Bohemia Bunny

DS Lite shopping spree!

October 22nd, 2007 by lynnylchan under Leisure

I’m giggling like a schoolgirl. A schoolgirl with a debit card and an internet connection.

My shipments of DS Lite accessories from Play-Asia arrived today, after an age of waiting (for one shipment) and a week (for the other). I love shopping at Play-Asia because they have free shipping to Singapore, and they don’t skimp on the packaging. My orders came in 2 boxes, and the larger box was packed with styrofoam peanuts. Now that’s service.

I ordered a Moritoys Stretch Touch Pen, which is almost the Holy Grail of DS Lite styli. I just happened to catch the pre-order announcement, so I was lucky. These things never go on sale properly - their pre-order is announced, everyone rushes to buy one, and it’s out of stock before the stock even arrives. I actually placed the order in late September, and it didn’t ship until October 16th. Presumably they were waiting for the stock to come in from Japan. Yes, it’s in Metallic Rose and doesn’t match my white set, but all that goes out the window because it’s a Moritoys stylus!

Along with the stylus, I ordered my regular screenguard replacement from Capdase. The Taku screenguard is much better than the Hori one, and so much smoother. Application is a breeze too, and that means a lot coming from a klutz like me. Buying online is much cheaper than getting the same thing from Funan Mall - I know because I asked the price. How much more? Can you say 50% markup? Anyway you can also buy them online - some dude is bringing them in from Play-Asia at a narrow profit margin of maybe 50 cents.

My 2nd shipment consisted of in-stock items, so it shipped within a couple of days. I got the Hori Stationery Style Set because I wanted a nice pouch that could accommodate my armoured DS Lite. Also, Gamescore didn’t have the item in stock. Most pouches and leather book-type covers in the market are made for the “naked” DS Lite. As it is, my polycarbonate-shell-wearing DS Lite just fits snugly into the pouch, which has a soft plush interior to prevent scratches. Why do I want a pouch when I already have a shell, you might ask. Because I want 100% protection! My hinge developed a hairline crack a month ago, and on Friday it became a fracture. Incidents like that are why bundling up your precious baby DS makes good sense. I thumb my nose at those who scoff at pouches and screen protectors as “overkill”. Yeah, let’s see you get that scratch out of your screen, buddy!

The other item in the 2nd shipment was a USB charging cable from a 3rd party supplier. I don’t foresee myself using this an awful lot since I spend a lot of time in my room, within easy reach of a charger, but this is for travelling. I probably won’t travel to anywhere that doesn’t have internet cafes anyway, so finding a USB port isn’t a problem. Staying there for 4 hours while the DS charges, is. Most probably this will be pressed into use during exam season when I pack myself off to the library or the student lounge with my laptop, so my DS can just suck juice from the PC while the PC sucks juice from the power socket. It’s the circle of life!

I considered getting a battery pack or something - this won’t work on a plane - but universal chargers are a problem. I think the only real solution to a battery pack or power supply that works everywhere in the world, even on planes, is a solar-powered pack, but those are still prohibitively expensive.

And now for a picture of my DS Lite with its new friends.

The pencil and ‘eraser’ are part of the Stationery Set (Play-Asia misspells it as ’stationary’). Now I have 4 styli - 2 metal stretch ones, a plastic pencil, and the original white plastic one. Isn’t that always the case.

The ‘eraser’ is a screen cleaner on a bungee cord. That’s a brilliant idea - that way, it can ACTUALLY reach both screens while not being tethered to a ridiculously long cord. *shuffles feet* This brings my total of screen cleaners to 3, since Capdase includes one with every pack of screen protectors. But theirs come on a silly short cord that would fit my mobile phone better.

And finally, you can see the USB charging cable, and a rainbow of scratches on the polycarbonate shell of my DS Lite. Whatever, I can always buy a new one now that I have a pouch to protect it from scratches.

Now THAT’S overkill of consumerism.