I recently sent my wife's Nintendo DS Lite in for repairs after the right hinge on the unit cracked. She and I both take excellent care of our electronics; the DS Lite was never dropped, intentionally damaged, or accidentally damaged. Fortunately, the unit was under warranty and Nintendo's customer service did a bang-up job at replacing the damaged part and returning the repaired DS Lite.
After entering a Friends code in both my and my wife's DS Lites this morning, my wife asked to see my DS and inspected the right hinge--and found a slight crack.
I hadn't noticed the crack before, likely because it was fairly small (whereas the crack in my wife's DS Lite hinge was very noticeable). I called up Nintendo, explained the problem, and they immediately sent me an e-mail with information on printing a FedEx shipping label (free of charge) and returning the unit for repairs.
While I have to applaud Nintendo's customer service for terrific support, I also advise any DS or DS Lite owners in the community to check the hinges on their DSs and DS Lites for cracks. It may be small enough that you haven't noticed yet, but, from what I've gathered by reading articles online, the crack will likely grow over time and ultimately result in sad pandas with inoperable DSs and DS Lites.
For more information on cracked hinges and such, read this article dated July 20, 2006.
(I would link to a related Kotaku article, but their ads can get rather racy.)
On a related note, I won't be available for Planet Puzzle League or any other DS wi-fi fun until I get my DS Lite repaired.
EDIT: I'm not trying to start any kind of panic with this thread. The hinge crack may not be a widespread issue (though it is odd that both my wife and I, who both are very careful with our electronics, had the same issue), but I wanted to at least pass along the notice so anyone with a DS or DS Lite could check their units and, if necessary, contact Nintendo to set up a repair.
After entering a Friends code in both my and my wife's DS Lites this morning, my wife asked to see my DS and inspected the right hinge--and found a slight crack.
I hadn't noticed the crack before, likely because it was fairly small (whereas the crack in my wife's DS Lite hinge was very noticeable). I called up Nintendo, explained the problem, and they immediately sent me an e-mail with information on printing a FedEx shipping label (free of charge) and returning the unit for repairs.
While I have to applaud Nintendo's customer service for terrific support, I also advise any DS or DS Lite owners in the community to check the hinges on their DSs and DS Lites for cracks. It may be small enough that you haven't noticed yet, but, from what I've gathered by reading articles online, the crack will likely grow over time and ultimately result in sad pandas with inoperable DSs and DS Lites.
For more information on cracked hinges and such, read this article dated July 20, 2006.
(I would link to a related Kotaku article, but their ads can get rather racy.)
On a related note, I won't be available for Planet Puzzle League or any other DS wi-fi fun until I get my DS Lite repaired.
EDIT: I'm not trying to start any kind of panic with this thread. The hinge crack may not be a widespread issue (though it is odd that both my wife and I, who both are very careful with our electronics, had the same issue), but I wanted to at least pass along the notice so anyone with a DS or DS Lite could check their units and, if necessary, contact Nintendo to set up a repair.
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