DS Lite Cracking Up?

Well, damn.

I just checked, and sure enough, I've got a hairline crack on the left hinge!!!

Its small, I probably never would've noticed it, but its there. I've never dropped my Lite, I always keep it cased.

fuck!
 
Shit...Mine has one on the left hinge :(. I haven't been mishandling or anything...hell, I treat it like a god.

There's no section of Nintendo's warranty that covers this?
 
mine doesn't have one, but a co-worker warned me about it since his showed the same exact crack on it.
 
huh? this looks like the join between two parts of the plastic. There's a natural line where the two pieces meet, but it should be secured. Are people saying that this seal wasn't glued together well enough?
 
Email them, too Silverpaw. It only takes a second. Even if they don't respond well, don't you think Nintendo needs to know how widespread of a problem this is?

I will post any replies I get from big N, but for now I'm off to bed.
 
If Nintendo's warranty covers dead pixels, I'm sure it will cover cracks in the plastic, considering it's a manufacturing defect.
 
Mine has the crack too, it is only a hairline one right now.

I already posted this question at maxconsole, but I thought id ask it here also because it may have something to do with the crack in question:

Is the DS Lite hinge designed to open at a full 180 degrees? If you open your DSL normally, it will click into place at 170 degrees, but if you pull it back a little more, it will click into place at 180 with very little force.

I am wondering if opening it at a full 180 will put more stress on the hinge, possibly causing the crack?

BTW, one of the guys at maxconsole already called Nintendo about this problem. They told them that there would be a $50 fee to fix this crack. Nintendo obviously does not recognize this as something that is caused by a defect.
 
[quote name='King']Yeah Nintendo's warranty doesn't cover this, it costs 50 bucks plus shipping.[/QUOTE]
Surprising, but I suppose it depends on how widespread the problem is. The small world of the internet makes everything seem more common.
 
If it's enough of a widespread problem you can bet your left nut Nintendo will fix this under warranty or exchange the defective units for new ones. They'd be idiots to have this spiral into a PR disaster, with the DS doing as well as it is right now.

I've just checked mine and so far it's ok, but I'll sure be keeping an eye on it!
 
[quote name='monkeygod']Mine has the crack too, it is only a hairline one right now.

I already posted this question at maxconsole, but I thought id ask it here also because it may have something to do with the crack in question:

Is the DS Lite hinge designed to open at a full 180 degrees? If you open your DSL normally, it will click into place at 170 degrees, but if you pull it back a little more, it will click into place at 180 with very little force.

I am wondering if opening it at a full 180 will put more stress on the hinge, possibly causing the crack?

BTW, one of the guys at maxconsole already called Nintendo about this problem. They told them that there would be a $50 fee to fix this crack. Nintendo obviously does not recognize this as something that is caused by a defect.[/QUOTE]

I can't imagine it isn't designed to open that full 180 degrees. As you say it doesn't take much force and stops at a too perfect angle for it to not be by design. I open mine like that whenever I play Brain Age. For games that are played in the normal horizontal position I just open it to the first stop. And I'd imagine that's why they have it catch at the 170 angle (for normal gaming) but then be able to swing open flat like a book (for vertical gaming).

No crack on my lite's hinge (yet).
 
Mine doesn't have a crack, but I'll watch out for it. If it does happen, I'll be either A) Returning to Sams Club, or B) Return it at nintendo (and just say I have a dead pixel which is true). I'm good to go
 
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This is weird. Anyone have an Japanese DSL with this problem? I've had mine since March and haven't had any cracks or anything. :whistle2:/
 
[quote name='botticus']If Nintendo's warranty covers dead pixels, I'm sure it will cover cracks in the plastic, considering it's a manufacturing defect.[/quote]

Not really. Things like this are often blamed on the user because its so easy to say it was broken due to negligence. Thats why its so important to email them and make a stink about this because if people start making excuses for nintendo then the problem will never get fixed.


This is a picture of my DS Lite. I read the article and decided to look at my lites. I have an import Navy one that is fine but i was suprised to see my US white one was cracked. And this thing has never even left the house.

dslitecrack.jpg


I have a best buy warranty but since i don't want to waste it yet then I'm going to just live with it until black comes out.
 
Just looked at my lite, and there it is. A small crack. :cry:

I don't have the warranty info on hand right now, so can anyone explain what the EBgames warranty covers?

I may just hang on to it until black comes out also.
 
I saw the crack appear on my DS Lite after I got back from Disney World this past week. It didn't even leave my hotel room. But I was lucky enough to exchange it at WalMart. I got it on launch day and was able to swap it out this last Saturday after a bit of a hard time given by the girl that works in electronics about not having seen it for over 30 days. The manager didn't mind. The CSR was about to just give me a gift card for it since I was gonna do some other shopping, but since I got an employee discount from someone who wasn't with me, I had to do the even swap. But they cut my new box open, and I got to look at it for cracks and dead pixels. Suhweet!
 
