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[Gorgie]

I know the two dust particles were not their when I bought my SP a year ago. When I took my SP out of my backpack, it was covered in dust, hand no idea what this dust is, or why it's in in packpack. I wiped it off, but there is dust behind the screen. How did it get there! Is there a way to take the screen off so I can clean it?

Will Nintendo fix it for me? Could really use some help on this one.

 

[cvxfreak]

If the warranty is still good then you can ask for a free repair. And Nintendo is nice enough to call FedEx for you to schedule a pick up.

 

[Ned Flanders]

"..all we are is dust in my Gameboy.."

 

[Wario64]

I think I got some dust behind my screen too. A couple white specks in the corner. It doesn't bother me but I wish it wasn't there. Too bad I got my GBA SP at launch, I'm sure my warranty is expired

 

[Gattsu25]

I believe Nintendo or someone else sells a screen replacement kit, though I remember it being pretty hard to find it on the interweb

 

[Gattsu25]

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/gameboy/trouble_scratched.jsp

For the GBA:

http://store.nintendo.com/webapp/wc...20&categoryId=18487&langId=-1&catalogId=10001

Note About Game Boy Advance SP:
Due to the construction of the screen itself on a Game Boy Advance SP, it is not possible to replace its screen cover without special facilities and tools. As a result, we are unable to offer personal screen cover replacement kits at this time. If the screen cannot be seen due to excessive scratches, you will need to have the unit repaired.

 

[Gorgie]

Thanks for all the replies. My warrenty is still active until Sept. I checked the website, and there is a repair shop near my place. Is dust under the screen covered by warrenty?

I'll definately get a NES SP when the price drops to $99 Canadian, if I can't get this one fixed. I'm hoping that's soon. It's not like I can't afford another, but with so many games coming this Fall, wouldn't want to spend money that could go elsewhere.

 

[drohne]

it's one of the wonders of sidelit screens. enjoy it! nintendo could've given us a backlit screen, but that would've cut into their scandalously huge profit margin. every particle that accumulates and then GLOWS AT YOU whenever you play a game is like a tiny, personal fuck you. i try to avoid being self-righteous about videogames, but i've taken very good care of my sp, and have nontheless ended up with a couple irritating specks. it's a flawed design. it's a second consecutive flawed design.

 

[xsarien]

it's one of the wonders of sidelit screens. enjoy it! nintendo could've given us a backlit screen, but that would've cut into their scandalously huge profit margin.

Because it's so bad that these companies want to make money. I'll never understand the mentality that anyone is owed anything by Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. They're all in it for the cold, hard cash.

 

[drohne]

oh that's a devastating insight. but i don't think it's unreasonable to expect well-designed product for your money. particularly when you've been asked to pay twice for essentially the same product. and generally it would be in nintendo's interest to design their product well. but monopolies can distort these things.

 

[xsarien]

oh that's a devastating insight. but i don't think it's unreasonable to expect well-designed product for your money. particularly when you've been asked to pay twice for essentially the same product. and generally it would be in nintendo's interest to design their product well. but monopolies can distort these things.

Hey, nobody forced you to buy it. There are/were myriad solutions to light a traditional GBA, from DIY kits like the Afterburner to 3rd party attachments that are, honestly, too numerous to mention.

And I'm glad to see that you view the Game Boy as a monopoly. No, really, it's all Nintendo's fault that the piles upon piles of portable gaming devices that have come and gone over the years didn't catch on despite either being well-funded, significantly more powerful than the GB/GBC/GBA, or both.

The market's making the call, not Nintendo.

 

[drohne]

the hits keep on coming. look, i'm sure nintendo richly earned their market position. and i like their gba software enough to persist in buying their rinkydink gba hardware. but they're abusing their market position. i expect corporations to cut corners in order to make profits. but when corners are cut so rakishly that it compromises the product, and the profit margins are fat enough that this doesn't seem necessary, i think any informed consumer's going to be dissatisfied. and the truism that "everyone's in it for the money" doesn't really help; thanks.

 

[Deg]

Some people need to check what monopolies actually are.

the hits keep on coming. look, i'm sure nintendo richly earned their market position. and i like their gba software enough to persist in buying their rinkydink gba hardware. but they're abusing their market position. i expect corporations to cut corners in order to make profits. but when corners are cut so rakishly that it compromises the product, and the profit margins are fat enough that this doesn't seem necessary, i think any informed consumer's going to be dissatisfied. and the truism that "everyone's in it for the money" doesn't really help; thanks.

Sure. So a $300 PSP is 'normal' for you? Nevermind the fact the tech simply wasnt there when GBA first came out. We heard your stuff before from similar people Nintendo won the market because they didnt cut corners the others did.

 

[drohne]

or maybe someone needs to learn to distinguish between a government's criteria for an illegal monopoly and the word "monopoly."

and the rest of your post is utter non sequitur. i don't see how it's relevant, but i certainly won't pay $300 for a psp. and i'd be doubly reluctant to pay that if the psp cost $50 to manufacture and didn't work adequately.

 

[xsarien]

the hits keep on coming. look, i'm sure nintendo richly earned their market position. and i like their gba software enough to persist in buying their rinkydink gba hardware. but they're abusing their market position. i expect corporations to cut corners in order to make profits. but when corners are cut so rakishly that it compromises the product, and the profit margins are fat enough that this doesn't seem necessary, i think any informed consumer's going to be dissatisfied. and the truism that "everyone's in it for the money" doesn't really help; thanks.

