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DS Daily: Charge!

by Alisha Karabinus on Nov 12th 2007 9:00AM

One of the first things most people notice when going from a DS Phat to a Lite is how seldom the newer model requires charging. If there's any one benefit between models, it's the battery life. Unsurprisingly, we play a lot of DS around here (at DS Fanboy? You don't say!), and not having to charge as often is just awesome. Still, this blogger, at least, plugs it in once or twice a week, just to keep that green light glowing.

How often do you charge your DS? If you upgraded models, do you notice the difference?

Tags: battery-life, charge

Reader Comments (25)

I connect it to the charger most nights just out of habit. I doubt i've ever come near having the battery run out, though.

When I was a kid I used to hate the way the gameboy colour chewed up batteries, so when i got a ds lite i thought the inbuilt battery was just brilliant.. and yes, the life is very nice.

i only charge mine when the light turns red

I believe I get about half expected life since I'm using a SuperCard lite much of the time. I'm pretty happy to trade battery life for not having to lug cartridges with me everywhere, though.

well i play a lot at night, in bed, so i usually hook it up whilst i'm laying there. i used to want a charging cradle/dock thing, but they're all FUG. and i don't mind just plugging it in while i'm playing.

@#3: Yeah, I thought it was just my imagination.

Since I'm using a M3 Simply, the battery runs out a lot faster. Before that, battery life was great, but now it's just...good (lots better than my PSP tho).

So, it seems SuperCards and the like shorten the life of the battery... but does that mean that the battery just runs out faster or that the battery life will never be the same?

I only charge when the red light appears... which is once a week

I think it sucks more battery lfe because of the brighter screen

my battery life seems long lasted alot more than phatty.........i charge mine about 2 times a week..........but i never see the red light so im good

I'm red-green colorblind in most cases, so I'm unable to tell when the charging light changes color.

So I charge it after it automatically shuts off when the battery dies.

as much as possible.. i keep it plugged to my PC.
in the car... most likely plugged as well.

Can anyone tell me why my old bulky DS has about 40 min of battery life when I play a DS game with illumination? xD

I have to charge while I play or I'm doomed. xD

I like a highish brigtness level, and I play quite frequently. Barring the odd WiFi session, I usually end up charging about 1-2 times a week with my Lite.

Well, talk about a good timing for a post like this. I'm having this BIG problem with my DS Lite at the moment. The problem is : the thing won't stop turning on and off at random times. I've tried to recharge it completely, just in case. Still not able to get more than 5 seconds of play with my ds lite. It just turns off and on at random times.

My DS lite is finished. My warranty is over. My gamecube also broke... I'm getting tired of Nintendo and I don't want to pay a f*cking 100$ to get my ds lite fixed...

What should I DO???? IT WON'T EVEN WORK ANYMORE :(

i use an r4 and the charge lasts about half the time of when not using an r4

CC, sounds like you should straight up take better care of your stuff!

As far as the battery goes - on my phat it still lasts over 5 hours (maybe 6) including some of that being on wifi - I tend to plug it in as soon as it turns red because I'm usually playing something like Animal Crossing and I'm not a fan of Resetti.

As for my DS Lite - I play on the 3rd brightest setting (or 2nd lowest I think) so it's battery life is good.

Either way on both, battery life has never been an issue.

Then again, my R4 should be coming soon, so we'll see how fast it goes down then.

I used to get a red light every few days like once to every two weeks. Since playing Front Mission it has increased to almost once a week. It kinda sucks since it takes long to recharge but when I play strategy games my portables always get drained. :P

I usually play on the lowest brightness setting, so my lite lasts a lot longer compared to my old phat.

It's a bit less using the higher brightness. Like the other commenters, flash cards also seem to deplete battery life a bit faster.
Although, it still lasts longer than the old DS set on bright mode.

It seriously seems like a few years between charges for me. Even after being off for three straight months, it still holds a charge and goes forever. I wish all rechargeable batteries were as awesome as the DS Lite's.

Mine's an old phat, so I have to recharge it pretty often. It's got like, a 7 hour battery life now... so if I charge it up all night, we go on a car trip the next day... Given that we drive 6 hours at a time, the thing's dead by the end of it.

I don't play very much in the week, though, so I really charge it about twice every two weeks.

MY phat needs a charge every two weeks and I play it about an hour every day but I did get a replacement battery before I got it my battery died every 3 hours.

It was kind of ironic... after writing this up, I got a red light last night! I guess I've been playing even more than usual. I'm usually so vigilant that it surprised me.

I have an M3 that I use for convenience sake, much easier than lugging all my cartridges around. My battery runs about 6-8 hours with the M3, and about 14 without. Not too shabby either way.

My DS (and my PSP as well) are always plugged in when I'm at home. Very rarely, I'll unplug one or the other to go in another room if I'm playing a game, but usually not for longer than an hour.

i'm on my second battery for my ds lite. the first one died out long time ago, and my new one gives me 6 - 8 hours of gameplay depending on whether i turn up the volume/use wi-fi/etc or not.

i usually have to plug my ds lite in every night before i go to bed. i wish the battery life was a bit better, but maybe i should play a little less too :-P

I usually charge my DS Lite once a week, so as not to run out when I have a while to play it.
Right now, my DS Lite has so little power, that when I turn it on, it flashes and shuts off.

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DS Daily: Charge!

Reader Comments (25)

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:42AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:45AM SitriStahl said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:46AM rodan32 said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:48AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 10:01AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 10:42PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:57AM oryan707 said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 10:14AM TheC0A7S said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:32AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:37AM (Unverified) said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 12:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 12:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 2:08PM wehdat said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 3:08PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 3:31PM Bluebreaker said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 4:07PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 4:40PM St McDuck said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 7:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 9:15PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 13th 2007 11:59AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 13th 2007 3:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Nov 13th 2007 4:16PM dhelor said

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Posted: Nov 18th 2007 7:40PM (Unverified) said

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