To the people that has a crack on their DS: What is your usage behavior? Do you take your DS out a lot and store it in bags or pockets? How many times on average do you open and close the DS on a daily basis?

I want to get an idea on the amount of usage needed to cause the DS to crack, as mine hasnt cracked yet, and mine is the navy blue import, but the materials used is probably the same.
 
I keep excellent care of mine. It stays in the hori multi pouch when not in use, has screen protectors, and is wiped for prints once in a while. It is also almost never opened to the full 180. Only a few times when other people use it.
 
I kept mine is perfect shape. My wife's DS, my cousin and my sister in-law's DS's all are in perfect shape. None of us abuse them whatsoever. But then again, mine was the only one to develop a crack... It is the oldest though. maybe it's a flaw in the first batch? or maybe it's something that happens after three weeks?
 
Poll over at Kotaku or Joystiq (I was reading both this afternoon) only showed 66 out of 583 with cracked Lites. Not a good number, but I'm leaning more towards a defective production run. Doesn't seem like any of the people here who have had imports for a lot longer developed any problems either.
 
Mine doesnt have any and I bought it at launch. I have been playing it like mad also with NSMB, castlevania, advance wars, etc. Many hours into it and no hair line cracks or anything.
 
Something similar happened to me with the HP laptop I purchased for my grandmother. Hinge was cracking. I called HP and explained to the Indian gentleman who told me it was abuse even if the laptop hasn't left her desk in 8 months and they wouldn't fix it unless I paid $300. I'm kind of angry that this looks like it COULD be a problem with DS lite, but hopefully this is just overblown defect hype like the Xbox 360 launch.
 
k, so i just checked mine, and no cracks for me. And i've dropped my DS lite about `10 times or more on a hard carpet surface, on my textbooks, one time it dinged against my computer. So i dunno, i've dropped it a lot and squeezed it a lot, i've physically abused my DS lite unintentionally a bunch of times, and no crack. : /
 
[quote name='Lan_Zer0']I keep excellent care of mine. It stays in the hori multi pouch when not in use, has screen protectors, and is wiped for prints once in a while. It is also almost never opened to the full 180. [/QUOTE]

I do the same thing, word for word, and even before I kept it in the Multi Pouch, it was always protected. My crack is nearly invisible, though.
 
*knocks on wood* Mine hasn't cracked yet. And for a while, I was carrying it my pocket unprotected. That's why I'm looking for a silicon case now @_@. I've had this since the US launch too. So I'm betting this is a production error.
 
Shit, I just saw the story on joystiq and ran to check my DS lite right away and sure enough the crack was there. :cry:
 
Guys, mine has the same freaking problem! I called NOA today, and the man that I talked to acted as if he had never heard of this problem.

EVERYONE CALL NINTENDO. 1-800-255-3700

If they don't know the problem exists, they're not going to do anything about it.

JOSH
 
I use mine all the time and almost always play it at 170 degrees. It's gone everywhere with me though I do keep it cased on travels. When I'm not playing it i usually just set it down, shut, on a table.

I don't think the crack is a result of abuse...just wear and tear...Nintendo should op to fix it methinks. however, if it's only cosmetic then it's no big deal, imo.
 
[quote name='dcfox']Shit, I just saw the story on joystiq and ran to check my DS lite right away and sure enough the crack was there. :cry:[/QUOTE]


Same here
 
I'm kind of split about this.. I kind of feel bad for Nintendo. They put money into making their product well, then they give a long warranty and fix stuff for free.

Meanwhile Sony makes stuff as dubiously as a 1910's hot dog and sells and sells.
 
[quote name='musicnoteless']*knocks on wood* Mine hasn't cracked yet. And for a while, I was carrying it my pocket unprotected. That's why I'm looking for a silicon case now @_@. I've had this since the US launch too. So I'm betting this is a production error.[/quote]

Don't get the "silicon protector" ones. They fit nicely but is very loose near where the buttons are, and so can unravel itself in that area during intense playing. Also because of the skin, it is not able to close completely shut. Only to around 15 degrees. Also it does not full protect the hinge and collects dust very quickly. The only cool thing about this case is the nice grip you get from silicon and the fact that you can insert photos/stickers/whatever beneath the skin and it will show through, almost like a poorman's DS Lite skin.

Ive ordered the Capdase silicon case, which is a hybrid silicon/hardcase. It covers the entire hinge. Hope it is better; though I am doubtful that any case would be helpful preventing the kind of crack that we see here.
 
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