Hacking To send in or not?

[dlf]

Apparently my DS lite of which I've had for a about a year and a half, has appeared to have developed a slight crack near the right shoulder button. Now when the screen opens, it does so with less resistance than I remember.

There are a few other problems, mostly finger prints on the touch-screen a few small cracks in both (it's been dropped on concrete, ACCIDENTALLY, along with few scratches a bit of paint coming off and some VERY VERY minuscule parts of the top (when closed) missing (like less than a CM or nano.

How much would I probably have to pay to get it repaired and how long would it take? (As a guess). Also, despite having a cyclo, I can use my PSP as a music player, also I could just take the carts out of the slots before sending it in . . . . .

 

[exangel]

I don't have a personal experience or reference that can estimate a repair by Nintendo, but..
If you have it repaired/refurbished by New York Game Console it is no more than $40, but they might not use brand new parts in the repair.

You might do better by actually selling your unit with its current defects and buying one of their already refurbished units with a warranty, though. Example:

You sell your unit for ~$75 (assume $10 shipping as they charge)
You buy one of their refurbs for ~$85 (+$10 shipping)

After this process you're only out $10 instead of $40.