Battery Life Crippled on the New DSi

[DoctorFinger]

http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/picture.php?albumid=1&pictureid=142

Looks like all of those neat new features on the DSi - including being 4 grams lighter and 2.6mm thinner - come at the cost of battery life. Voodoo Extreme looked at the official specs released by Nintendo on the new hardware and came to the following conclusion.the DS Lite could do 15-19 hours of play at a minimum level of LCD brightness, and 5-8 at full whack. The DSi, meanwhile, can only manage a paltry 9-14 hours of play at minimum, or 3-4 at maximum.So compared to the DS Lite the DSi has roughly 2/3 the total life on minimum brightness, and 1/2 the life on full power. Not an encouraging thought. This decrease in capacity is likely due to the increase in the sizes of both screens.

Source - VE3D (http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/41888/Nintendo-DSi-Battery-Life-Significantly-Shorter).

[Sandman]

Screw that....unless some must have DS title comes out that uses a DSi feature that isn't on DS I'm not switching.

[Ancalagon]

The good thing about this is that it might cause a glut of cheap DS Lites to appear on eBay. Fine by me.

[Crashcart]

I've already bought two different DS models. I really don't need a third and nothing this new iteration is bringing really interests me enough to sacrifice battery life and the GBA slot.

[Gorvi]

That is a pretty big loss. As long as they include some kind of on screen indicater to tell you how much battery you have left (like the PSP) it's not that big of a deal, really.

[NoName]

Well that really stinks for long trips. I wasn't that interested in the first place but now I'm less so.

[Vyzov]

Slightly understandable but a disappointment none the less. I don't think I'd pick one up anyways, I do still play GBA games from time to time.

[Young Al Capone]

I wasn't that interested in the first place but now I'm less so.

Me too, I was dissapointed enough when the GBA slot was annonced to no longer play GB or GBC games, no Advance games now just seals the deal. I have no interest in the DSi.

Unless something cool happens with the DS version of virtual console or Wii ware (DS ware?) I feel can safely skip the DSi. Maybe they will even come out with some sort of memory expansion for the GBA slot on the DS lite and then those games can be played there.

[Mdot]

What Sandman said. That's a kick in the balls. One of the things I love about the DS is how solid the current battery is.

[quidmonkey]

Still lasts longer than the PSP :p

[Sandman]

Still lasts longer than the PSP :p

If your running on minimum light yeah but at full brightness it's less than the PSP.

[JayVe]

The main competition for the DSi isn't the DS Lite. Instead, the DS is more in competition with cellphones and mobile internet devices.

[Suave Peanut]

Rarely am I more than 3-4 hours away from an outlet, so I don't see this affecting my purchase.

[hideouslywrinkled]

I think I'll wait for the DSi lite-brite.

[Gorvi]

The main competition for the DSi isn't the DS Lite. Instead, the DS is more in competition with cellphones and mobile internet devices.
That's if the DSi doesn't replace the DS Lite. I guess you could see this as a "premium" version of the DS, but then that kinda confuses things. If they release some kind of device that fits in the GBA slot of the DS Lite that allows you to play the downloadable games that they'll have for this, then that's fine, but if not, that's just strange.

Oh, and hi Kam. ;)

[Karak]

Dont some of the DS games use the GBA port as well.

[TheEvilNarwhale]

I'd rather it be thicker and it have a longer battery life. I loved rarely having to charge the ds lite and being able to play a lot.

[BlackPete]

This is a deal breaker for me. I ride the commuter train a lot, and it would suck to have the battery die on me, leaving me with nothing to do but stare at the mountains and ocean...

[TheEpicOfTyler]

This is actually kind of a deal breaker for me. I was thinking about getting one of these as my DS Lite is pretty haggard right now, but I feel like I am recharging my DS Lite too frequently as it is.

[crazyD]

Where is VE3D's source? Is this confirmed, or just speculation?

[rein]

It's ok they, they will release the 'super battery pack' that will be 4 grams heavier, 2.6mm thicker and give you an extra 1/3 play time vs the regular DSi battery.

[agentgray]

I wonder.

Do people normally play up to 20 hours at a time and have no access to a power source?

I guess you have to ask yourself if taking less than 30 seconds to plug something in overnight (or every other night really) is a hassle compared to the features you get. For some people, it appears to be too much.

Of course, when GBA games show up on the Virtual Console, that all may change. I think it's a good ploy by Nintendo to get us to by the games, again. However, having 25+ GBA games on my SD card is an awesome bonus that I would pay for again if the price is right, say, $5 a piece.

This is another way for them to try to put the R4 and other emulator cards out of business. They've taken the model and adopted it themselves, probably with DRM.

