Was so tempted by navy but went for white in the end. It's really nice. Not that much smaller, certainly not a major revamp at all but it looks really pretty and the screen quality is hugely improved.

It's nice!

I picked up one as well, and you beat my post by just a bit.  I happened to need to pick up something at Sofmap in Akihabara last week the day after FFXII came out.  As it turned out, we got up to the floor where the Nintendo stuff is and there was a long line waiting and the staff was bringing out a bunch of DS Lites.  I took the opportunity to get one while I was there, even though I hadn't been planning on getting one right away.  Snagged an Enamel Navy color, and I couldn't be happier.  The d-pad admittedly is a little bit small, but I got used to that quite quickly.  The difference in the screen brightness is more than worth that, though.  The thing is generally more comfortable to hold than the original system as well.

Yep, already playing Mario Kart I'm finding it far more comfortable. The screen quality is stunning. The only problem with that is that there is a situation with some games that the colour get too hot, similar to many games when the SP was released and games had been overcompensating for the darkness of the original GBA screen. The colours on Animal Crossing look a little nasty when the Lite is set to a high brightness.

On the other hand, Viewtiful Joe DS looks better than ever - the colours are really brought out which works great against the heavy blacks of that game. It looks fantastic.

That is something I think will be addressed in newer games, probably with two colour settings.

Yeah, I'm very happy with this.

Question for you guys who have switched to the Lite:

Have your tried re-assigning your Nintendo WiFi stuff from your old system to your new system?  If so, how difficult is it and does it reset all of your stats and friend codes?

Haven't yet tried it but apparently you need to get a new friend code and get your friends to add you again. I'll be online this evening so I'll confirm it one way or another.

Actually I had a nasty experience with AC. I started on my Lite and then realised I had set the year to 2005, not 2006. So I reset (without saving), fixed the date, restarted and found my town destroyed. Weeds everywhere, all my beautiful flowers gone. It's a mess. I'm gutted.

Oh, that sucks.  I guess it must make some alterations when you load the game.

Okay the way it works with friends codes is that you'll get a new one when you connect to WFC. So you have to get your friends to update their codes. Your own list is fine and stays as is. If you have contact with people on your friends list then that's no problem. Otherwise, I guess you have to track them down wherever you found them the first time or spread the word amongst your friends.

Question: Is the Lite coming out in the States?  And if so, is there a definite date?

cheers,

-avatar!

I would imagine so but, to my knowledge, a date has not been announced yet. My gut tells me it would likely be May and, if not, probably September. Total guess - I don't even know why I'm saying that...

Oooh...where'd you get it? I'm interested in getting one.

We should hear something by tomorrow, when Iwata delivers his keynote speech at the Game Developers Conference:

http://ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=3473

Cool.  Thanks for the info.

... Or not.  D'oh!

Question: Is the Lite D-pad the same as the one for the original GBA/GC? Sizewise, it looks like it and that thing still gives me nightmares (tapping twice to dash and games with constant movement, like Pac Man were the worst offenders). The pad on the original model DS feels very nice, if I do say so.

The pad on the Lite is the same size as the pad on the Micro but it's softer. It's slightly more loose. When I first got it I had a hard time with that as the directions didn't feel as defined but that was just getting used to a new pad I suppose. It's a good bit smaller than the DS pad but a bit more raised, which helps.

My own Crystal White Lite came in from NCSX today.  Other than the observations that the screens are excellently more brighter and colors more vibrant -- right on par with the new SP -- I'll also add that the motion blur that's evident on the new SP is more or less non-existent here.  Awesome.

Also, while they are noticeably weaker than the original DS, the speakers have surprisingly decent output, considering that they were reduced to just six holes on each side.  Headphone volume output is exactly the same on both machines.

The Start/Select buttons are annoyingly small, and placed rather oddly; clearly not in the best position to do a soft reset.  I still need to get accustomed to its positioning for a game like Dawn of Sorrow, where you're constantly in and out of the menu screen.
   
