Hacking The Definitive Protection for your DS Lite?

[AeroScap]

Finally it has arrived!

Earlier I had ordered one of those "fabled" scratch proof and damn-near invincible covers for your Nintendo DS Lite.

Initially I was sceptical about the claims it had been making but after glancing at some videos on the net, I ordered one with a conservative click.

I ordered from "Best Skins Ever" and it was my first time ordering from them so it was a stab in the dark. Unlike another company which supplies a similar product I was extremely satisfied with the coverage provided (the other with a piece of the plastic which covers the speakers and does not include anything for the inside bar the aforementioned and the screens).

The product is here @ 10.99


1.



It came in the envelope shown above. Initially I was a bit suprised as it lacked any sort of packaging (unlike another company) but it is much cheaper so that's probably why.
I opted for free delivery as I was initially sceptical and it took a resonable time to arrive. It is nothing I wouldnt expect from free delivery and from the USA (to UK).
I ordered on the 29/06/06, it shipped the same day and it arrived today 05/07/06 taking about 6 days.

2.


Here in the picture is the entire contents of the envelope, consisting of:

- 1 x invoice / application instructions for ipod ( @_@)
- 3 x pieces of the skin for your DS lite.

3.


A close up of the skin. You remove each piece by peeling it and it is very easy to do so.

4.

I used a bowl of soap which is applied to the back of the skin before I stuck it on and a bowl of boiling water to get rid of dust specks etc.

5.

Wetting the pieces of the skin with the soap water (thin layer) you place on skin on your DS lite from one end. You then gently from the end lower the piece of skin onto the DS lite (possibly using a credit card) (I didnt have any bubbles as i systematically moved from the end through the skin to the other end)

6.

Apply the rest of the skin as in step 5 and just wait. (For those pesky corners, you can hold your palm over the corner and the heat from your hand will mould the skin into shape)

7.

Once finished you leave for about Quote "24 hours". I only did for 6 and it looks pretty sweet (see the pictures)

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My Impressions:

Delivery: For cheap people like me xD the delivery time was OK but for people who has the money to spend best spend it. The waiting time is a bit long

7/10 (FREEE)

Packaging: It's an envelope. Very minimalistic. (if it is that which leads to it's cheap cost, then it's perfectly acceptable)

8/10 (very refreshing change)

Application: It took me about 1 hour to apply the entire thing on (maybe sorter because during the process I dropped my Ez-flash IV lite in boiling water >.< it's working fine now though), which is slightly longer than expected. I am not going to sugar coat the process and say that "it's worth it" etc. It is certainly a long time. Patience required. Addition stuff required e.g. soap but should be easy to obtain.

6/10

Fitting: The fit is fantastic everything is picture perfect and fits like a glove to the millimetre. I certainly didnt expect this so it raised my opinion of it.

It covers everything shown here:

and yes there is a cover for both the screens.

9.5/10

Screen cover: I am sure this is a major worry for everyone ordering this product and the alternative. The coverage of the top screen is perfect and covers the entire area of "glass" for the top screen. Now the touch screen. The plastic that comes with the touch screen is about 2mm smaller than the top screen cover and that is to allow people to extract it easily.

Many say the sensitivity is reduced with these plastics. I can confirm that in sessions of Trace Memory, Rub Rabbits, NSMB (minigames), Bleach DS and Brain Training that:

The sensitivity is THE SAME AS BEFORE!
(obviously I am not saying it's the EXACT same but it just isnt possible to tell)

Also lots of people have been worried about the reduced brightness and.. *just look at the pictures*

8/10
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The DS Lite's Best Skin Ever Skin (< lol) gets a 77% or 38.5/50

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Now for some random pictures!

















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Side notes: All you guys can now drop your Ez-Flash IV lite into boiling water and FEEL SAFE that it will still work!

Hope you guys enjoyed this!

 

[litesaber]

nice review ^^

i would've got this if it had covered the non glossy parts of the ds, because the white ds gets dirty easily on the outside that's non-glossy.
glossy parts are already dirt preventive.

 

[slandar]

Greetings. Thanks for the pictures and review.

Two things.

First: The pictures are huge.

Second: Can you take some detail pictures of the corners?

My concern is that you are shipped flat pieces, but the DSLite has round corners. I am wondering just how well they fit, and if you think the corners will hold up to use/abuse.

You mention in step 6 the heat from your hand molding the corners. Does the product actually fit like a glove or is it slit like the pictures seem to show leaving the corners vulnerable? It just seems like a weak point where the product would catch or snag on something as you were putting it in your pocket or something and loosen up.



Thanks for your time.

-Zach

Edit: If your camera has a macro function, turn it on.

 

[HugeCock]

Nice review, I emailed them a while back and asked if they were gonna do graphics and the they said no....seems like a shame now. I liked that NES mod that kid did and was hoping these guys would make a classic skin. Oh well.

