Let's talk about the DS Lite and broken hinges

[Flake]

So my girlfriends DS lite had one of its hinges snap. Now, she babies this thing. Always keeps it in a protective pouch, never drops it, rarely takes it out of the house. We're talking the pampered life of a beloved game console.

The hinge still broke and from what I gather, this is a factory defect (regardless of Nintendo denying culpability).

What options do we have in getting it fixed? Has anyone else dealt with this?

[TehOctoNinja]

I broke the hinges on my DS Phat when my coat dropped of a hook.

The DSi seems to be much better with this, however.

[Pulsar_t]

I'd like to also know, short of sending the thing to Nintendo.

[jp1]

You can buy your own replacement case and switch it out. It is very delicate and can be quite frustrating though.

There are also some people on ebay who provide the service.

Your best bet is probably to sell it and purchase a used one without a broken hinge. Strangely the value doesn't drop as much as you think it would. If you are a bargain hunter you could probably come out spending $10-15 out of pocket that way.

[gtmtnbiker]

So my girlfriends DS lite had one of its hinges snap. Now, she babies this thing. Always keeps it in a protective pouch, never drops it, rarely takes it out of the house. We're talking the pampered life of a beloved game console.

The hinge still broke and from what I gather, this is a factory defect (regardless of Nintendo denying culpability).

So how did the hinge break? It slowly came apart over time?

I have 3 DS Lites (kids have 2 of them) and never had any hinge issue. So I'm somewhat skeptical of the "always babied it" claim.

[jfe2]

So my girlfriends DS lite had one of its hinges snap. Now, she babies this thing. Always keeps it in a protective pouch, never drops it, rarely takes it out of the house. We're talking the pampered life of a beloved game console.

The hinge still broke and from what I gather, this is a factory defect (regardless of Nintendo denying culpability).

So how did the hinge break? It slowly came apart over time?

I have 3 DS Lites (kids have 2 of them) and never had any hinge issue. So I'm somewhat skeptical of the "always babied it" claim.

I've actually heard of the hinge defect before. I've personally never experienced it, but if I understand what I've read correctly, mine was purchased after they stopped shipping the defective systems. Apparently it was the first few batches of the DS Lites that had the problem.

[Curlypaul]

Yeah mine was one of the earlier ones that had a fragile hinge. You can buy third party replacements but I never found a brand that didnt have people moaning about how fragile they were so I didnt like that idea. I scoured ebay for weeks looking for one that was broken but had a complete official case but as jp1 says the price of a broken DS is bizarrely about the same as a secind hand one that works.

I sent it to nintendo in the end and got an official replacement for not much more than it was going to cost to do it myself

[Flake]

So I'm somewhat skeptical of the "always babied it" claim.

No need to be skeptical. I can not exaggerate the extreme level of care she has had for her Nintendo DS. She won't even play touch screen games without first inspecting her stylus for any defect that might scratch the screen. She also won't touch the thing without first washing her hands, whether they are dirty or not.

It makes me feel kinda guilty about the beating mine has taken in comparison...Trust me, it's a defect.

What you guys are saying makes me wonder. She only bought it a year ago and I don't think it was part of some older stock. It's the crimson red/black model, and I'm almost certain that model was introduced after Nintendo claimed to have 'fixed' the design. Maybe it's an issue that has lingered with that particular model.

Those of you with broken hinges like hers, could you tell me which design of DSLite you have?

[yomomma1]

Mine broke on a launch ds lite, about a year after. Haven't had problems with the original ds, or dsi.. yet.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

My DS Lite hinge has also broken. It slowly cracked over time. I repaired it with glue, but now my R button is very stiff and hard to use. Anyone replace their DS Lite case from one from China? I'm not thrilled at the idea and can only imagine the build quality can only be worse.