Hacking DSTT and battery life

[northerngeezer]

Hi,

Does using a DSTT card reduce the battery life when using it with the DS Lite.

MY DS Lite is only a week old and I am having to recharge it virtually every day. I am getting only about 3-4 hours out of it per charge.

I have it on the lowest light setting.

 

[AC/DS]

If you mean that you get the red light after 3-4 hours of playing, it IS unusual.
Do you leave it on stand-by (just closing the DS while a game is runnig - the green light blinks) for long periods of time? THAT might be the cause
Although I'm not sure about DSTT, but I once had a Cyclo DS and that drained the battery like crazy when left on stand-by.

 

[ultragoregrind]

Every flash cart i've had on the ds has drained the battery quickly in stand-by mode.

my theory is that the flash cart draws more power than a stock cart due to the microSD card. *shrug*

 

[northerngeezer]

Just realized I had the option of 'Locate Friend' on ..in Mario Kart

Wonder if that affected the battery life.

 

[Rayder]

Basically, when it comes to flashcarts, they ALL drain the battery faster. It's because of the special chips in the flashcart and the microSD, both take extra power beyond what a normal DS cart uses. SDHC microSD's use even more power than non-SDHC ones.

WiFi modes also drain power quite a bit quicker regardless of whether you're using a flashcart or not. Volume levels make a big difference too, as well as the brightness setting.

I don't know if any other carts have implemented a power saver mode like the CycloDS has, but in the Cyclo, power saver is mostly for saving more power in standby, supposedly bringing the standby time MUCH closer to regular DS cart levels. I never tested that though. It also helps during gameplay, but only adds maybe 1-3 hours more game time, depending on the game being played.

All I do know is that the CycloDS drains the battery faster than the original R4 ever did, even with the new power saver mode.

As for the DSTT.....well, I'm not sure what all features it has, but I'm guessing it uses less power than a CycloDS (Cyclo's are power hungry bastards), but probably more than an old R4 if you're using SDHC cards in it. (R4 and CycloDS are the only two slot1 carts I have personal experience with)

So yeah, it's pretty normal for a flashcart to munch on the battery. Best thing you could do is to buy an extra capacity battery from DealExtreme. A 1600mah or 2000mah will help immensely. An original DSlite battery is 1000mah.

 

[boogerlad]

the problem is finding legit ds replacement batteries.

 

[Rayler]

I've never had this problem with my TT, maybe it was just because of you leaving "Find friend" on in Mario Kart.

 

[tj_cool]

Is your backlight on the Highest level?

 

[skshayne]

No, he stated that it was on the lowest level of backlight.

 

[funnymoney]

Well it is normal for your flash cart to be draining your battery life more than a normal card so I would say that you have nothing to worry about. The DSTT is supposed to be more power saving than other cards.