Hacking Looking for some advice

[Fondue]

I recently purchased a nintendo DS Lite about 3 weeks or so ago. I have not played it because a) I did not have a game and b) I wanted to purchase screen protectors before I even touched it. (I did power it up and all that good stuff when I first got it.)

Everything appeared to work well, no problems. (At that time.)

Today, I applied the screen protectors, lightly, just let the things kind of fall into place, no problems.
Upon completion, I ran a soft cleaning cloth over the protectors to clean off the dust and fingerprints.
As I was pushing on the top screen, I noticed a strange "peeling sticker" type of sound.
(And I am talking lightly pushing just to wipe off dust. My job is fixing computers/electronics so I am not a moron that goes around pushing on display screens.)

Back on topic, I turn on the DS Lite and the DS Lite screen comes up with the nintendo logo. I cannot remember exactly why I did it, but I then shut off the DS.
Once the power was off, I noticed on one part of the top screen that the parts of the letters D and S were sort of "burnt" into the screen. (Kind of like a calculator if you mash the display.) Powering the unit back on erases the "burnt/remnants" of the remaining letters, but powering it down will do it again. I tested on the calendar screen of the DS, and in the same location a bit of the calendar remains on power off.
...so, what the hell? (For the touching of the screen, we are talking the pressure required to wipe of dust, and I just ran my finger from the absolute left side to the absolute right side of the screen. Was there some kind of "bubble/fold" under the screen?)

Another gripe I have is that the bottom screen appears to have glue, or some sort of dry cement around the edges, as if they just glued the screen on. (Which they might actually do, but I am getting the impression that this thing has had screen problems in the past, was sent in to be replaced, and I just happened to grab the refurbished "repackagd as new" one.) (My friends DS, does not have this glue. But, after 2 or 3 days of playing hers, a dead pixel (RED) appeared on her touch screen. Just an added bonus I thought I would share.) I really did not care at the time about this, since it is on the edges, which do not have display pixels anyway. I was just glad I did not have dead pixels/yellow screen/cracks/and all that other fun stuff.)


This would be cool if I purchased my DS in the US, but I am in Japan now and purchased it in Japan. I will be going back to the US in about a week. This particular store (I think) has a year return policy (Thank the Lord. ) but I am wondering if they are going to be punks and accuse me of dry-humping the screen or something.
For the return policy, the store had some kind of sticker they gave me and I put it in the back of my DS booklet.

Do you think that, if I take this thing to america, nintendo america will replace it? Or should I fight the good fight in Japan? (Actually, I will be attempting the Japan store first, to see if they will just flat out replace it there. If not, they will take it, and I will probably have to have someone mail it to me in america, which would suck.)

Any comments are welcome, especially advice. (I also accept pity. )

(Edited to fix spelling mistake that was annoying me.)

 

[Golds]

i think you should just send it in to nintendo. make sure you take off the screen protectors.

and you dont actually need screen protectors, i've been using my ds light for awhile now and normal gameplay wont hurt the ds lite at all, the touch screen is built to be touched.

 

[Fondue]

I have heard other people mention that the screen protectors are not necessary, but for some reason, I am super paranoid about my DS and am doing all things possible to keep it in good condition. (I know you cannot see the small scratches when playing, but at this point in the DS's life, I care that I could potentially see mini-scratches with the DS off. This paranoia will decay over time, and eventually I will not care, but after dropping money on one just recently I.. must... preserve...)

So I should take off the screen protectors? Is there a particular reason you have for this? (I plan on doing it anyway.)
I am just curious as to what your main concearn about leaving the screen protectors is.
If it is about not getting them back, it is not a problem because after taking them off I would throw them away.
If it is about Nintendo thinking I used too much pressure to put on the protectors, then hell yeah, I am definitely taking them off.
I literally dropped them on. Lined up the left edge, dropped, and bam, they suctioned themselves right on with no airbubbles.
(But I doubt that Nintendo is going to believe that, not that I blame them. :'( )

So anyway, yeah, I will definetely take off the screen covers. (Just wondering if I should super cover my tracks or something.)

 

[Fondue]

Oh, sorry I forgot to ask you, should I take off the screen protector *before* having the shop owner look at it. That was my main point I was trying to say.

Oh, and guess what I just noticed, I turned on a game (Jump Superstars) let it load to a colorful screen, then turned it off.)