Any of you guys who have the Lite also invested in a screen protector?  I'd gotten a "Keys Factory" version when I was supposed to get the "Hori Liquid Crystal Filter," and I don't care much for it.  The touch screen cover is a blue taint, and it looks pretty bad.  Does Hori's fare any better?

The Hori screen protector I got for my original DS was fantastic.  Never even noticed it was there once I applied it.  Since the screens are the exact same size, you can just get the ones for the original DS.  I've noticed a couple places selling ones specifically for the DS Lite, but that's just trying to convince you that you need to buy theirs if you have a Lite, rather than the other brands.

I'm pretty sure my original DS's speakers were messed up, as this system seems about exactly the same for volume.  It also doesn't have the very faint background buzz sound that my DS's speakers made if you were in a really quiet room to hear it.

Yes, I think the buzzing was a problem prevalant in a number of the older DS's.  In fact, mine downright crackled on the lowest volume setting, both out of the speaker and headphone outputs.

Mine buzzes a bit during AC:WW, but that's the only game I've really noticed it with.

Yeah I also thought my original DS speakers were faulty. Same problem - crackly at low volumes. The Lite doesn't seem to have that problem.

This little bit was simply placed to properly
format my message.  Thank you for
your cooperation. ;)
<-------- Haha, my Ouendan Bowlcat avatar does look quite a bit better now.  His color tone is certainly more accurate. 

Yay DS Lite!  ^_^

Hey, two quick questions for you guys with the Lite.  This came up at the GFAQs boards, and I'm sort of wondering myself: do you have the grainy type touch screen, or the grid type?  Apparently, the original DS has had makes of both types of screen.  My Crystal White looks to be of the grainy make, while my original DS was the grid type.  Owners are trying to conclude if Nintendo went with just one type of make this time around, or if they are indeed still implementing both types.   Here's the FAQ for reference.

My other question is, does your volume control seem a little.... flimsy?  Maybe it's just mine, but it feels rather loose inside.  It slides well enough, but it just seems to me that, heaven forbid I drop the thing, the volume button will be the first thing to fly out.

And a question for Joe, specifically.  The Hori Screen Protectors are swell, but do you suppose both protectors would work on the touch-screen alone?  I don't anticipate any intentional scratch damage on the top screen, so I left it off for the time being -- and figured I'd keep that one as a spare for the bottom screen.  What do you think?  They appear to be the same size and material, right?

Well my old DS had a very grainy touchscreen - dull too, like the faq suggests, compared with the top screen. My Lite is a lot harder to tell. It doesn't have anything described in that grid-type section so I'm guessing it must be grainy but because of the light it is very difficult to tell. Unlike my old DS, it's very hard to tell the difference between the top and bottom screens on my Lite.

I haven't noticed a problem with the volume control but my d-pad feels fairly loose so maybe they're just going for loose overall. You know, like a theme.

I honestly think the Lite might use a different screen, because I don't notice any kind of blurriness compared to my original DS... and the colors are definitely more vibrant.  I think my original model was the grid screen.  If I had to choose one or the other, the new one is probably the grainy screen, if either?

As far as screen protectors go, I'm not really sure.  I know that some brands have different sized screen covers for each screen (the bigger screen's glass area is actually bigger than the bottom screen, if you look at it... it just has a black rim around the outside edge).  I can't find my top screen protector right now from the Hori package... I only ever put the one on the bottom.  Even if the size is different, though, I'm sure you could just trim it down with an exacto knife or something.

Thanks for the replies, Jay, Joe.  Perhaps we can conclude, then, that Nintendo opted for the grainy make - at least for the initial launch shipment.   

I can understand loose on intention, like the d-pad, but my volume control feels, well.... flimsy.  Like if I touched it any other way but to slide it left and right, it would pop right out.  Bweek.