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DS dead pixels - How common is it?

S

siamesedreamer

Banned
I picked up a brand new DS at lunch, came home and turned it on only to find out that its got a dead pixel in the middle of the top screen. I'm pretty pissed about it, but I did buy the 1 year warranty thing from EB so I'm hoping they will allow an exchange.

I remember when the GBA SP first came out there were a ton of dead pixel complaints, but Nintendo seemed to rectify the problem with subsiquent shipments. I find it rather ridiculous to have a dead pixel on a brand spanking new machine, but I can understand it with some wear and tear.

Anyway, is it pretty common for this to happen? Anyone else have any dead pixels? Am I overreacting?
 
I've got two little dots on mine. Certainly not enough to send me into a flying rampage and curse Iwata's family for ten generations or anything
 
I have one on my touch screen, and while I don't nice it in a game like Kirby where I'm constantly focusing on something else, I think that it will bother me when playing slower games, especially ones with some black.

I'll play my new purchases of Wario Ware and Zoo Keeper for a while, and then send it to Nintendo in Mid-November and hope it gets back soon.
 
If you call them, there's an option where they'll send you a brand new DS first, and you use that same box to send back your bad one. You don't need to pay a dime, or be without a DS for a while. The only trouble is actually making the call.
 
my classic nes gba sp had a dead pixel, so i got it replaced... so far my other handhelds have been clean... though my digital camera has two dead pixels...
 
I bought my ds and it had a dead pixel on the top screen, kind of bugged me so I swapped it and ended up with a dead pixel on the bottom screen, it's not as bad there and I couldn't be assed swapping again. also, resale value probably wont mean much as it's pretty dinged around in general anyway. I don't even bother with the case for it these days.
 
I had an obnoxious bright blue stuck pixel in the middle of my top screen.

Someone told me that Nintendo would send you a new one, and when you got it you'd send back your stuck pixeled DS.

So, I called up Ninendo and explained my problem. They said "OK, send us your DS and we'll fix it and send it back to you in 3-5 weeks."

I asked them about why my friend had a stuck pixel and they sent him a new one immediately.

"Oh, we discontinued that policy last week"

I then asked what that policy applied to.

"Well, if your DS doesn't turn on, or the touchscreen doesn't respond, we'll send you a new one"

So, I hung up, called right back, and told them my touch screen wasn't responding. They immediately took down my address and credit card number and sent me a new DS. I got it, it works great, and I sent back my dead-pixel DS.

So, don't tell them you have a dead pixel if you want immediate customer service. Tell them your touchscreen doesn't work, and you'll get the good customer service they orignally had.
 
I got a DS on day 1, and had no problem.

My brother got a DS the day the blue one launched in the US, and it had 2 dead pixels.
But the store exchanged it no problem.
 
On the two DS's I have each has a damaged pixel on one screen.
They aren't dead but they can't show some colors properly.
 
Bought my DS last week and it had a dead pixel in the middle of the top screen. I just returned it to TRU where I bought it and got a new one.
 
I have no dead pixils on mine :D Just some scraps of missing paint from dropping it :p The paint is wearing off at the corners too just from keeping it in my coat pocket. The console is too big to stick in my back pocket.
 
i have a stuck pixel on my bottom screen. i imported a white one, so there's nothing i can do about it. it was initially annoying, but i don't really notice it anymore. my psp's got one stuck pixel too, but it's much smaller.
 
I got my DS on launch day and it had one dead pixel almost dead center of the top screen; really noticable. I had heard shortly after launch that Nintendo would fix the screens under warranty but I put it off until a few weeks ago. I sent it to them for repair and they fixed it up no problem. Turn around time was about 1 week including shipping both ways, which was amazingly fast IMO.

--
BBX
 
catfish said:
I bought my ds and it had a dead pixel on the top screen, kind of bugged me so I swapped it and ended up with a dead pixel on the bottom screen, it's not as bad there and I couldn't be assed swapping again. also, resale value probably wont mean much as it's pretty dinged around in general anyway. I don't even bother with the case for it these days.
Click to expand...


Haha, sounds like me. Any piece of fancy-pants new electronic gizmo I get I handle like my first born...for a week or so, then I get used to it, and basically start chucking it around. Scratches and stuff on teh surface really do add character, like your toy has been well-loved. I generally can't stand Dead-pixels, though, and buying equipment with LCDs frighten my socks off. Mostly because I fear having to return it and getting denied, though I wonder what I worry about, since NZ has pretty good consumer protection laws.

MY GameBoy Colour originally had a stuck pixel, returned it, and it got replaced (way back before people really even knew what they were, including me). Since then, GBA, GBASP, DS have all been dead/stuck pixel free, thanks. It's only a matter of time, though. With millions of pixels on each machine you can't blame the odd one making it through - and if those were caught, it'd make the unit cost more because of the higher number of cuts per production run (kinda like flash memory - where, basically all brands are the same kind of thing, but what you pay for is quality control to ensure the odds you get one that won't stuff up is minimalised. They spend the money on checking the units before they ship).

Oh yeah, my Apple PB had a dead pixel right int he centre, and I returned it on the same day I got it, so the store exchanged it for me.
 
Neither me nor the only other person I know who has a DS has them.

You say you're "pretty pissed". Don't be. It's part of the manufacturing process and Nintendo will replace it if it's of such great concern to you. That's LCD screens for you, deal with it.
 
my first 2 ds's had dead pixels and my friends ds has a dead pixel. my present one, none.


i noticed my friends while playing castlevania as well.
 
It's funny how the PSP received so much negative press for this, yet the DS could have been just as bad.
 
mckmas8808 said:
It's funny how the PSP received so much negative press for this, yet the DS could have been just as bad.
Click to expand...

It's not the quality of the screen, both PSP and DS apparently have more or less the same amount of bad screens with dead pixels, its how Sony tried to get consumers holding the bag with their expensive oversized portable that got so many people angry. Of course, the stuck buttons and broken d-pad didn't help either. And who can forget the kutaragi speech saying none of the problems are mistakes but design features.

Nintendo in contrast was much more willing to replace bad screens.
 
If you have any retarded pixels just get it fixed by Nintendo. My PSP has a white pixel and a dead black pixel, but according to them it's not a defect.
Unlike Sony, Nintendo is willing to fix pixel issues.

I got a used DS two weeks ago for cheap, the previous owner hardly used it (the only game he had was Spider-Man 2, so it's obvious why he never used it).
Warranty was until 12-18-05... Two and a half months left.

It had a pixel that was only able to show bright blue color in the middle of the top screen. I sent it with the RMA# they Nintendo gave me (you don't have to pay for anything). It took 2 days for it to arrive at Nintendo. They fixed and shipped it back the same day and it got here in 2 business days. It only took 4 business days total.

The best part about getting my DS fixed was that the warranty was reset for another whole year, 10-06-06. I got a free stylus and thumbstrap too.
 
Question:

My friend has a DS and the top screen doesn't work. I'm not sure what happened to it. All I know is that it first belonged to his brother who is in Iraq and that he sent it to him from there. Would Nintendo simply replace it, or would he have to pay a fee to get it fixed?
 
Drinky Crow said:
2 dead pixels on the top screen. Sucks. Wish their manufacturing quality was as good as Sony's; my PSP has no dead pixels.
Click to expand...

So get it replaced under the 1 year warranty. There is simply no way that the warranty could have expired at this point -- go to Nintendo.com and enter the DS's serial number into the warranty system to see how long it's covered, then get it replaced/fixed.
 
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