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[Hi]

Well, with some new games I've pirated, my sister is enjoying her gba. The only problem is the lack of a backlight in the old gba's (Hey, it was $20 compared to $40) makes it a bit hard to see. Where can I find a cheap gba light that works well and won't cost to much to ship to the usa.

[dantheman]

You could always opt for the worm light.  It plugs into your EXT connector and gives you a decent amount of lighting.  I bent mine to the side so that I wouldn't get the glare, which also spreads the light out further.

There's also this one light that attaches onto the front of the GBA, and I think it's made by Mad Catz.  I can't really describe it well, but it looks like sort of a laptop or GBA SP by itself.  You attach it to the front, and then you can flip it up and down as needed.  It provides the absolute best amount of light I've seen in a GBA external light, with little to no glare
Downsides:  
1. it uses 3 AA batteries, and it runs through them fairly quickly.
2.  It basically makes the GBA about twice as thick, so it's not very pocket-friendly

[Hi]

I read that the GBA Cold Cathode light is fantastic, but I can't find a place that sells it.

Is this light fantastic?

Or should I go with the one made by madcatz?

Or should I go with a different kind of light than what has been mentioned?

A friend of mine says she bought a wormlight but that the wormlight does such a bad job she doesn't even bother to use it. So I'm sort of sceptical about that...

[dantheman]

Ah, I found the one I was talking about.  It's by Gamester, not Mad Catz as I originally thought.  It's called the  Gamester Flood Light.  Like I said it works incredibly well with no glare, but it eats batteries and is rather bulky and noticeably heavy.  I haven't used any other light, so I can't really give a personal opinion on others.

EDIT:  epinions and Amazon have some reviews that might be of interest to you

[onekelly]

Ah, I found the one I was talking about.  It's by Gamester, not Mad Catz as I originally thought.  It's called the  Gamester Flood Light.  Like I said it works incredibly well with no glare, but it eats batteries and is rather bulky and noticeably heavy.  I haven't used any other light, so I can't really give a personal opinion on others.

EDIT:  epinions and Amazon have some reviews that might be of interest to you

The bummer about this is with battery costs and or going to rechargables, he will be at the 40 dollar mark that was the gba sp. My choice would have been to save a little more money and get the built in backlight, but i guess that comes from experience. Cheaper is not always better. plus the old gba has batteries not built in rechargables, no car adapter.

[Hi]

I don't pay for the batteries, my parents do. BUT I pay for the gameboy. See how it works?

[dantheman]

I highly prefer the feel of the regular GBA to the SP.  I would like the backlight, yes, but I'd hate the feel of the system.  Unfortunately, my GBA is currently losing the ability to press Left and Down (you have to push really hard for it to register), and the GBA slot itself seems to grip the cartridges much harder than it should, so I mostly use it for flashing my Flash2Advance Ultra cart now (yay for no slowdowns, hehe).

I bought a Mad Catz rechargeable battery pack (that's why I mistakingly thought the light was from them) which worked well for a while.  Sure, it didn't have quite the battery life of disposeable AA batteries, but it worked well enough for my purposes, and since the recharger plugged directly into the battery pack, I was able to run my GBA off the wall outlet when I felt like it.  However, it slowly started getting worse over time, and it got to the point that a full charge would give me less than an hour of playing (I think it ran out after 5 minutes once).  I then took it out and used disposeables for a month or two, popping it back in when I was near a power outlet to use it solely as a power adapter.  When I tried seriously using it again after that, I found to my surprise that it could hold a charge for the normal amount of time like before.  The same thing happened recently as well, but I got my DS around the same time, so it's been sitting there doing nothing since November.  It will probably work again now.  I used that in conjunction with the worm light, which actually works fairly well when angled properly.

[Hi]

Okay, I read the revews of this light on amazon. It sounds good. I do have a few questions though

1. After putting in new batteries, how long does it take for the light to get dim? And do you think you could estimate how long it would take using rechargable lithium batteries for it to get dim?

2. After putting in new batteries, how long does it take for the light to run out of power? And do you think you could estimate how long it would take using rechargable lithium batteries for it to run out of power?