[crazyD]

I find it odd that everyone is just accepting this as fact, even though no source is noted on the linked page. This post should have a big ol' Rumor tag slapped on it.

[mightbe]

Effectively making it a PSP with cheaper and better titles?

*ducks*

Kidding! I love my PSP!

[Wilkz07]

should you really be playing more than 3-4 hours on a small screen? really.. should you? You know you shouldn't.

by the time it hits north america it might have been revised... you never know.

[Widgetcraft]

This doesn't really bother me, but I'm going to have to see what they're using the store for being I pass any judgment on whether or not I'll pick one up (assuming an American release is pending).

[Tayaya]

If your running on minimum light yeah but at full brightness it's less than the PSP.

I've never gotten 5 hours out of my PSP battery, and I'm like the biggest PSP Fanboy ever to grace EvA....er...Play it....um.... CoG!

I've used both the original (2 iterations, the launch batch, and the "Pure White" version that they later released in Japan), and the PSP-2000 (silver). I've never gotten more than 3-4 hours out of my PSP without needing to recharge it. Playing at low or medium brightness running a variety of games ranging from DJ Max Portable to God of War in overall horsepower usage.

I do NOT, however, use the "extended" battery in my slim.

Personally I'm happy with 3-4 hours on a charge, and I've never worn a PSP battery out in a normal day of PSP usage. While it's nice that I only have to charge my current DS Lite once every month or so with the way I use it, I really don't care if the battery is a 6 hour battery or a 60... I can't think of a situation where I'm not by electricity to charge a battery with. Home, got outlets there. Office, more than I know what to do with. In the car? Have an inverter strong enough to power a PS3 (don't ask why... just because). At friends' places? They have outlets too. On a 13 hour flight to Tokyo in Economy class? Okay, now I'm fucked... but I sleep on those most of the way anyway!

[Gorvi]

I've never gotten 5 hours out of my PSP battery, and I'm like the biggest PSP Fanboy ever to grace EvA....er...Play it....um.... CoG!
I don't know about that...... ;)

[Tayaya]

I don't know about that...... ;)

Heh.... ah yes, I forgot you love the PSP as much as I do. Well... almost as much. Kinda like you're almost as good at Wipeout HD as I am. You'll see this if they ever fix the damn leaderboards. Or I can demonstrate later if you like! :D

[Gorvi]

Heh.... ah yes, I forgot you love the PSP as much as I do. Well... almost as much. Kinda like you're almost as good at Wipeout HD as I am. You'll see this if they ever fix the damn leaderboards. Or I can demonstrate later if you like! :D
Yeah, I was wondering why I was missing so many people on my friend list leaderboard. :)

[Tayaya]

Yeah, I was wondering why I was missing so many people on my friend list leaderboard. :)

I'm not that worried about it. Right now I'm going to try and finish campaign mode and beat zico... THEN I wanna play some of you guys online. But if anyone wants to play in the meantime... I'm all for it.

[Variable Gear]

Dont some of the DS games use the GBA port as well.
Some sure do.

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2008/10/dsi-dont-fret-gba-slot.jpg

[mister slim]

I'm going to miss rumble. It feels wrong playing Picross without it.

[digitalErich]

I'm still rocking the DS fat so either I grab a new DSi or a Lite on the cheap when the DSi is about to ship...I can't lose either way.

[chameleo]

i've found that my DS lite, with heavy use, gets much less out of its battery than a new DS lite.

It runs out after 4~6 hours while a new DS lite runs out after 8~10 hours. (maybe even less)

I work in Nintendo promotions, and we do 8 hour shifts and regularly run out of DS battery life when we do not put them into sleep mode... Its very disappointing really.

I look forward to the built-in browser and photo editing tools though!

[Disgustipated]

Rarely am I more than 3-4 hours away from an outlet, so I don't see this affecting my purchase.

Exactly. That's still a good amount of playtime. Charging isn't really an issue.

[Raen]

It sucks, although I generally play some casual stuff on my DS when I'm taking a break from something else. Of course PAX next year could be an issue (do they have places to charge? I've never been).

[Craigtheplague]

I find it odd that everyone is just accepting this as fact, even though no source is noted on the linked page. This post should have a big ol' Rumor tag slapped on it.

I agree. There is no link whatsoever to the Nintendo site. It's as if Nintendo sent ve3d the specs exclusively on some piece of paper. This should not be on the front page.

[crazyD]

I agree. There is no link whatsoever to the Nintendo site. It's as if Nintendo sent ve3d the specs exclusively on some piece of paper. This should not be on the front page.

Finally, someone doesn't accept this as bible truth.