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FIRST IMPRESSIONS:
As many of you know , about a year ago , a guy called Adam Curtis , started to make a back light for the GBA. About a year on , and it's reality ! And how gooder reality it is !
I recieved mine on wednesday morning , because im only 14 , i had to go to school , so i installed it that night.
It comes in a small package , wrapped in a bubble wrap envelope.
The instructions are all published like real published book and each part of the kit is well constructed and easy to install.
INSTALLATION :
So I start out by taking apart my GBA with the tri head screw driver that I got with it (from liksang) , which took all of 2 minutes.
Next I follow the easy instructions , and start to CUT my gameboy ! yep you heard me right , CUT my beloved gameboy.
I mark out the bit I have to cut it out , and do it , which took me about 20 odd minutes to get it right (im a bit of a perfectionist) so that the light would fit into it.
Luckily the bit that you have to cut out is where the black gameboy advance logo is , so when you put the screen back on you cant see the damage , phew !
Now I have to put some reflective film on the lcd screen , which stops the light from reflecting … this is when the problems start :(
I determine which side of the film is sticky , line it up with screen , get the black plastic card that is provided , and lift up the corner of the “release film” , my heart sinks when a tiny bit of the glue layer lifts off , and im left with a corner with smudged up glue on it … DAM ! ..and … it’s visible from the outside ! But I can’t change that now , so I carry on.
The non reflective layer , goes on perfectly without any bubbles or anything underneath it … nice.
Now I have to solder … uh oh ;) In the past I have ruined things by soldering for too long , but I’ve learnt from my mistakes and .. start to solder. I have to put the black and red wires onto the ribbon cable coming from the afterburner (the light), which surprisingly is very easy , and goes off without a hitch ! wahoo !
For the next hour or so , I’m fiddling about inside my gameboy (and out) fitting a resistor to a very small terminal thingy ( like fitting a switch to your gamecube) that also surprisingly goes very very well , and I get it right first time ! Now the real problems start, problems that almost make me give up…
I could finish it now , and just have the light inside without a switch on the outside to change the brightness. I thought it would be pretty easy , and cool to have this brightness switch so I go for it … oh what a terrible mistake it was.
To start with I have to make 4 small holes on the right hand side of the gameboy (on the back , below the r button). To do this I use my soldering iron , and then flatten them out with my screw driver.
All going well to far, then I put the brightness dial on , and I notice a problem , I made the holes to far up , so soldering is hard.
To cut a long story short , I try and try to solder the wires to these 2 (the other 2 prongs were used for mounting only) very close together prongs , and succeed, when I try to put the GBA back to together the wires get caught on the game cartridge bit , where you put in the games , and they snap. This happens twice on the second time , I am so demoralised , that I just forget the dial , and finish it without it. I can go back and fit it later if I want to.
OVERALL:
The overall result , is probably the best add on I have ever bought ! I can see my screen , AT LAST !
I can actually look directly at the screen without having to tilt it towards the light. And most of all, I can see it perfectly at night, and the graphics and the whole game in general looks excellent, and I can honestly say they look better with the light.
I may have made it sound as if it was a nightmare to install, but it really wasn’t. The hardest part was having to cut out bits of plastic from the casing, and fitting that switch (but that could have been easy if I had put it in the right place, I could have made new holes , but I thought it might look messy) .
All in all , for £30 , it’s well worth the money , it will enhance your games playing by infinite amounts (unless of course you break your gameboy in the process of installing it , but it seems very hard to actually break it). The only problem with it is , that the light is SO bright , that after a while of playing in pitch darkness it does hurt your eyes a bit , but that’s what happens with most bright lights. And of course , you wont be able to play during lessons , that you have to watch boring videos, and they turn off the lights , because the gameboy turns into a light itself , it’s just that bright.
RATING : 10/10 !
SUPERB
As many of you know , about a year ago , a guy called Adam Curtis , started to make a back light for the GBA. About a year on , and it's reality ! And how gooder reality it is !
I recieved mine on wednesday morning , because im only 14 , i had to go to school , so i installed it that night.
