come home from school today and they called again. I figured it HAD to be kind of important. I called them on my friend's cellphone on the way to his house, gave my name, order number, address and such to verify it was my order, then I got the bad news.
They no longer can even service Phats. They are dead in the eyes of Nintendo. Instead they offered me a free, new DS lite of my color choice. I went with the red and black, but am sad. I enjoyed the sound quality of the Phat, the firm hinge, and the generally well working shoulder buttons. I've used a lite before, and am not impressed by the cheap build in the slightest. Still though, it was a money order I had sent, $50 I couldn't get back in their hands, so I wasn't just going to get that and my old broken Phat back.
Thus, I accepted their deal and now have a new red and black lite on the way. Here is to hoping it will last. I guess it isn't that bad though. New lite with a fresh one year factory warranty for $50. I suppose I could have done worse.
