Nintendo DSi

[TwingleMum]

Why should I get my son a DSi ?? He already has a DS. Is there a significant difference between DS and DSi????? Do you have it?? Pro/Cons?? How much are they?? Can you get good deals??? Thanks so much!!

 

[edandcolleen1995]

If you already have a DS then there is no need to upgrade. The DSi has a net connection (not really needed for kids that young) and little camera that is fun for them to play with but nothing you need.

My daughter's DS bottom screen was acting up. Would work off and on. We brought it to gamestop, showed it to them and they still took it for a full trade in.

That and some old games she did not play got us to about $25 to upgrade to a new DSi. So it was worth it because the old DS was wonky. But outside of that ehh not worth it.

Plus one downside is that the old gameboy advance games won't run on the news DSi. For my son, he would never want to give up those games so he has no desire to upgrade anyway.

 

[laurie31]

How old is your son?

My DD10 loves hers. She not only loves the internet access, but the camera. She plays with it all the time. She really likes morphing pictures and playing Webkins on there. Now I don't have to deal with her begging to use my laptop when we're waiting someplace boring. Actually, I've been surpirsed at how much free wifi there is "out there." She is able to use it in places where I don't have the laptop with us. It's been really convenient. I actually borrowed it to check MY email once!

 

[TwingleMum]

Hi everyone. My DS is 6 yrs old.

 

[slytherinbratz]

I would not upgrade at all. The new stuff isn't worth the price. I ended up selling the DSi on Ebay. Wouldn't sell my old DS for anything.

 

[laurie31]

I probably wouldn't get one for a 6 year old. My dd's weren't going online without my DIRECT supervision at that age. Even now, they know where they are allowed to go, but I'm not standling literally over their shoulder anymore.

It's basically a kiddie laptop. And you know in 2-4 years they will come out with something even better, and your DS (and probably my DD too) will want that instead.

 

[LUCiD]

With a DSi you can get a variety of minigames. You have to buy them though, but, unless they start making dsi-exclusive games, I wouldn't recommend getting one. The internet connection isn't very good anyway.
Edit: I agree, a kid his age shouldn't have internet access without adult supervision anyways.

 

[jfoofj]

I am asking the same questions right now... my son and step son (turning 8 and 9 in Oct and Nov) have DS's that my mom bought them 2.5 years ago. They are still working and in pretty good shape, but they really want the DSi's. The local gamestop if offering a pretty good trade in deal and the kids want to upgrade... and they have the money to pay the difference from saving up money from allowances, tooth fairy, b-days etc.

I'm not sure about it due to the fact that it has internet capability.... are you able to limit that? We had a bad youtube experience recently (they were looking up something about a Mario game and somehow found animated porn... yep... Mario and the princess doing the nasty. The computer is in the living room and DH literally leviatated off the couch to shut it off, but it made for a conversation I didn't want to have quite yet). SO, that kind of turns me off about it... on the other hand I am trying to teach them to save up for stuff they want, and they have.... so what to do... what to do?!?!

 

[LUCiD]

Yes, there is parental controls, I don't know how well they work, though.

 

[laurie31]

It's wireless internet...so if you don't have a wireless network in your house, then no worries, and it's unlikely your kids would know how to connect to one out in public.

I haven't tried the parental controls, but so far, DD has followed the rules about where she can go when I'm not watching. (and yeah, YouTube is a "only when Mom or Dad is watching" kind of site). It has some funny stuff, but the rule is that DH or I have to watch a vid before they can watch it. We didn't see quite what your kids saw but there are some wildly inappropriate things out there...

 

[ferris198]

I bought one for ds who is 6, his original was broken, and I was going to have to replace it anyway.
One thing that impressed me was the fact that the internal memory will hold 400 pictures without a momory card.
My son also likes to change the pictures and tape voices and change them.
I found it was worth my money.

 

[TwingleMum]

we also don't allow our kids to go online w/o supervision. The computer is in the kitchen right where we are. He is a really good kid and does not ask for alot so I'll have to think about it.

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

Thanks to the good folks here on the dis this old gramma learned that DSI means the system has internet capability.

So, what's the difference between DS & DS lite? My grandson won't really need internet capability since they don't have the internet at home & if they did, he could use his PSP for that.

What price range are we looking at for either plain DS or DS Lite? Do any stores offer the system plus some games & chargers? Or are chargers included with the game system?

We got a Shopko sale book in the mail today & of course it doesn't give much information about the game systems. TIA!!!

 

[TwingleMum]

DS is around $125 DSi is around $160.