3. One person says that the light will come off quite easily. Easily as in by itself when you don't want it to come off, not when you are taking it off and want it to come off easily. However, only one person said this. Is it true?

4. Does this light look like it could break easily? Do you think it could break easily? (Since looks can be decieving)

5. The light is currently unavailable on amazon. Where do you reccomend I buy it from.

6. Will using this light make the sun fall out of the sky?

7. Thank you. (Okay, this isn't a question I admit it.)

P.S. Yes, 1 and 2 ARE different questions. Read the bold.

[dantheman]

1 & 2.  I haven't used the light in a while, since I've got my DS, so it's hard for me to tell.  I'd say that it takes several hours before the light gets dim for the first time, and it works for several more hours before it dies and you have to replace the batteries.  It's fully usable in the dim state though, so don't let that bother you.  I also never used it with rechargeable batteries, so I can't comment on that.

3.  I've never had it come off when I don't want it to.  It fits very snug on the DS.  In fact, I was once worried that I wouldn't be able to take it off without breaking it!  The secret is to take the front flap off first, the part that snaps into the GBA's rim, and then hold the buttons on the opposite end to pull it straight off.

4.  The unit seems very sturdy from my experience.  I have had no reason to suspect it will break anytime soon.  Perhaps if you sit on it or something it could get damaged, but that could be said of most hardware.

5.  No clue, sorry.  I got mine a couple years ago at Walmart for $8 or so.  You could try Ebay I guess.

6.  I don't understand the question.  If you're talking about brightness, it is indeed very bright, almost as good as playing in direct sunlight.  Obviously you don't need to use it in the daylight of course.  If you mean the round "sun"-like glare you get from a worm light or similar device, then don't worry.  You can angle it to spread the light across the whole screen with no glare.

Like a review stated, it does make the GBA somewhat top-heavy, but you can get used to it.

[Hi]

question 6 was a joke.

Err... sorry, but after reading the revews on epinions I have a few more questions.

1. Okay, I can understand that it would be hard to answer this question, but do you have any estimate about how long it might take for the bulb to burn out?

2. Sorry, but after reading epinions the revews answered some of the questions I asked; and they said very diffrent things from what you said. I'm not trying to contridict you or anything, but understand that when trying to buy a product this is confusing.

A. About three people said that after playing for about 15 minutes there hands begin to hurt. Yet you say, that you get used to it. Can you comment on this?

B. Someone else said that the batteries run out in about 3 hours. I wonder if this could be the battery brand? What brand are you using. It shouldn't matter in the end sinse I'll probably use lithium, but I'd like to know all the same.

3. Last, (has nothing to do with epions) I was sitting down and thinking too myself "DO I need to buy a light" Well, obviously, that's a question that's simple to answer, no because a light and food are two diffrent things. But you know what I mean. My sister complains about her no-light-gba, but this certanly isn't the only thing she complains about. Should I bother?

[dantheman]

It hasn't burned out on me yet, that's all I can say.  Then again, I haven't used it all that much.  If the batteries get too low, only half of it will light up, giving the impression that it's broken when it isn't.  Just a small scare I had early on.

It's somewhat uncomfortable due to the top-heaviness, yes.  I was able to get used to it, but I could understand how some people couldn't.

I'm pretty sure it lasts more than 3 hours.  I do agree with the review that says it sucks batteries when not in use (tried it now and it's dead), but I could get more than 3 hours of playtime when I used it within a short time.  I used standard AA batteries, probably Duracell or perhaps the cheap ones from the local hardware store, can't really remember.

The light makes playing more convenient, as you no longer have to have a lamp over your shoulder or direct sunlight to see things clearly.  I found it to be a good investment at least.  That's part of the reason I like the DS so much - I like the ability to play in the dark or with low lighting.

I have an idea.  I have little to no use for mine at the moment, as I use my DS for all GBA-related homebrew, so I could send you mine through the mail for some testing.  If you like it, I probably wouldn't mind selling it for a few dollars, and if you don't like it you can just send it back.