GBA screens break easily!?

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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
since it was a fairly honest accident.

Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!

He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.

Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
looks at it funny.

I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA. But
we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big handles
on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable then maybe
that's a better answer.

Gary
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

In my experience both the GBA and SP are extremely durable
devices. With my sons (currently 5 and 6), the GBA screen got
scratched and the battery cover broke (duct tape to the rescue), but
the things kept on working.

The SPs have been similarly robust, despite concerns about the hinge
they seem to be holding up fine. Better, since they don't have a
battery door that's so easily broken. And we've probably saved
hundreds of dollars on batteries.

Nick

--
# sigmask || 0.2 || 20030107 || public domain || feed this to a python
print reduce(lambda x,y:x+chr(ord👍-1),' Ojdl!Wbshjti!=obwAcboefstobudi/psh?')
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Electronics are typically not designed to be dropped. Think about it.

Maybe you should glue some Velcro to the GBA and staple a patch onto your
kid's hand? That way he won't have any problems. Or better yet, teach
your kid that the GBA is his responsibility and if he mistreats it again,
that's the last he'll ever see of a GBA unless he can foot the $$$.

On Thu, 20 May 2004 17:45:33 +0000, Gary Fritz wrote:

> We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
> month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
> possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
> was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
> image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
> that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
> since it was a fairly honest accident.
>
> Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
> slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
> now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!
>
> He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
> loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.
>
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.
>
> I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA. But
> we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big handles
> on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable then maybe
> that's a better answer.
>
> Gary
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Gary Fritz <fritzxxx@xxxfrii.com> wrote:
<SNIP>
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.
<SNIP>

I'm honestly surprised that it broke after the two-story fall.. Nintendo
products are built like tanks. This guy made a video of him dragging his
GameCube with his car, and shows it in various states of decay and it keeps
on working. They've done much worse to the Gameboy and to various
cartridges. Basically the GB was pitted against every element, including
toilet water and car tires.

The first screen break, well, that could (if it hit the right spot)
definitely happen. The carpet one, however, I'm even more amazed at. He's
either purposely trying to break them until you get him an SP, or he is the
unluckiest person on earth and got a defective GBA, which I've never even
seen to this extent. The SP uses almost identical hardware, so I doubt it'd
be all that more resilient against the dangerous world of carpets. However,
the clamshell design will protect against screen scratches more. Not
necessarily against breakage.

The 'big handles' also come in an SP version, I believe...

--
-----------
Deep Thought
-----------
Erase the Earth
to e-mail me.
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Peter Meilinger <mellnger@bu.edu> wrote:
> What are the big handles, exactly? Do they make it easier to
> hold? I'd love something like that.

It's handles AND a rechargeable power pack. It's made by Intec and
came in a set of several power adapters, flip lights, etc. Only real
disadvantage is that you can only use one of them at a time, because
they each want to grab onto the GBA directly. So he just leaves the
handles/power pack on all the time.

It looks kind of like this thing, except for a GBA obviously:
http://www.dealtime.com/xPC-Intec_Wing_Grip_Game_Boy_Advance_SP

I think it might have come in this package:
http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-Intec_Ultra_Game_Pak_Glacier

Ahh, try searching for "Wing Grip Power Pak". That will turn up some
sources. Careful though -- don't get the one that's made for the GBC!
See e.g.
http://www.fingerhut.com/productgroup.aspx?offergroupxid=9415&categoryx
id=273&source=&hgc=0
http://videogame-
shopper.com/game/Game_Boy_Advance_Mega_Pak/item/7733/5868/1/

The Intec site says ToysRUs carries it, but they don't seem to have it
any more. You can at least see a picture at
http://www.inteclink.com/inteclink/products/gboyadv/gboyadv.asp

It's great -- it lasts MUCH longer than a pair of AA's, nearly as long
as an SP.

