Thinking about getting a DS *edit* I just bought one

[JCE3000GT]

So what are the pros and cons about spending the money for the DS? Note ALL discussions about the PSP will be ignored. Thanks.

A couple of questions I want to ask:

1. Is the screen backlit bright enough to play in complete darkness?
2. Does the LCD screen have "ghosting" effects like some crappy LCD computer monitors?
3. For someone with slightly above average hand size will the unit be comfortable to play for hours. (the GBA and GBA SP are not)
4. How long is the battery life?
5. Is it worth spending $129 for it or should I wait next year when it will undoubtably be $79-$99.
6. Will it play MP3s and or use anykind of digital storage medium?
7. If the answer to question 6 is yes then will it play video?

Any answers to my DS questions are greatly appreciated.
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[thegodofhellfire]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

Answers based on DS Lite, rather than normal DS.

> 1. Is the screen backlit bright enough to play in complete
> darkness?

Yes - in fact at brightest setting in a dark room it's so bright you have to squint for a couple of seconds while your eyes adjust.

> 2. Does the LCD screen have "ghosting" effects like some
> crappy LCD computer monitors?

No.

> 3. For someone with slightly above average hand size will
> the unit be comfortable to play for hours. (the GBA and GBA
> SP are not)

Some games more than others, depending on what buttons you're using - for example Mario Kart hurts like hell after a half-hour or so purely because of button placement. Otherwise, unless you have comically huge hands, you'll be fine. I've had no problems with lengthly sessions on other games.

> 4. How long is the battery life?

About 8 hours, I think. Around half whilst using wireless connection.

> 5. Is it worth spending $129 for it or should I wait next
> year when it will undoubtably be $79-$99.

Depends if you think $30-50 is reasonable for 3 months' DS use. I'd say so.

> 6. Will it play MP3s and or use anykind of digital storage
> medium?

Officially through Play-Yan (a GBA cart with an SD slot, basically). Probably unofficially through copiers too.

> 7. If the answer to question 6 is yes then will it play
> video?

Yes, as above. Apparently new version Play-Yan has much improved video playback.

Hope this helps!
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[Vampire hunter D]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

Now that I have a job I'm planning on buying one when I get my pay check in if I can find one for a reasonable price.
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[CEpeep]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

Just buy a used one. I bought mine from DKK right here on the Classifieds board for $65.
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[JCE3000GT]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> Answers based on DS Lite, rather than normal DS.

What exactly is the difference between the Lite and the normal one. All I saw was the colors and the normal one had better speakers.

> > 1. Is the screen backlit bright enough to play in complete darkness?

> Yes - in fact at brightest setting in a dark room it's so
> bright you have to squint for a couple of seconds while your
> eyes adjust.

Awsome!

> > 2. Does the LCD screen have "ghosting" effects like some
> > crappy LCD computer monitors?

> No.

Again, awsome! That's the problem I had with the normal GBA and GBA SP.

> > 3. For someone with slightly above average hand size will
> > the unit be comfortable to play for hours. (the GBA and
> GBA SP are not)

> Some games more than others, depending on what buttons
> you're using - for example Mario Kart hurts like hell after
> a half-hour or so purely because of button placement.
> Otherwise, unless you have comically huge hands, you'll be
> fine. I've had no problems with lengthly sessions on other games.

Good. Mostly going to be RPGs, but Mario Kart DS is on my list.

> > 4. How long is the battery life?

> About 8 hours, I think. Around half whilst using wireless
> connection.

That's probably long enough, I can't see myself using it for more than 5 hours.

> > 5. Is it worth spending $129 for it or should I wait next
> > year when it will undoubtably be $79-$99.

> Depends if you think $30-50 is reasonable for 3 months' DS
> use. I'd say so.

I'm undecided on this currently.

> > 6. Will it play MP3s and or use anykind of digital storage medium?

> Officially through Play-Yan (a GBA cart with an SD slot,
> basically). Probably unofficially through copiers too.

I'll have to check out Play-Yan, sounds great.