 

[Psyfira]

For the love of god man, resize or thumbnail-link!
(As a side-note, am I the only one who finds Firefox grinds to a slow crawl over large jpg images?)

 

[AeroScap]

My concern is that you are shipped flat pieces, but the DSLite has round corners. I am wondering just how well they fit, and if you think the corners will hold up to use/abuse.

You mention in step 6 the heat from your hand molding the corners. Does the product actually fit like a glove or is it slit like the pictures seem to show leaving the corners vulnerable? It just seems like a weak point where the product would catch or snag on something as you were putting it in your pocket or something and loosen up.



Thanks for your time.

-Zach

Right well with the corners being round the flat pieces if left to their own devices will leave a "boxed" skin. In-order to counter the boxed skin they have left about 0.25cm of the corner free (0.125cm eitherside from the corner).

This space is present on the top lid's left and right corners and bottom lid's right corner.

Also about weak point thing, with my thumb and against the edge of these spaces I am rubbing as hard as I can. With intent to get it off and it doesnt even budge. Fantastic!

With the DS Lite in my hand and with the skin on the whole thing is REALLY tough. It might be hard to visualise this "toughness" but I can vouch for it.

I refer to the heat in terms of the smaller sections of the skin, where the bigger pieces (whole piece naturally straight) causes the smaller pieces to be straight with it rather than bend around.
This problem only exists in the application given say 30 mins, the drying soap causes it to hang on like a rock.

Hope that's helped

+ pictures fixed

 

[nintendofreak]

Nice review

might consider getting one...
Thats some POS packaging though... what if it got bent?

 

[AeroScap]

funny thing is I tried to cut the excess from the spares I have just for fun... I couldnt..

So I wouldnt worry about bending

 

[strid3r]

Nice review Aero. I also received my BSK DS Lite skin the past weekend and agree with most of your review. It took me about 20 minutes to do the outside of the DS (still deciding if I want to use the inside protectors). The instructions are very simple to follow. The corners on the skin are very tight so it doesn't seem like an issue. For anyone that is thinking about getting it, the only thing I would suggest is keep an eye out for the air bubbles, cause after it dries, it's impossible to get them out. For around 10 bucks, there's no reason not to get one if you're looking for some protection for your DS Lite.

 

[pelago]

So if you want to remove this skin later on, is that possible?

 

[Squiffy]

Requesting link to that wallpaper.

 

[Psyfira]

+ pictures fixed

Muchos ta

 

[AeroScap]

Nice review Aero. I also received my BSK DS Lite skin the past weekend and agree with most of your review. It took me about 20 minutes to do the outside of the DS (still deciding if I want to use the inside protectors). The instructions are very simple to follow. The corners on the skin are very tight so it doesn't seem like an issue. For anyone that is thinking about getting it, the only thing I would suggest is keep an eye out for the air bubbles, cause after it dries, it's impossible to get them out. For around 10 bucks, there's no reason not to get one if you're looking for some protection for your DS Lite.



Nice to see a fellow black ds-er with their skin! thx for the comment.

When you say about the bubbles let me say this, if you have a bubble remove and re-apply. I personally reapplied like 6 times XD *didnt have credit card to hand*. You would only worry about it sticking and leaving bubbles if you leave it for about 5 hours. The soap bubbles within the skin * had about 7* has gone (dried up and gone) and it looks even better now! Bubbles are NOT a probably if you are remotely able.

Tip: Lower one side then the next. From Left to right.

REMEMBER it's only 10 bucks!

So if you want to remove this skin later on, is that possible?

It is possible to remove. To remove it, intent is needed to do so and things like contact will not accidently remove it.

1) Lift an edge
2) Pull firmly and lightly

There we go!

 

[Noobix]

Yeah very nice review...might get a couple one I sort out my EZ4 Lite and G6.

!

 

[yuwing]

does it still show finger prints easily? Or better than before?

 

[TheVirus]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1142289337289

I bought those, took all of 2 seconds to apply and 0 bubbles and 0 dust. I peeled it off and then slowly applied it while still peeling it off and using the card to press it against the DS. Cleans off with the included cloth in a breeze.

Love it. Not a full case cover, just the screens. They are 100% clear too, not like PDA protectors that have that haze over them.

 

[ridgecity]

They are just the same. I had one of last year's batch and wasn't as clear as they could be, I actually could see the screen better when I removed it after a few scratches.

Now I bought a couple of these for my old ds and a new lite and try to apply them in a hermetically sealed space. I found out after many tries is to put a bit of soap on the sticky side and apply them the bubbles will dissapear overnight...

I also recommend them to avoid damaging your DS. worth the $3...

 

[AeroScap]

does it still show finger prints easily? Or better than before?

It shows them much less than the normal lite without it. Rather than get fingerprints from the touch you only really get marks on it if you hands are greasy. Which will mark the lite with or without.