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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:
salute back at you micro ;)
i did have msn , but i cacked the whole lot up , and now it wont run on my computer (that doesnt mean i cant get it though, i'll ask my mate to help out ;))
and about that brightness dial thing ... i installed it about 3 hours ago !! i found some stronger wire , made sure i had enough , and got this crocodile clip type thing (it has 2 clips and a magnifying glass) which i used to solder the small bits on the dial. At first it didn't work , but then i found that two of the wires were touching , i mved them apart and now it works !! Wahoo ! At last i can fade it in and out !
anyway , good luck on installing it , and post any problemo's you have ;)
when soldering , use flux , good solder , a soldering iron with a fine tipped head and DONT hold the soldering iron on the joints to long or you might burn out a circuit somewhere (but it only happens if you hold it on for more than 10 seconds or so.)
i did have msn , but i cacked the whole lot up , and now it wont run on my computer (that doesnt mean i cant get it though, i'll ask my mate to help out ;))
and about that brightness dial thing ... i installed it about 3 hours ago !! i found some stronger wire , made sure i had enough , and got this crocodile clip type thing (it has 2 clips and a magnifying glass) which i used to solder the small bits on the dial. At first it didn't work , but then i found that two of the wires were touching , i mved them apart and now it works !! Wahoo ! At last i can fade it in and out !
anyway , good luck on installing it , and post any problemo's you have ;)
when soldering , use flux , good solder , a soldering iron with a fine tipped head and DONT hold the soldering iron on the joints to long or you might burn out a circuit somewhere (but it only happens if you hold it on for more than 10 seconds or so.)
I have finally decided what I am going to do. i will keep my Arctic GBA and buy an afterburner kit and install it myself, for three reasons:
(1) The joy of doing it myself.
(2) Saves me money
(3) It only takes 3 days for it to come, where a GBA fitted with one will take 21 working days! Argh! I can't be having with that!
Indian Dude, you persuaded me to fit it myself, which saves me money too!
i salute you!
:D
P.S Do you have MSN?
:D
(1) The joy of doing it myself.
(2) Saves me money
(3) It only takes 3 days for it to come, where a GBA fitted with one will take 21 working days! Argh! I can't be having with that!
Indian Dude, you persuaded me to fit it myself, which saves me money too!
i salute you!
:D
P.S Do you have MSN?
:D
thats the one ;)
Indian-DudeY2K wrote:
> Solskjær wrote:
> I might get one when I get more GBA games and start playing it a lot
> more - and that should really be a big IF!
>
> It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me
> messing
> around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games.
> :)
>
> Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
>
> i think www.portablegamer.co.uk , might install them for you , but im
> not sure. (it's more fun doing it yourself , it's like game in itself
> ;))
It does it advertises it on its front page
> Solskjær wrote:
> I might get one when I get more GBA games and start playing it a lot
> more - and that should really be a big IF!
>
> It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me
> messing
> around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games.
> :)
>
> Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
>
> i think www.portablegamer.co.uk , might install them for you , but im
> not sure. (it's more fun doing it yourself , it's like game in itself
> ;))
It does it advertises it on its front page
Solskjær wrote:
> I might get one when I get more GBA games and start playing it a lot
> more - and that should really be a big IF!
>
> It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me messing
> around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games.
> :)
>
> Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
i think www.portablegamer.co.uk , might install them for you , but im not sure. (it's more fun doing it yourself , it's like game in itself ;))
> I might get one when I get more GBA games and start playing it a lot
> more - and that should really be a big IF!
>
> It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me messing
> around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games.
> :)
>
> Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
i think www.portablegamer.co.uk , might install them for you , but im not sure. (it's more fun doing it yourself , it's like game in itself ;))
I'm selling my red one for £40 and getting a black one with it already installed, any one want it?
I might get one when I get more GBA games and start playing it a lot more - and that should really be a big IF!
It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me messing around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games. :)
Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
It's my sisters anyway, so I doubt that she'd be happy with me messing around with it! But i'm sure she'd like to be able to see the games. :)
Are there any places that'll install it for you too??
I'm gonna sell my arctic one to my mate for £35 and buy a black one with an afterburner already installed for £100. My parents said I would get more eye strain, but i showed them the site and it actually says that it reduces eye starin!
Which is great for me!
:D
Which is great for me!
:D
Indian-DudeY2K wrote:
> i was gonna get a black one while i was on holiday , but i kept my see
> through purple one , why you say ? Because when you have the light on
> , the whole gameboy glows !! it's amazing !
That sounds cool I must admit I really like the Spice coloured one even though its slightly more expensive so is the black.
> i was gonna get a black one while i was on holiday , but i kept my see
> through purple one , why you say ? Because when you have the light on
> , the whole gameboy glows !! it's amazing !
That sounds cool I must admit I really like the Spice coloured one even though its slightly more expensive so is the black.
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