DS Daily: Charged with reckless battery use

by David Hinkle { Apr 29th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Perhaps it's just our affinity for electric gadgets in general, but as we set up our DS for its routine charge, we wondered if many of you out there also had your handheld on a prescribed regiment of "the good juice." You know, the kind of juice you can jack on with.

So do you have a special place set aside for charging? Do you not play that often and only charge when necessary? Charge in the car? How do you keep the games going on your DS?

Tags: battery, charger, ds-lite

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

T-Patch @ Apr 29th 2008 9:29AM

90% of the time, my charger is plugged into the surge protector where my compy is, but recently I has to set it up in my school's chorus room because I forgot to charge it and I had a MKDS race scheduled with a teacher who just got a new DS Lite...

I once saw a portable DS charger that ran on AAs from Hong Kong... really wanted to try it out, but would rather not have my DS melt in my pocket....

C02M0 @ Apr 29th 2008 9:34AM

the truth is im going to get my NDS fixed .
apperntaly when i bought it , the batterry life can only hold an hour , ONE FRIGGIN HOUT OF GAMEPLAY!
so i charged like a maniac ,,,
but its all going to change . MY DS IS GOING MOBILE !

Jody Anthony (cookingrebels.com) @ Apr 29th 2008 9:54AM

I take my dslite and charger to work every morning and let it charge as i do my bidness. then it's nice and charged for me when I'm off work. I could just leave it at home to charge but sometimes I like to play over lunch (especially when I was an animal crossing addict)

I have to charge it just about every day nowadays though..the battery ain't what it used to be. I get about 3 hours on a full charge. I should get myself a new one. I wish nintendo would release a higher capacity battery for it.

jsutcliffe @ Apr 29th 2008 10:11AM

I charge with a solar charger, so there!

Actually, truth be told, I've charged it twice with the solar thing, but usually just charge from the mains, because the solar charger takes ~8 hours of direct sun to fill the DS.

Don-Don @ Apr 29th 2008 10:14AM

Two words:

Chargepod

MrTyzik @ Apr 29th 2008 11:13AM

My charger is always plugged in. The end pops out from behind my laptop desk. Whenever I get home, I take the DS out from its FFIII pouch, rest the pouch on the desk in front of the charger and then plug in the DS and set that on top of the FFIII pouch.

"He has a system for eating pancakes!"

FantomRedux @ Apr 29th 2008 11:33AM

I just charge mine when it needs it, usually as soon as it goes red. It usually charges on my desk during the day or my bedside cabinet at night, usually while I'm playing on it till 2 in the morning.

Texpundit @ Apr 29th 2008 12:06PM

I play mostly on the Metro home from work (about a 40 minute ride) and sometimes for hours at the bar (when I'm feeling antisocial), but drop it on the charger every night. It stays mostly either on or in sleep mode. About the only time I turn it off is to change games.

matsam @ Apr 29th 2008 12:19PM

I have a specific powerbar for my DS/PSP/cellphone chargers and it's right next to my bed, so I can continue playing while it charges, and still be comfortable.

Waffala @ Apr 29th 2008 12:20PM

I wait till I see that helpful little red light to charge mine. The second it pops up my ds is in sleep mode and on the charger for the next couple hours. I don't know why you'd charge it every night or everyday, unless you're actually playing that much DS, charging a rechargable battery when it isn't low will reduce the battery life, and most people just throw batteries away to go sit on landfills and take FOREVER to degrade.

Pizza Pasta @ Apr 29th 2008 1:06PM

I have two so I just play them until they die and then switch.

Brad @ Apr 29th 2008 2:49PM

I use mine as an alarm clock. It stays plugged in all night and all day.

Yeah... I actually play it. A Picross puzzle a day keeps the demons away. And have you ever played a racing game while you're in a car? Try Mario Kart while you're in the passenger seat... but I digress.

Brad @ Apr 29th 2008 2:50PM

I should have specified a "moving" car... but I digress even more.

Lam @ Apr 29th 2008 3:43PM

$2 retractable USB NDS charger from Dealextreme. A fraction of the size of the NDS charger. USB plugs are everywhere, PS3, Xbox360, Wii, your butt, etc.

EdZ @ Apr 29th 2008 4:48PM

As it's a Li-Ion/Li-Poly battery, I just leave it continually plugged in when I'm not carrying it around with me. Li-ion/poly batteries are fine with continual top-up charging (they're not like Ni-Cads with a memory effect), and it's actually better NOT to power-cycle them. Plus if the DS has a half decent circuit design it won't be charging the batter when it's full anyway.

ak @ Apr 29th 2008 7:44PM

Same as Lam : usb charger from Dealextreme (which surprisingly works when the computer is off). Great buy.

Gewurztraminer says: R.O.B. is the last Cylon! @ Apr 29th 2008 9:26PM

At the moment I don't use my DS often enough to charge it much. The last time had to have been in January.

shaoron @ Apr 29th 2008 10:19PM

My DS is plugged in whenever possible.
i use a USB charger + car adaptor or plug adaptor...
because i've already burned out 3 DS lite chargers... stupid useless things...

Ganthor @ Apr 29th 2008 10:38PM

I've had to charge even more than normal as of late, due to my wife picking up the DS more and more; I'm not bitching! I like to feed it as much juice as it wants, and always appreciate a full charge when I grab it. I use the standard wall charger at my desk most of the time. For more mobile purposes I use a retracting-cord pelican charger I grabbed a year or two ago from gamestop for around $7. This charger is actually DS to usb, and then it has a lighter plug for automobiles and such that the usb cable can then plug into. So I have wall, usb, and 12V lighter options. I've also used the 12V lighter adapter to charge other usb-charagable items. It was a pretty efficient setup for the price.

Mike_NJ @ Apr 30th 2008 10:39AM

I have two spots "reserved" for my DS charger...

I'll plug it into my UPS under my computer desk for overnight charging. (It's easy to get to.)

If I'm mid-game and realize "hey it's been a while since I've charged, I'd hate for the battery to die mid-battle*" I'll take the charger to the opposite side of my room and plug it into the power strip with the TV and Wii, and lay out on the floor and play there for a bit. :)

*Yes, I've had the battery die on me at inopportune moments. More than I care to recall.