Topic: 3ds bad battery life exaggerated?

@Kaiser I do. It's very bright where I live and otherwise I'll be staring at glare. _{(No seriously, my avatar/username has nothing to do with it. It's often quite bright where I live, so I keep my DSi at a 4-5 brightness level during the day.)}

I have mine on all the time, Light level 5, Power saver on, and Wifi off, and 3D usually off, and mine lasts around 9 hours playing Super Street Fighter 4! XD My battery loves me

I haven't had the battery die on me while playing yet, and I've only had a red light once. It lives in its charging cradle though, lol.

QFT

One thing I noticed when playing RR 3D just now is that I couldn't see the power LED on the front of the console when playing. It really should've been put on the inside face of the console. Then suddenly, the shoulder light starts flashing. I took the opportunity to see how long things lasted and I managed to do two races before the battery died. That was without 3D and half volume.

Lets see it hasent even come clost to dying and I have my wifi on, my SP on, my 3D all the way up and Its only on light #1 so thats the best way so far

Before the system came out, people made the battery life sound worse than it actually is. I've been playing on SSFIV on Download Play, with 3D on, Wifi on, and the brightness all the way up. I only lost 1 bar in about 1 hour.

streetpass is not draining the battery at all. since the launch, my ds is ON almost everyday from 6AM to around midnight.
while in sleep mode, the battery doesn't drain much. my full bar is still full at the end of my working day, even if it was on sleep mode all day long.
Im a DS user for years, because its so much better to play DS in the bus rather than doing nothing. That battery weakness is overhyped.
yes, it is weaker, but from my experience, its only on long straight period of gaming time.

here, when i play for long period of time, its when im home. meaning i can play with the thing plugged to the wall with everything maxed out (light,3d,sound)
my dsi was plugged every night, so is my 3ds.
I dont see that battery weakness as a BIG problem. But I still consider a battery backup solution in a near future. The powerpak+ from nyko has good reviews so far. But I prefer to wait for other solutions to come out and pick up the best. nintendo will bring something better soon enough, im sure of it.

oh yeah,. that 500 charges thing. they mention this because the battery MIGHT start to lose its efficiency at 500 charges or so. it doesn't mean it goes from good to dead. it just begins to drop down. like we all do at 25y.o. hahaha
I work in international business and jungle with a lot of product market stuff. This is standard safe warning for Nintendo so they don't risk stupid sueing or customer service flood. Some people like to abuse the system, this is a protection.

so at 500 charges, there is a stronger possibility that your battery goes down. like any expiration date on food. your yogurt is due for march 7 and its march 8 ? its still good man, because they cant risk putting an expiration date the exact day it will expire. some people might or will eat it anyway days after and risk intoxication.
i hope you get the point now
dont worry, your product had a lot of test before its final design, and any warning notice it strict of near excessive to prevent customer abuses or risk of being sued. i repeat it because its true and logic.

I play with brightness level 3 and power saving on.
I only use the 3D ocassionally.

I haven't had any problems with the battery, and the charging cradle makes it easier to keep it charged (really).

But really, as the commenter above, i can only see it being a problem for long gaming sessions, which i usually have on my house, where my charger is.

_{And with my USB DSi charger, my computer is my emergency battery!}

For those in the UK, I've just ordered a battery pack for the DSi similar to the Universal Gadget Wrist Charger (without the wrist band) but considerably cheaper. It uses AA batteries to recharge your 3DS, you can also charge just about any device if you order gadget specific adapters. It also doesn't involve taking apart your 3DS which is a big bonus! Cost is £12.00 (just under $20) plus postage - they also post worldwide.

When I get it in a couple of days and tested to see how well it works I can let people know how to order if anyone is interested?

All my friends who own the DSi. It hurts my eyes when I watch them play 'cause I'm so used to the lowest brightness... I can imagine that the 3D effect kind of fades when it's on a low brightness setting. After all, the effect is all about sending light to both eyes.

BS. My battery lasts maybe 4 hours on level 3. No way 9 hours on the highest setting.

that USB works for the 3ds too ?? wow, i need that to charge it at work !!!

Yes! I am very glad they decided to use the same charger from the DSi, i haven't even touched the charger that came with my 3DS.

that's weird. I just got mine today. Played it until the lights started flashing and then the screens went blank. Now I'm charging it and the orange light is on but so is the blue light and I can't get anything onscreen. Power button doesn't seem to do anything either. gotta bad feeling about this

I think the battery life has been fine for me

Havnt turned mine off since day 1... only ever put it in sleep mode and wireless on all the time, battery never died on me once but then again when im not using it at home I just pop it on it cradle. Streetpass/Spotpass doesnt use much power when carrying it round in my pocket, I always take it to work with me and leave it in my locker on sleepmode (just incase) and it still lasts me till I get home at night.
Seems it may just be the 3D that kills the battery quicker as I generally dont have it on much, but wireless and brightness up to full I have all the time.

I have been playing for 5 days now - I got the red light only once, when @ home, it lives in sleep mode on cradle. is this bad?

no why should it be bad? many people do it like that

I think Nintendo want it to live in sleep mode on cradle and treat it like we would a mobile phone that way we make the most of Spotpass and Streetpass.