Simply Awsome...
I have forever looked at the DS Lite's title screen and felt disappointed about how little it could do. Now, the DSi has everything you ever wanted.
Hardware:
The DSi is a bit longer and a bit thinner, but you wouldn't notice. The matte finish is much better than the glossy finish of the DS Lite, as there will be no more finger prints, but it is prone to becoming dirty. The screens are 0.25 inches bigger, which may not sound like a lot, but it is definitely noticable when you step from the DS lite to the DSi. There is no more GBA slot, but that doesn't really matter. The volume controls are now buttons, which is much better for keeping sound quiet in public areas, but not so much so that YOU can't hear it. There is now a power button on the inside that can also return to the menu. The speakers are better and louder when you want it. There is a 0.3 MP camera next to the microphone on the inside of the hinge and one on the outside. The stylus is longer and fatter. There is an SD Card slot aswell for photos and music. Internally, there is a faster processor which games in the future will utilise.
Software:
The Wii-like menu looks very nice and is easy to use. Game cards can now be hotswapped (changed without having to turn off the system). The DSi Shop allows you to download games or DSiWare, of which there are inceasing numbers all the time, as well as the brilliant, free DSi Web Browser, which is much faster and better than expected, but cannot run Flash unfortunately. When you first log on the the DSi Shop, you get 1,000 free points (offer until march 2010 I think).
The DSi camera is only 0.3 MP, but that is enough for use on the console. There are some fun effects you can add too like Distortion Lens, Colour Pad, Mirror etc. The camera has face recognition for some effects, and there will be DSi exclusive games coming out in the future that use this feature. DSi Sound is another good program, allowing you to record sounds and play with them. More importantly, music on the SD card can be played with some fun equaliser graphics, and be slowed down and speeded up if, say, it was a learn a language CD and you wanted to slow the words down. I takes AAC files which means that you can put on your iTunes collection (but you must convert it in iTunes first). There your old favourites too: Picto Chat and DS Download Play. And remember, there is a huge library of great DS games, that this will still play (except Guitar Hero due to the GBA slot)
Overall:
This is a great console. If you have already have a DS Lite, it is a little expensive to upgrade, and I would wait to the prices come down. If not, i would fully recomend it and say that it is better than the iPod Touch and PSP.
Shame about the browser
Well, it certainly is a desirable little object, and the cameras, despite being only 0.3mp, offer so many options for messing about with your pictures, that you almost don't need game cartridges. The new user interface is stylish and appealing, and wireless setup is as painless as you would expect from Nintendo.
However, the downloadable Opera web browser is an appalling waste of time. I tried to connect to Facebook, and got the message "out of memory, page may not display correctly", and indeed, it did not. Next I tried eBay. After a few minutes of waiting for it to load I got bored, and decided to try accessing my Googlemail. Again, "Out of memory". If this browser is good for anything, I've yet to discover what!
Then there is the music player. It certainly offers a wide variety of fun ways to mess around with your music ... if you can find a converter to get it into the AAC format the player understands. It's a bit like buying a printer and then finding that it only accepts an obscure paper size, found only in Mongolia. How difficult would it have been to include an MP3 player, or even a CD Rom with conversion software to convert your MP3s or WMAs to this obscure format??
Don't get me wrong. I love my DSi, and I'm glad I spent the money trading in my DS lite, but the browser is a waste of time, and the 'Mongolian' music file format will take a lot of getting around, hence, sadly only three stars from me.
Maybe a bit more thought could be put into usability for the DSi II?
It is an enhanced DS and that is all!
I am sure that anybody giving this less than five stars is probably commenting that it doesnt really offer anything above the standard DS and is priced a bit too high. That is quite possibly true and I would not really recommend it for a current DS owner unless they have money to burn. However, it IS a Nintendo DS which is a superb handheld console and home to some truly great games like Professor Layton, Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Kart. It also, now, has a couple of cameras built-in which you can do various image manipulations with and a "DSiWare" download service to match the one available on the Wii.
It is still the best handheld gaming device around at the moment and if you want a DS and can afford to pay the extra then it is a brilliant little unit.
About Nintendo DSi Handheld Console (Black) detail
- Amazon Sales Rank: #42 in Computer & Video Games
- Brand: Nintendo
- Model: 045496718749
- Released on: 2009-04-03
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platform: Nintendo DS
- Dimensions: 7.00" h x 5.00" w x 10.01" l, 1.70 pounds
Nintendo DSi Handheld Console (Black) Description
The Nintendo DSi is the second upgrade to the hugely popular DS console. Featuring larger, brighter screens, an SD card slot and two motion sensing cameras.