Hardware Difference between shell swaps?

[zb123]

So I found a pretty complicated article on how to swap shells of a 3DSXL on IGN, but I recently just found a simpler looking method on reddit. Can anyone tell me the differences between the two methods because it looks like it's just plain better to do the one shown on reddit. Thanks!

IGN method: ca.ign.com/wikis/nintendo-3ds/3DS_XL_Shell_Swapping

reddit method: http://www.reddit.com/r/3DS/comments/1judnj/3ds_xl_top_shell_removal/

To clarify, I want to swap a red 3dsxl with a black one, so the inside panels wouldn't be a problem because they're the same colour, right?

Also, bottom plate is a simple swap no matter what.

 

[zb123]

Shit, so I realize now that I would need to somehow swap the sd card cover to make it the same colour.

 

[CompC]

The method from reddit is only for swapping the the top cover of the 3DS. So, just the part you see when you look at it from the top when it's closed. This is what you want if you only care about having a different design or color on the top of your 3DS.

The method from IGN is an in-depth complete shell swap, replacing all the exposed parts of the 3DS XL with those from another 3DS XL. This is what you want if you want to completely change the color of your 3DS, use a custom shell (I'm not actually aware of any custom 3DS XL shells out there, though), or swap out the parts to get a design/color that's not available in your region, while still being able to play games from your region (i.e., get a completely white, or Year of Luigi edition 3DS that plays European or North American games).

 

[zb123]

The method from reddit is only for swapping the the top cover of the 3DS. So, just the part you see when you look at it from the top when it's closed. This is what you want if you only care about having a different design or color on the top of your 3DS.

The method from IGN is an in-depth complete shell swap, replacing all the exposed parts of the 3DS XL with those from another 3DS XL. This is what you want if you want to completely change the color of your 3DS, use a custom shell (I'm not actually aware of any custom 3DS XL shells out there, though), or swap out the parts to get a design/color that's not available in your region, while still being able to play games from your region (i.e., get a completely white, or Year of Luigi edition 3DS that plays European or North American games).

On top of using this reddit method, the method for the bottom outer shell is easy as well and doesn't require swapping the entire shell. I don't think I need to do the full swap because the inner colours of both the red/blue and the black 3ds's are black. The only discrepancy would be that I would have a blue sd card cover with my black shell.