Gary
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

"Gary Fritz" <fritzxxx@xxxfrii.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94EF779EF7C38fritzfriicom@216.17.128.40...
> We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
> month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
> possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
> was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
> image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
> that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
> since it was a fairly honest accident.
>
> Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
> slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
> now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!
>
> He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
> loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.
>
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.
>
> I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA. But
> we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big handles
> on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable then maybe
> that's a better answer.
>
> Gary

I dont know about the old shape GBA, but the GBA SP is definately robust. MY
nephew threw it in a fit of rage from the top of the stairs, and it must
have hit every step on its way down, and not a scratch.
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Gary Fritz wrote:
> We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
> month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
> possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
> was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
> image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
> that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
> since it was a fairly honest accident.
>
> Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
> slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
> now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!
>
> He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
> loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.
>
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.
>
> I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA.
> But we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big

I haven't got any experience of the original GBA, but the SP is very robust and
I should know - I've dropped it on wooden bar floors, concrete pavements and the
like (accidentally, of course!), and the most damage it received was a little
chip on the case.

Don't forget that the LCD screen itself is made of glass so has little shock
tolerance (though the casing should more than make up for it). The first one may
have hit the table corner face on and with little more than a thin layer of
perspex sitting in between the screen and the table-end, it would've had little
chance of surviving. The second GBA however sounds like it may have already had
a hairline fracture in the screen to begin with and needed little pressure to
crack.

> handles on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable
> then maybe that's a better answer.
>
The SP would certainly be the better option - the clamshell design protects the
screen from scratching and heavy shocks, plus it also has a built-in light and
louder audio as well.

Paul.
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

In article <Xns94EF779EF7C38fritzfriicom@216.17.128.40>, Gary Fritz
<fritzxxx@xxxfrii.com> wrote:

> We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
> month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
> possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
> was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
> image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
> that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
> since it was a fairly honest accident.

Well, that's going to be way outside tolerances. Too big a drop. Not much
is going to survive that unless it was built for the military.

>
> Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
> slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
> now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!
>
> He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
> loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.

Well, I'm a bit later than a 7-year old unless he is currently 5'6", and
if he is, I'd say hire an agent and get him REALLY interested in
basketball, NOW.

But, I've dropped my GBA a few times, from, say, standing height, onto a
hardwood floor. Still working, just a few case scratches. Same deal with
my SP version.

>
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.

Teach your child how to properly care for their stuff. It won't take that
much effort. Seems you are too quick to replace. Let them learn that if
they break something, well, it's gone for good and you can just run to the
store each time they break it. Granted, it doesn't sound intentional.
Stuff happens. Children must be taught that their actions, even accidental
ones, do have consequences that may or may not be favorable. I find that
when this is done(worked for me with my parents), it tends to stick. I'm
maybe overly careful with my stuff.

Then again, I also spent thousands extra on equipment cases to ensure as
much of my sound system is protected as much as possible.

I'm not questioning your skils as a parent. I'm learning this stuff
myself, have a 3-month old, so I'm a ways from your position. Just some
advices/ideas based on my first hand observations and personal
experiences.

>
> I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA. But
> we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big handles
> on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable then maybe
> that's a better answer.

I don't see the SP version being much more durable, and the clamshell
design could lead to the screen interconnects going out of whack at some
point in time, for even the most careful of gamers. Maybe get a wrist
strap and have your child use the wrist strap, that way if the grip is
lost, the game system is just going to swing and not crash.

--
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Where spammers are exposed for the deadbeats they truly are.
California Resident says: We've upped our standards, so now UP YOURS!
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Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

WOW!!! You just made history! Nintendo once shown a picture of a GBA
that was drenched in rain, stepped on, and almost destroyed by a mower. And
guess what? It still worked!!! I'd say go SP. It's a good deal even for the
money, and in "my" experience, it lasts longer. Hope you don't break it!
Also, you can find it cheaper online, if you want to use a credit card. I
also agree with the opinion of other to teach the kid to be more
responsible. Like don't have it out when it could be dropped and broken.
Even if it was an accident. Well, thats all! See ya!
__________________________________________________________________
Visit Megacrap the Comic at http://www.megacrap.tk.
pikachukid25, previously known as Takatomon.

