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Gamester Floodlight review
After seeing many favorable reviews of this fluorescent light, I decided to give it a try. Although it lights the screen pretty well, it does have it's share of major drawbacks.
Rating: 7.5/10
Physical Properties
The physical form factor of the floodlight is definitely it's "Achille's heel". When closed, it sits nearly 3/4" (or 1.5cm) above the screen. The floodlight attaches very securely to the GBA, it utilizes the square holes on the top of the case, clips to the 2 screw holes on either side of the cartridge slot, and also has a clip that attaches to the seam at the bottom front of the case. The bulkiness of the floodlight is due to the fact that was clearly designed around the 3 double A batteries that are required to power it. Basically the weight of the light is the culprit of the bulky feeling. The floodlight almost weighs as much as another GBA!
I will give the design credit in 2 major areas though: 1. it doesn't limit the number of positions that you can angle it at, and 2. the light unit itself (the part that contains the fluorescent tube) swivels as well so you can cancel out ALL glare by making a few adjustments.
Lighting Properties
The Floodlight does a fairly decent job of actually lighting the GBA's screen. The main problem though is that the bottom about quarter inch of the screen is a little dim. The greatest thing about the floodlight is that you can position it to the point where glare is completely cancelled out :) This is due a lot to the fact that a black plastic frame surrounds the black shiny border around the screen -only the actual playing area of the screen is left exposed.
Conclusion
At ~$15 the Floodlight is a great external light. I have not tested battery life, but would hope to get at least about 5 hours out of a set of 3 AAs. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the Floodlight rivals, if not surpasses an LED modded light shield as far as uniform, glare-free lighting goes. The main drawback though is the overall bulk of the unit considering that once attached, it's like having a second GBA along for the ride :)
If you can get over the floodlight's awkward feel and take time to position the light correctly it is, in my opinion, the best "out of the box" external light for the GBA that is currently available.
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