It comes in a small package , wrapped in a bubble wrap envelope.
The instructions are all published like real published book and each part of the kit is well constructed and easy to install.
INSTALLATION :
So I start out by taking apart my GBA with the tri head screw driver that I got with it (from liksang) , which took all of 2 minutes.
Next I follow the easy instructions , and start to CUT my gameboy ! yep you heard me right , CUT my beloved gameboy.
I mark out the bit I have to cut it out , and do it , which took me about 20 odd minutes to get it right (im a bit of a perfectionist) so that the light would fit into it.
Luckily the bit that you have to cut out is where the black gameboy advance logo is , so when you put the screen back on you cant see the damage , phew !
Now I have to put some reflective film on the lcd screen , which stops the light from reflecting … this is when the problems start :(
I determine which side of the film is sticky , line it up with screen , get the black plastic card that is provided , and lift up the corner of the “release film” , my heart sinks when a tiny bit of the glue layer lifts off , and im left with a corner with smudged up glue on it … DAM ! ..and … it’s visible from the outside ! But I can’t change that now , so I carry on.
The non reflective layer , goes on perfectly without any bubbles or anything underneath it … nice.
Now I have to solder … uh oh ;) In the past I have ruined things by soldering for too long , but I’ve learnt from my mistakes and .. start to solder. I have to put the black and red wires onto the ribbon cable coming from the afterburner (the light), which surprisingly is very easy , and goes off without a hitch ! wahoo !
For the next hour or so , I’m fiddling about inside my gameboy (and out) fitting a resistor to a very small terminal thingy ( like fitting a switch to your gamecube) that also surprisingly goes very very well , and I get it right first time ! Now the real problems start, problems that almost make me give up…
I could finish it now , and just have the light inside without a switch on the outside to change the brightness. I thought it would be pretty easy , and cool to have this brightness switch so I go for it … oh what a terrible mistake it was.
To start with I have to make 4 small holes on the right hand side of the gameboy (on the back , below the r button). To do this I use my soldering iron , and then flatten them out with my screw driver.
All going well to far, then I put the brightness dial on , and I notice a problem , I made the holes to far up , so soldering is hard.
To cut a long story short , I try and try to solder the wires to these 2 (the other 2 prongs were used for mounting only) very close together prongs , and succeed, when I try to put the GBA back to together the wires get caught on the game cartridge bit , where you put in the games , and they snap. This happens twice on the second time , I am so demoralised , that I just forget the dial , and finish it without it. I can go back and fit it later if I want to.
OVERALL:
The overall result , is probably the best add on I have ever bought ! I can see my screen , AT LAST !
I can actually look directly at the screen without having to tilt it towards the light. And most of all, I can see it perfectly at night, and the graphics and the whole game in general looks excellent, and I can honestly say they look better with the light.
I may have made it sound as if it was a nightmare to install, but it really wasn’t. The hardest part was having to cut out bits of plastic from the casing, and fitting that switch (but that could have been easy if I had put it in the right place, I could have made new holes , but I thought it might look messy) .
All in all , for £30 , it’s well worth the money , it will enhance your games playing by infinite amounts (unless of course you break your gameboy in the process of installing it , but it seems very hard to actually break it). The only problem with it is , that the light is SO bright , that after a while of playing in pitch darkness it does hurt your eyes a bit , but that’s what happens with most bright lights. And of course , you wont be able to play during lessons , that you have to watch boring videos, and they turn off the lights , because the gameboy turns into a light itself , it’s just that bright.
RATING : 10/10 !
SUPERB
Page:
Microchips wrote:
> 1st problem:
>
> It's not even here yet and I have had a problem. My screen is slighty
> scratched, so i have ordered another one. I got an email saying that
> they are waiting for stocks. Do I want to wait for the creen to come
> or get the kit this weekend, as a part attaches to the plastic cover.
> I said I will install it onto my screen that i have, and keep the
> other as a spare.
>
> Anyways, I will be installing it this weekend, and what's worse, the
> forums on portablemonopoly.com (now tritonlabs.com0 say that it was
> even harder to install then you said so mr. indian Dude! Is it really
> that hard, and is the dial worth it?
