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Intec Lighted Game Shield review
7-7-01
While I was out of town this past week I received an e-mail asking me about yet another light add-on from a company called "Intec". I hadn't heard of this one before and had never seen it, so when I actually did see it, I picked one up for testing and comparison purposes. Note: apparently these are currently only available from "toys-r-us" (11.99 U.S.), which is where I found it and where others have reported finding it.
Hardware Properties
Within the hardware design, is the lighted game shield's(LGS) only redeeming quality, the shield function. When closed, the LGS turns the GBA into a nice streamlined, "pocket friendly", compact package. Not only does the shield cover the screen, but it also covers the d-pad and every button on the face of the GBA. There are even 2 little rubber pads or "feet" on the underside of the shield so that it doesn't come in direct contact with the GBA. Anyone who's put the GBA in their pocket and have had the buttons catch on something such as keys or the pocket itself will appreciate the full face coverage of the LGS.
As far as low points of the hardware, the first is blatantly obvious when you flip the shield up or down -it suffers from the same "3 positions are enough" fate of the Glowguard. For anyone unfamiliar, the Glowguard (and LGS) only allow the shield to be placed in 3 positions: 1. vertical, 2. ~55 degree angle, and 3. closed. The shield is also very floppy, or wobbly when in either of the 2 open positions.
Lighting Properties
The LGS uses an incandescent bulb for it's lighting, and curiously the bulb is placed about a half inch below where the bulbs in the glowguard and Pelican LS are placed. This results in much more glare and a reflection of the bulb that is nearly impossible to avoid. The LGS has to be the worst device yet (in it's "store bought" un-modded form) that I've tested. The light is very dim when playing GBA games, then becomes very bright when playing GBC or GB games(obviously due to the lack of a resistor in the circuit to limit the voltage to the link port when in GBA mode). The light is bearable when playing GBC or GB games, but I would never recommend the LGS in it's un-modded form as a light to buy.
Potential
Well, the shield itself and how it covers the GBA is a nice idea, but right off the bat you'd have to modifiy this thing in at least 2 ways to even make it useful: 1. obviously replace the bulb with a white LED, and 2. find some way to rig the hinge of the shield so that it was able to be adjusted to more than the original 3 positions. And don't forget of course, that if you dropped a 3.6v LED into this thing then you wouldn't be able to safely play a GBC or GB game due to the 5v that the link port will be putting out! Note: there is NO dimmer switch, just an on/off switch. I doubt I'll be modding it anytime soon, but if I do I will post the results to the site :)
Here are some self explanatory pics:
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