> > 7. If the answer to question 6 is yes then will it play
> > video?

> Yes, as above. Apparently new version Play-Yan has much
> improved video playback.

So if I wanted to download and watch TV shows like Top Gear and etc the video playback is decent enough eh? Sweet.

> Hope this helps!

Yes, it does indeed help. Infact I think I'm going to go buy one right now...
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[icenine0]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

Honestly, and people can debate this all they like, I think the DS has far more quality titles than the PSP -- especially if you include the GBA back-catalog.

1. Yes.
2. Not that I can tell.
3. Yes, the original model feels comfortable for me, and I have big hands. I don't know about the Lite.
4. Very long. I can't say precisely, but I'd speculate around 8 hours.
5. You can get a used original DS for pretty cheap these days.
6. If it's haxored.
7. I think so.
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[Dark Knight Kain]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> What exactly is the difference between the Lite and the
> normal one. All I saw was the colors and the normal one had
> better speakers.

Better picture quality, sound quality and it's lighter (Which is a big help, the size of the old DS wasn't really a problem but the weight was, your hands would get tired much faster). The Lite is better in every way, really, it's worth the slightly-higher price.
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[JCE3000GT]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> Just buy a used one. I bought mine from DKK right here on
> the Classifieds board for $65.

I just bought one from GameStop. It's in very good condition. Not a scratch on it. I can't wait to play around with some of the homebrew shiz. Oh yea and Final Fantasy III. <img src=smilies/magbiggrin.gif>
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[CEpeep]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> I just bought one from GameStop. It's in very good
> condition. Not a scratch on it. I can't wait to play
> around with some of the homebrew shiz. Oh yea and Final
> Fantasy III.

Homebrew is not the DS's forte. That and internet connectivity are the two things the PSP does far better. And yes, I do own both of them.
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[JCE3000GT]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> > I just bought one from GameStop. It's in very good
> > condition. Not a scratch on it. I can't wait to play
> > around with some of the homebrew shiz. Oh yea and Final
> > Fantasy III.

> Homebrew is not the DS's forte. That and internet
> connectivity are the two things the PSP does far better.
> And yes, I do own both of them.

That may be true but: Nintendo hardware quality > Sony hardware quality in my opinion. I'd rather be able to have backwards compatibility with GBA games as well as be able to play DS games. Oh and there's the GBA SD card carts to play movies/music on top of that. I say that puts the DS ahead in what I want/need. <img src=smilies/thumb.gif> Oh and did I mention that I don't like Sony's hardware quality?
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[CEpeep]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

I haven't had any problems at all with my PSP. The build quality is far better than the PS2 and all of its associated problems. The quality components that went into the PSP are part of why it costs so much. My PSP will play any GBA game I can throw at it as well as SNES and Genesis, all at full speed.

I'm not trying to say that the PSP is what you want (you already said you didn't) I'm just trying to say that the DS is sorely lacking in quality homebrew when compared to the PSP.

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[JCE3000GT]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> I haven't had any problems at all with my PSP. The build
> quality is far better than the PS2 and all of its associated
> problems. The quality components that went into the PSP are
> part of why it costs so much. My PSP will play any GBA game
> I can throw at it as well as SNES and Genesis, all at full
> speed.

If Sony finally got it right with the hardware then I'm glad. But didn't Sony just recently drop somekind of support for it? UMDs or something I think. If I ever have the need for a portable SNES/Genesis/PC Engine or etc I might consider getting a PSP.

> I'm not trying to say that the PSP is what you want (you
> already said you didn't) I'm just trying to say that the DS
> is sorely lacking in quality homebrew when compared to the
> PSP.

Maybe lacking in terms of emulation of older consoles but it has just enough homebrew to keep me interested while more is being developed. Either way, I'm definately happy with my choice.
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[CEpeep]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

Cool. Since you're looking for a Flash Cart, I recommend the SuperCard Mini-SD. It's the same size as a GBA cart and takes Mini-SD cards for expansion. I have one and I'm very happy with it.
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[JCE3000GT]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> Cool. Since you're looking for a Flash Cart, I recommend
> the SuperCard Mini-SD. It's the same size as a GBA cart and
> takes Mini-SD cards for expansion. I have one and I'm very
> happy with it.

