Broken Nintendo DS

[marlaine8]

After 2 years of me telling my DS to be careful with his DS, I dropped it on the kitchen floor! He's been extremely careful with and and really loves it.
It still works with the pen, but the arrows won't move.
Would a place like Game Stop repair it? Anyone know how much it will cost to fix?
Would I be better off getting him a new 3D DS? He's been really wanting one, and I promised him something extra specials for getting straight A's in school this year.

 

[kirstenb1]

I don't think Game Stop does repairs. Our older dd's Nintendo broke a couple of years ago, and our option was to send it to Nintendo. At that time, the $$ of the repair was almost as much as a new one. However, your repair might be cheaper. It'd be worth a call.

 

[Tistal]

This happened to my sister (she had left it on the counter and my mother knocked it off; the hinge that connects the two halves broke). She called around and found that it would only be slightly more to replace it than have it repaired; she sold the old one for parts to a repair place. It may be different where you live; I'm just giving you fair warning that it may be pricy.

 

[LoriNSC]

Contact Nintendo. They fixed my sons twice. But he didn't drop it. Since you dropped it they may charge but I'd ask.

 

[Yoshi]

If you are considering the 3DS as a replacement, make sure he tries it at a store like Best Buy or Target that has a demo unit set up. The 3D mode gives some people headaches and/or eye strain. I couldn't take more than a few seconds of looking at the 3D before having to turn off the 3D mode (3D/4D films at Disney don't bother me).

 

[sam_gordon]

If I remember correctly there are two repair options for Nintendo. One is actually a repair... you send them the DS, they fix it (if they can) and return it to you. That takes 2-3 weeks I'm pretty sure. I think it's a flat rate too... $75.

The other option is to pay the same amount ($75), and they'll send you a refurbished one (with new 1-year warranty).

Start here to see what your options are: http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/ds/index.jsp

 

[2kids2dogs]

We had to have my son's DSi sent to Nintendo for repair last year. We called them, they emailed a mailing label, we paid the flat rate of $75 for repair and one year warranty (yes, our warranty had just run out a week before!). The only downside and maybe others had a different experience, it came back repaired, with some new accessories too, stylus pen, charger, etc., but...no real explanation of what was initially wrong with the DS (it had just started turning itself off). We were glad it was in working order again, and happy it was covered under warranty for another year. For us it was a cheaper option, and it is still running great.

 

[pigletto]

If you are considering the 3DS as a replacement, make sure he tries it at a store like Best Buy or Target that has a demo unit set up. The 3D mode gives some people headaches and/or eye strain. I couldn't take more than a few seconds of looking at the 3D before having to turn off the 3D mode (3D/4D films at Disney don't bother me).

While this is true, the 3D option can be turned off. So it really isn't an issue. DS plays with it for a little bit and if it starts to bother him he switches it off. He LOVES the 3DS and uses it much more than he ever used his DSlite.
I would suggest doing some research, but I would buy him the 3DS for his gift. It has a ton of neat features and we are really happy with it.

 

[auralia]

It's worth ordering a tri tip screwdriver for 1 or 2$ online (you have to have tis this to open a ds) and trying to fix it yourself it could just be a loose connection in there. I have replaced LCD screens on game boys (not a ds) I repaired a completely cracked in half ds including repairing the r button once... It's worth cracking it open to try, perhaps your husband would feel more comfortable doing it. I love when i can make them work again dh makes fun of me because girls can't do that. Please note I just guess at what I'm doing when i fix them and I tend to be correct. The inner workings are rather straight forward.

 

[MaleficentRN]

Yes, it is a flat $75.Nintendo charges this for repairs to all thier systems. I gave my 11yo DD the option of me paying to fix it or to kick that in toward the cost of a new one and she'd cover the rest. So she got the XL.

 

[marlaine8]

Thank you all for your responses! I really didn't know where to start, now I do.

 

[Celidh]

It's worth ordering a tri tip screwdriver for 1 or 2$ online (you have to have tis this to open a ds) and trying to fix it yourself it could just be a loose connection in there. I have replaced LCD screens on game boys (not a ds) I repaired a completely cracked in half ds including repairing the r button once... It's worth cracking it open to try, perhaps your husband would feel more comfortable doing it. I love when i can make them work again dh makes fun of me because girls can't do that. Please note I just guess at what I'm doing when i fix them and I tend to be correct. The inner workings are rather straight forward.

That's my younger son's problem on his DS, the R button doesn't work. My older son's DS doesn't quite work right either. I'm not sure about upgrading them. They have the DS lite. The thing they like about it is because they can still play their old game boy games. You can't do this with the newer versions.