They're abusing their position? How? By not making it better more often? Maybe the hardware sales were high enough that they thought, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

I'd also like to know where they cut corners, since you seem to be so sure of that little tidbit. The side-lighting? The dust that *shock* managed to squirm its way into consumer-level hardware?

Here's a little known secret about Nintendo: They're much nicer to the masses that whine about them then they should be. If the thing is still under warranty, I'm sure they'll replace it; if it isn't, they'll probably at least be nice and let you down easy. What you're playing Metroid Zero Mission on is a $100 piece of gaming equipment that probably costs less than half of that to make, it isn't going to remain pristine forever, and that goes for any gaming platform (minus the fat margins, they're all pretty "rinky-dink.")

reluctant to pay that if the psp cost $50 to manufacture and didn't work adequately.

Your Game Boy functions perfectly, it has a piece of dust that's getting your panties in a twist. LCD monitor manufacturers don't accept returns on displays that have one or two dead pixels, it's just the nature of the device you're buying. Look at it in those terms.

 

[drohne]

they're abusing their position by selling flawed hardware at a price considerably greater than its manufacturing cost. i'm less tolerant of this than i am of flaws in consoles because:

1. consoles are generally sold at a loss; corners are cut out of undeniable necessity.

2. with a malfunctioning optical drive, to pick the most common example, you can repair it or replace it until you get one that works optimally for an extended period of time. it sucks, but there's something you can do about it. you can repair or replace your sp all you like, but this won't meaningfully delay or prevent the accumulation of dust under your screen. you can't find "a good one." they're all bad. short of playing in a industrial-grade clean room or hermetically sealing the case, the problem can't be addressed by the consumer. at all.

your contention that nintendo should really treat us worse is faintly pathological. it's not uncommon for nintendo fans to put nintendo's interests ahead of their own. but it continues to surprise me.

 

[Deg]

they're abusing their position by selling flawed hardware at a price considerably greater than its manufacturing cost.

I have never laughed so much in a while. You're making a fool out of yourself.

 

[drohne]

really? so that's the most you've laughed in a while? maybe you need more humor in your life. i hear "seinfeld" is pretty funny.

oh, now i'm laughing.

 

[xsarien]

they're abusing their position by selling flawed hardware

Dust making its way into consumer electronics isn't a "flaw," it's a fact of life.

 

[drohne]

you're being deliberately obtuse: dust accumulating between the screen and the screen cover is not a fact of life or even a fact of lcd displays; it's just a fact of the particular lighting method nintendo went with. i consider it a flaw.

 

[Deg]

you're being deliberately obtuse: dust accumulating between the screen and the screen cover is not a fact of life or even a fact of lcd displays; it's just a fact of the particular lighting method nintendo went with. i consider it a flaw.

Your opinion = fact. What makes you and your GBA special?

 

[border]

Sidelighting lets dust get between the display and the screen cover.

Backlighting does not.

I'm pretty sure that's what he's getting at. Sidelit PDAs have had this problem for quite some time.....it's why they stopped making them.

 

[Spiritreaver]

This topic proves that nothing is safe from odd fanboy driven rants. (Okay maybe not quite fanboy drivel, er driven, but still).

EDIT: Eh, and I'm not trying to label dust getting the screen a fanboy complaint. Because obviously that is a flaw of sidelighting, but it's not something to bring when not even asked or start arguments over. It just felt entirely uncalled for.

 

[drohne]

yeah, border, that's exactly what i was getting at.

and darth, this topic seems to be about dust behind gba screens. maybe you should just go ahead and retract your entire post instead of doing it in installments.

 

[Spiritreaver]

yeah, border, that's exactly what i was getting at.

and darth, this topic seems to be about dust behind gba screens. maybe you should just go ahead and retract your entire post instead of doing it in installments.

It is, but I'm referring to how it just couldn't be "Dust behind the screen is a flaw of sidelighting." but rather "Dust behind the screen is a flaw of sidelighting and Nintendo is a big bad money grovelling company trying to make a buck over our pleasure for using it.". It felt quite uncalled for to me.

 

[Deg]

I'm pretty sure that's what he's getting at. Sidelit PDAs have had this problem for quite some time.....it's why they stopped making them.

Sure except when GBA came out reasonable technology was not there. Especially for the screen GBA had and needed.

 

[border]

Sure except when GBA came out reasonable technology was not there. Especially for the screen GBA had and needed.

Huh? Backlit screens were certainly possible when the GBA SP got released. Plenty of cell phones and PDAs were using them.

I would be interested to see if Nintendo will correct the problem free-of-charge. The PDA companies did....

 

[dark10x]

Good lord, I can't believe people are trying to DEFEND the side-lit screen...

 

[Deg]

Huh? Backlit screens were certainly possible when the GBA SP got released. Plenty of cell phones and PDAs were using them.

I would be interested to see if Nintendo will correct the problem free-of-charge. The PDA companies did....

You mean lovely colour and backlit phones such as the Nokia 8310 about to be released that year . There were only afew backlit screens but they were unsuitable for games. Let alone the cost of the devices.

Good lord, I can't believe people are trying to DEFEND the side-lit screen...

Good Lord how some people try to twist history in order to make their point.

 

[dark10x]

Good Lord how some people try to twist history in order to make their point.

So you think a side lit screen was a good idea?