I saw that, it seems that one is highly rated. Have you played video on the DS? I'd like to get a 2GB SD card and put some AVI/DivX episodes of some shows (TopGear / Fifth Gear mostly) to watch on the run.
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[CEpeep]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> I saw that, it seems that one is highly rated. Have you
> played video on the DS? I'd like to get a 2GB SD card and
> put some AVI/DivX episodes of some shows (TopGear / Fifth
> Gear mostly) to watch on the run.

You can't play good quality video on the DS. Moonshell supports videos, but they have to be reencoded into its special format, and they've got a shitty framerate. the only decent way to do it is to use the GBAMP which plays MPEG 2 video (I think) at decent framerates, but it sticks way out of the DS (ugly, cumbersome) and doesn't support all homebrew. In short, don't bother. It sucks for video playback.

In terms of DivX, it's worth noting that the PSP with its much faster processor and more RAM barely handles full-screen, full framerate DivX. The software has only recently gotten to the point where it can decode on the fly with no chops. It won't happen on the DS.
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[The 9th Sage]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> You can't play good quality video on the DS. Moonshell
> supports videos, but they have to be reencoded into its
> special format, and they've got a shitty framerate.

What it actually is is MPEG-1 video and MPEG-2 audio in a custom container (DPG). I don't think it's bad...use something like BatchDPG, that has far more options than the vanilla DPGenc program and the quality is a bit better (seems to usually do good at finding an optimal framerate, doesn't support DPG1 yet)...there is also a DPG1 format recently introduced in MoonShell that is supposed to allow a higher framerate but I haven't played much with it yet...filesizes are comparable to DPG0 (DPG0 including old MPG/GSM DPG files, and older MPG/MPG2 DPGs) though it seems like. what the exact difference is I'm not sure yet (different kind of video? audio?).

>the
> only decent way to do it is to use the GBAMP which plays
> MPEG 2 video (I think) at decent framerates, but it sticks
> way out of the DS (ugly, cumbersome) and doesn't support all
> homebrew.

Eh, it doesn't play MPEG-2 video...the GBAMP plays some kind of format called GBM (and only in GBA mode). MoonShell is much better. Now, M3...the 'next generation' versoin of the GBAMP can play GBM in DS mode...it's about the same as in GBA mode but higher res...not higher framerate (they could have done way better).
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[The 9th Sage]

Re: Thinking about getting a DS

> Some games more than others, depending on what buttons
> you're using

Yah...only game I've had a problem with is Metroid Prime: Hunters, but that is probably partly due to the 'iron grip' I use playing online....I've seen it referred to as "MPH Claw" or something like that.
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[The 9th Sage]

> 6. Will it play MP3s and or use anykind of digital storage
> medium?

I didn't see anyone answer this specifically, and if you haven't checked out MoonShell yet, it will play MP3s, OGGs, SPCs, and a whole crapload of other formats as well as viewing several picture formats and text. As for the storage medium...well, there are several options.

Popular ones seem to be the M3 line of products and the SuperCard (these seem to have the best support in the homebrew community). I myself have an M3. GBAMP is also used a bunch, probably the cheapest alternative.
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[JCE3000GT]

Bought Mario Kart DS

I bought Mario Kart DS new today and it just flat out rocks. There is quite alot to do in this one. And the fact that there are circuits from previous Mario Karts in this one that just makes it that much better.

*edit*
I took it back, not because it sucks but because it cramps my hands playing it longer than 10 minutes. The DS just like the regular GBA and GBA SP are not very comfortable for my large hands. So I bought FF4 Advance and World Championship Poker (DS) instead.

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coolieranx: I think accepting Christ should at least be worth a PlayStation 3</center></P><P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by JCE3000GT on 09/12/06 08:46 PM.</FONT></P>