Please help me pick a Nintendo DS

[Minnie]

My son (16) has the original Nintendo DS which is starting to give him a few problems.... so we've decided to surprise him and replace the system. Normally I'd just ask him but he thinks he has to wait till Aug for his birthday and I want to keep this a surprise

The problem is which system to we buy?

There are currently 3 options:

DS Lite - $120 - no camera, SD slot for music, or internet

DSi - $160 - camera, SD slot, internet, a little larger

DSi XL - $190 - same as DS only quite a bit larger

And rumor holds that a DS 3D version will be out in 2011 but his system cannot wait that long so we need to purchase one now....

If it helps he also has an I-pod touch for music, games, ect.

Please help me pick - thanks

 

[Sparx]

I'd lean towards a DSi or DSi XL, and remember if you go to Game Stop, you can get credit towards your purchase of a DSi for trading in your DS.

There are rumors of DSi exclusive games, so thats the reason for upgrading past a DSlite.

 

[java]

I wish the DSi XL came in different colors. They seem to be marketing it towards adults. I think the larger screen would actually be better for my son. I am leaning towards that one- Although I have been seeing the DSI's for around $130 lately. And that's tempting.
And YES that 3d one looks very cool!
Oh I see he is 16- have you thought about a PSP? My 15 year old prefers that to a ds. Although he does still play on his with his siblings.

 

[PictureJumpr]

I spend a lot of time on my DSi because I travel a lot and spend hours in airports and such. I looked at this when I was overseas, but I decided against buying a DSiLL(XL). The whole thing is just not enough 'more' than the one I have to sell me on the pricetag.

If your son wants/needs the online or wares (downloadable games + apps) capability, then perhaps the DSi is the way to go. You'd have to decide on the XL-or-not-XL thing, but my advice would be to skip the larger screen. There is no improvement to the resolution with the larger screen, it's just bigger. The camera on these is kind of a joke, may be fun for a young/teen kid, but I find it kind of useless. The internet is kind of cool to have when I'm sitting in an airport hotspot or something, but for everyday browsing it really isn't functional. There is a serious limit on the ability of the DSi's browser to handle graphics and/or memory used by loading web pages.

I don't know what your son's favorite games are, but if any of them are older game boy advance games, keep in mind that the DS and the DS Lite are the only two which play those games. DSi (XL or not) does not have a slot for them. I found this out the hard way when I first got mine (I got over it when I bought some new games but at first I was a little sad)

 

[Joshamee'sBud]

We were also looking for a DS of some variety for DD. We were set on the XL, but came to discover that it's a larger screen, but not better resolution. So, just bigger pixels and a worse picture, apparently.

We settled on the DS-i - just got one at target yesterday, on sale for $15 off!

From a review at engadget.com on the 26th:

"The larger screens are a nice touch and do, as Nintendo claims, support wider viewing angles and make text easier on the eyes, but since they are the exact same 256 x 192 resolution, what Nintendo's done is effectively up the size of each pixel."

(I'd post the url, but I'm too new).

 

[golfgal]

We got DS15 (Happy Birthday today) a DS lite for his birthday. Since he has a phone, IPod and computer that can do all that other stuff we just got him the one to play games on .

 

[luvmy3]

The only difference between the DSi and the XL one is the screen size? I can't imagine paying $200 for that. I would just go with the DSi.

 

[shortbun]

My 15yo gamer son says go with the DSi and put the extra money away for another system upgrade later. lol, he's always thinking!!

 

[Minnie]

Oh I see he is 16- have you thought about a PSP? My 15 year old prefers that to a ds. Although he does still play on his with his siblings.

For whatever reason he is not interested in the PSP I tried to this route at Xmas but ended up getting the I-touch which he loves

Thanks for all the comments everyone

We went looking today but none of the stores had the consoles out to actually see the differences.... I've heard the XL isn't really pocket size even in cargo pants.

I ended up deciding to wait until DS is with me where he can see the consoles to get his opinion.

 

[Sparx]

For whatever reason he is not interested in the PSP I tried to this route at Xmas but ended up getting the I-touch which he loves

Thanks for all the comments everyone

We went looking today but none of the stores had the consoles out to actually see the differences.... I've heard the XL isn't really pocket size even in cargo pants.

I ended up deciding to wait until DS is with me where he can see the consoles to get his opinion.

I don't think there is really much of a size difference between the DSi and DSi XL, because in all of the ads for the XL it says that its screen is "___% bigger than the DSlite" and the DSi is much larger than the DSlite.

 

[lillygator]

I wish the DSi would have gone cheaper now that the new version is out. My youngest is saving her money but I still think $160 is too high. Her sister has one so the DS lite is a no go, as her favorite feature is the photos!

 

[Aristocath]

I don't think there is really much of a size difference between the DSi and DSi XL, because in all of the ads for the XL it says that its screen is "___% bigger than the DSlite" and the DSi is much larger than the DSlite.

Actually there is a big difference. My 12 yo son just got the DSi XL today for his belated birthday present and it is much larger than the DS lite he had. And it has a lot more features than the DSlite. It has 2 cameras, holds an SD card, comes preloaded with 3 games, records sound and all kinds of stuff I haven't figured out yet!

Anyway, he seems really pleased with it and my other boys are drooling over it and they have DS lites. Fortunately the next birthday isn't until October.

 

[mkel34]

Dell has the dsi in white for $139

 

[Sparx]

Actually there is a big difference. My 12 yo son just got the DSi XL today for his belated birthday present and it is much larger than the DS lite he had. And it has a lot more features than the DSlite. It has 2 cameras, holds an SD card, comes preloaded with 3 games, records sound and all kinds of stuff I haven't figured out yet!

Anyway, he seems really pleased with it and my other boys are drooling over it and they have DS lites. Fortunately the next birthday isn't until October.

I meant that there wasn't a large difference in the DSi and DSiXL

 

[Minnie]

Thanks for the suggestions

We purchased the DS lite after taking DS to check out the systems. He didn't like the size of the XL version and likes to play what he calls "classics" from the GBA system which won't work on the DSi.

He reallys asks for so little that I really wanted to get him the best / newest system but ended up purchasing the older one as it was what he wanted