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Hip Gear Spylight Protector review
After having been informed by a reader (Thanks Adam! see his review here) about a light add-on called the "Spylight Protector", I decided to test it out for myself. This add-on is made by a company called Hip Gear, and retails for $9.99.
Physical Properties
I would put the spylight protector a notch below the Pelican LS, but a notch above the Glowguard. It attaches to the GBA quite well as demonstrated in the second picture. The unit is basically made up of 2 parts, 1. a plastic frame piece that has the clips that hold the whole spylight onto the GBA (see pictures), and 2. the actual light unit which is hinged on the plastic clip assembly. Since it does not use the linkport (or the holes on either side of the linkport) to connect onto the GBA, it utilizes 3 clips on the bottom of the "frame" assembly. 2 of the clips fit into the 2 screw holes that are on either side of the cartridge slot on the back of the GBA, and the other clip is on the front of the assembly and attaches beneath the screen of the GBA in the plastic housing seam (again, see picture 2).
  
The screen only has 2 positions: vertical, or closed, so there is no adjusting ability to get the light closer to the screen. Thankfully, the light assembly is not wobbly or flimsy. Once it is snapped on, it is very tight and secure. There are however 2 physical issues that I do not care for that the spylight protector exhibits. The first issue is a plastic screen which is in the hinged light part of the Spylight that is supposed to be the "protector" part of the equation. Although it is not a magnifying lens, it is a little odd looking through it if the shield is closed, plus the plastic screen on the one I have has some annoying scratches on it (from the factory) as well. That being said, most people will probably remove the Spylight when not using the light feature (or at least put the shield in the vertical position so that you see the actual screen and not the plastic lens). The second issue is caused by the frame part that snaps onto the GBA. The edges (see picture 3 above) can get in the way of pressing all of the buttons with the exception of the "A" button. This is since the frame rides right up against the buttons causing your thumb to hit the edge of the frame as well as the buttons.
Lighting Properties
Ok, I'm going to go ahead and say that I'd recommend the Spylight over the Glowguard if you cannot, or do not want to mod a Pelican LS. I'm saying this because the Glowguard is floppier, bulkier and is too much of a spotlight when compared to the Spylight Protector.
The light is produced by a white LED. The LED appears to be the 3mm type (the rs 276-320 is a 5mm type), and sits behind what looks like a regular piece of frosted plastic. I'm thinking that if the piece of frosted plastic is removed, the LED will be noticeably brighter. In any case, as Adam originally stated in his review of the Spylight Protector, it seems to be about on par with the modded LS in most regards. The light is a bit dimmer (the frosted plastic in front of the LED contributes to this I'm sure), and it can be a hassle not being able to adjust the angle of the shield to allow more screen coverage, but believe it or not, the Spylight illuminates the sreen pretty well :) See screenshots below.
Conclusion
For $10 the spylight protector is as good as it gets to finding an "out of the box" solution for lighting the GBA. I still prefer the Pelican design over the spylight for it's sleekness, variable angle adjustment, and the quality of the plastic used. For some reason, the plastic that the Pelican shield is molded from seems to be a much nicer, pliable-yet-sturdy plastic than the plastic that other manufacturers seem to be molding these add-on accessories from.
It's a good product for 10 bucks that almost stacks up to the modded LS.
I plan to test the voltage that the Spylight puts out as soon as I get the time to take it apart. Since the Spylight supplies it's own voltage, it could very well be the base that the next best mod is built on :)
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