>
> :D
Did you got to portable gamer? they said there that many people were saying that it isnt nesessary so they are no longer fitting it. Also cording to what I read It said 3 working day turnaround but up to 14 in peek times mind it is a extra £10 but think its worth it.
> 1st problem:
>
> It's not even here yet and I have had a problem. My screen is slighty
> scratched, so i have ordered another one. I got an email saying that
> they are waiting for stocks. Do I want to wait for the creen to come
> or get the kit this weekend, as a part attaches to the plastic cover.
> I said I will install it onto my screen that i have, and keep the
> other as a spare.
>
> Anyways, I will be installing it this weekend, and what's worse, the
> forums on portablemonopoly.com (now tritonlabs.com0 say that it was
> even harder to install then you said so mr. indian Dude! Is it really
> that hard, and is the dial worth it?
>
> :D
Did you got to portable gamer? they said there that many people were saying that it isnt nesessary so they are no longer fitting it. Also cording to what I read It said 3 working day turnaround but up to 14 in peek times mind it is a extra £10 but think its worth it.
1st problem:
It's not even here yet and I have had a problem. My screen is slighty scratched, so i have ordered another one. I got an email saying that they are waiting for stocks. Do I want to wait for the creen to come or get the kit this weekend, as a part attaches to the plastic cover. I said I will install it onto my screen that i have, and keep the other as a spare.
Anyways, I will be installing it this weekend, and what's worse, the forums on portablemonopoly.com (now tritonlabs.com0 say that it was even harder to install then you said so mr. indian Dude! Is it really that hard, and is the dial worth it?
:D
It's not even here yet and I have had a problem. My screen is slighty scratched, so i have ordered another one. I got an email saying that they are waiting for stocks. Do I want to wait for the creen to come or get the kit this weekend, as a part attaches to the plastic cover. I said I will install it onto my screen that i have, and keep the other as a spare.
Anyways, I will be installing it this weekend, and what's worse, the forums on portablemonopoly.com (now tritonlabs.com0 say that it was even harder to install then you said so mr. indian Dude! Is it really that hard, and is the dial worth it?
:D
Microchips wrote:
> Heh- i am ordering it tonight. I checked with my Dad and he has all
> the neccesary tools- soldering iron, solder, flux, wire strippers,
> anti-static cloth, you name it, he's got it!
>
> Anyways, I'll be installign it this weekend (if it comes by then ;D)
> and i will indeed post any problems here.
>
> oh yeah, is it worth fitting the brightness dial?
>
> Microchips.
>
> :D
it's a pretty cool extra , it's not needed to make it work , but you can dim the light down a bit if it's too intense , and you can save battery life when you dont need the light on (on very sunny days , or if your in a really light room. And you will have something on the outside of your gameboy , so people notice something different straight away .... i like the attention ;)
> Heh- i am ordering it tonight. I checked with my Dad and he has all
> the neccesary tools- soldering iron, solder, flux, wire strippers,
> anti-static cloth, you name it, he's got it!
>
> Anyways, I'll be installign it this weekend (if it comes by then ;D)
> and i will indeed post any problems here.
>
> oh yeah, is it worth fitting the brightness dial?
>
> Microchips.
>
> :D
it's a pretty cool extra , it's not needed to make it work , but you can dim the light down a bit if it's too intense , and you can save battery life when you dont need the light on (on very sunny days , or if your in a really light room. And you will have something on the outside of your gameboy , so people notice something different straight away .... i like the attention ;)
thanks!
i have no technical knowledge abot soldering!
Heh- i am ordering it tonight. I checked with my Dad and he has all the neccesary tools- soldering iron, solder, flux, wire strippers, anti-static cloth, you name it, he's got it!
Anyways, I'll be installign it this weekend (if it comes by then ;D) and i will indeed post any problems here.
oh yeah, is it worth fitting the brightness dial?
Microchips.
:D
Anyways, I'll be installign it this weekend (if it comes by then ;D) and i will indeed post any problems here.
oh yeah, is it worth fitting the brightness dial?
Microchips.
:D
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