"Gary Fritz" <fritzxxx@xxxfrii.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94EF779EF7C38fritzfriicom@216.17.128.40...
> We got my 7-yr-old son a GBA for Christmas last year. Within about a
> month he had dropped it (off the second-floor landing, yeesh), it
> possibly landed on a table corner on its screen, and *poof* the screen
> was toasted. Big broken-shard looking things on the screen, and the
> image was screwed. I tried to see if I could replace the screen, but
> that seems to be impossible/impractical. So we got him another one,
> since it was a fairly honest accident.
> Then yesterday he was just walking through the living room when it
> slipped out of his hand, and he picked it up and started screaming --
> now the screen on this one is FUBAR too!
> He only dropped it about 2 feet, and it landed on carpet fer cryin out
> loud, but now it's f***ed and we're out ANOTHER $50-60.
> Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> looks at it funny.
> I'd be tempted to get him an SP for $80-90 instead of another GBA. But
> we got him some accessories including a "power pack" with big handles
> on it that he really likes. But if the SP is more durable then maybe
> that's a better answer.
> Gary
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

"DeepThought" <deep_42_thought@hotmailEARTH.com> schreef in bericht
news:tQ7rc.1285$N8.811@nwrdny02.gnilink.net...
> Gary Fritz <fritzxxx@xxxfrii.com> wrote:
> <SNIP>
> > Are these things ALWAYS this hypersensitive and breakable!? I don't
> > want to cough up ANOTHER $50 if it's going to break the first time he
> > looks at it funny.
> <SNIP>
>
> I'm honestly surprised that it broke after the two-story fall.. Nintendo
> products are built like tanks. This guy made a video of him dragging his
> GameCube with his car, and shows it in various states of decay and it
keeps
> on working. They've done much worse to the Gameboy and to various
> cartridges. Basically the GB was pitted against every element, including
> toilet water and car tires.
> Deep Thought
> Erase the Earth
> to e-mail me.

Forget about the toilet water !
A kid (4 year) I know was so proud on his new FireRed GBA-SP that he even
took it to the toilet. When he did his poopy, he stoot up, layed the GBA-SP
on the edge of the toilet seat, pulled his pants up, and...... SPLASH....
the GBA-SP fell in the toilet. His parents tried to dry it for days, using
air, hair-dryer, layed it in the sun for days. But all the happend was a
GBA-SP that booted with a garbled GameBoy screen. No Nintendo word, no
sound, no respons to games etc.....

BTW; I thought the screen could be exchanged easily ? Several online stores
are selling them for about $4-5.
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

Ognito_Inc
>
> Forget about the toilet water !
> A kid (4 year) I know was so proud on his new FireRed GBA-SP that he
> even took it to the toilet. When he did his poopy, he stoot up, layed
> the GBA-SP on the edge of the toilet seat, pulled his pants up,
> and...... SPLASH.... the GBA-SP fell in the toilet.

That's just gross.

> His parents tried
> to dry it for days, using air, hair-dryer, layed it in the sun for
> days. But all the happend was a GBA-SP that booted with a garbled
> GameBoy screen. No Nintendo word, no sound, no respons to games
> etc.....

If it booted with the "GAME BOY" logo but no Nintendo word, it's most likely
a problem with the cart and the connections. The "GAME BOY" title should
always appear, the Nintendo title only is on when a cart is plugged in.
Hence, if you turn on a GBA without a pak in, it won't say Nintendo. As for
the sound, it should "BLEENG" as it's turned on... but then silence
thereafter. All of the symptoms could be due to the cart receptors.

And the hair-dryer probably wasn't the greatest idea unless used on 'cold'
mode.

> BTW; I thought the screen could be exchanged easily ? Several online
> stores are selling them for about $4-5.

The LCD screen is probably the most expensive part of the GBA (or at least
the most delicate). You're probably looking at screen covers, the plastic
layer that goes over the actual LCD screen for protection.

--
-----------
Deep Thought
-----------
Erase the Earth
to e-mail me.
 
Archived from groups: alt.games.video.nintendo.gameboy.advance (More info?)

"pikachukid25" <pikachukid25@shirley.theramp.net> wrote in message news:<10b2hv3n8se7ea@corp.supernews.com>...
> WOW!!! You just made history! Nintendo once shown a picture of a GBA
> that was drenched in rain, stepped on, and almost destroyed by a mower. And
> guess what? It still worked!!! I'd say go SP. It's a good deal even for the
> money, and in "my" experience, it lasts longer. Hope you don't break it!
> Also, you can find it cheaper online, if you want to use a credit card. I
> also agree with the opinion of other to teach the kid to be more
> responsible. Like don't have it out when it could be dropped and broken.
> Even if it was an accident. Well, thats all! See ya!
> __________________________________________________________________

Might I recommend the Rhinoskin hard case for the GBA SP, it's great
and has saved my GBA from damage as I tend to drop electronics from
time to time. http://www.rhinoskin.com
 
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