Turns out that about 1/5 of the right side of *BOTH* the display screen *AND* the touch screen have the remnants *AND* they are in color.

There is no way that I over-pressured both the display screen *AND* the touch screen in the *EXACT* same way.

I am starting to think that it has been crushed at one point or something. Which is odd since it has been sitting on the table for the last 3 weeks while I played on my friends DS. A table that we do not even use. It has been sitting on the table, on top of its box, not in direct sunlight for 3 weeks untouched. (Aside from when I powered it on that one time.)

Though, I hear that DSL's break easy. Could it be that I broke the screens when I dropped that whole "possibly half-a-milligram" screen protector onto it?
(Actually, I have no idea how much a milligram feels like. But the things are pretty damn light, but might just be heavy enough to cause mass chaotic damage to the DS Lite.)

Quick update: The top screen is about 1/5 of the right side with remnants. The bottom screen (touch screen) is about 1/8 of the right side of the screen. They are both perfectly vertical lines.

Quick update 2: There do not appear to be any large magnets anywhere in the vicinity. Table has not had any magnets on it that I know of, and the TV and radio (including speakers) are located outside atleast a 5 foot radius. I am stumped as to what caused this. Might have always been like this and I just did not notice it the first time.

 

[pte]

Try to get a refund for it asap and buy a new one from the States.

 

[Fondue]

Yeah, I might have to do that. It was nice not having a white DS though. (but the dark blue one that I had looked dirty all the time. If my DS were outside, I bet satellites could identify me by reading the fingerprints on my ds lite.)

I would like to just exchange it for another one, but I do not know if I really want to chance having an overseas warranty, especially with the Ds Lites record. (record of having problems.) What are the odds that two people walk into a Japanese game store, purchase 2 different colored DS's, and both of them have some sort of defect? (I guess the odds are not too bad, especially if they are from the same shipment. ...the crap-ass secretly refurbished and sold as new shipment...



I was thinking about getting a refund from that store, then purchasing a new DS Lite from a Japanese toys r us. Think their warranties are international? Or are warranties generally store specific?

 

[pelago]

I think the remnants of the display still appearing after you switch off is normal on some DSes.

 

[richiepo]

I had the ice blue one and it broke in the states. I tried to get nintendo of america to fix it and they said it's not covered. Eventually I got a good customer service person to get it fixed but they sent me a white one instead.


I recommend returning it and getting a white one. Not worth all the hassle considering all the problems popping up with the DS lites.

 

[Darkforce]

Dude, are you paronoid or what? The screen protector didn't do any harm to your DS, like pelago said this is common on quite a few DS units and I don't think it is a fault as such.

Yes they do glue a layer over the screens. If you want to sort it out your best best by far is to take the DS back, try and get your money back and buy a new one back in the US, if you can't get a refund get it exchanged and either keep it, or sell it on ebay and spend the cash on one in the US. =)

 

[Fondue]

Regarding the remnants: I do not know whether or not it is common. I have seen remants before, but they would disappear after a few seconds. These just appear "calculator broken" odd. Can anyone else confirm whether or not their DS does this? (Preferably the DS Lite)

I will try hitting the store tomorrow and see what the options are. Thanks for the help. (More help welcome.)

Now I just need to break the language barrier, and I am set.

 

[Fondue]

Update on the situation:

The store plan failed.

At first, I was listening to the guy talk, and he was pretty cool about it. "Yeah, we can replace it, no problem, but you have to wait till our next shipment comes in." Unfortunately, they do not know when that is. It is crazy, it is like there are no DS's in Japan. Every electronic store says "We do not have DS Lites, and we do not know when our next shipment comes in." I see those signs everywhere.

So what the hell is nintendo's plan? Sell pre-broken products so people have to send it in and have it repaired? Or are they just so short-supplied that they are making things using elmers glue and popsickle sticks. (Wow, I really do not know how to spell popsickle.) I noticed that the touch screen actually pushes away from the plastic on the right side.

Basically, the store will replace my DS for free, but their shipment time could be anywhere from tomorrow to a month from now. (I leave Japan in about 4 days.)
Or, I can take my DS to the US and ask Nintendo to fix the problem. And since it is not one of the "common" problems that the DS Lite's come with, I will probably have to pay money to have *both* screens replaced. Damn them. (Note: Whether or not I would have to pay Nintendo is unknown. I am just a little upset, so I am pretty anti-nintendo right now.)