Jinx! You owe me two Cokes.

It sounds like all this is is dynamic contrast, which is what computer and TV LCD screens have been using for years to fake a larger range of colors.  It's actually a step backward from mobile phones, which have light sensors to detect when they can reduce brightness.  I'm still really surprised at how poor the battery life is on this thing, given how much more space there should be for a battery compared to more powerful cell phones that have at least that much life... I wonder if it was because of the choice to use that unconventional 3D chip.

No Power Saving Mode on Brightest Setting = 3hrs = 180 minutes
Power Saving Mode on Brightest Setting = +10%-20% = + 18-36minutes

sooo....
Power Saving Mode on Brightest Setting = 3:18min - 3:36minutes

I guess when you only have so few minutes, those extra 20-30 minutes is HUGE in the grand scheme of things.


edit:
So on the Brightest Setting with Power Saving mode could net you and extra 1 or so bring total battery life to maybe around 4:20minutes.

::gets all giddy and can't wait for the announcement::

UncleBob knows something we don't know yet...

...that Walmart is gonna be selling Battery Booster Packs and his employee discount gets him a 35% discount on accessories which he can also use with his numerous Walmart Giftcards that he has accumulated through years of hardwork and Employee of the Month rewards.

Wow, 3.75 hours with the 3D off.  The extra 45 minutes makes all the difference.

The battery life estimates that have been revealed are all pretty inexcusably low and yet Nintendo feels the need to draw attention to this with an Iwata Asks feature that promotes this power saving feature that does not sound very impressive at all and just further emphasizes how shitty the battery life for this thing is (36 more minutes!  Holy shit!)  How do these guys sell so many systems with such oblivious PR skills?

If it my system and it had such lousy battery life I would make all effort to avoid bringing it up.  I also would not publicly announce to my customers that I had no intention of lowering prices so I don't really ride the same carpet as Nintendo.

From the leaked pics I think it showed that the 3DS only had an 1800mAh battery in it. & while that is a step up from what is supposedly in the DSi/XL (1300MAh?), Nintendo could have stepped up their power to a 2300mAh, likely increasing the battery life ~25-30% and still made a nice profit.

I could have sworn the leaked pics had a 1300MAh battery.  Nintendo could have stepped up the battery a bit.  It doesn't mean that I'm not going to find ways to work around battery issues.

Edit: Just checked, it is 1300MAh.  Apparently the DSLite has a 1000MAh, and the DSi has an 840MAh.  Nintendo is seriously skimping on paying for batteries!

That's even worse. A 2300mAh battery will solve all our battery issues.

I do almost all of my gaming at home, handheld or not, so battery life isn't an extreme concern of mine. But say I wanted to purchase a replacement battery for my 3DS with more battery life. Is that going to be a problem? Is Nintendo using some weird shape for their battery slot that wont allow upgrades to fit?

I ask because tomorrow is my last day working at Best Buy and I want to know if I can put that employee discount to use one more time

As has been true since the first DS, it will have a custom battery.

If you'd settle for an external battery pack, it's been confirmed that the 3DS uses the same charge port as the DSi and DSi XL, so any battery pack designed for those should work for the 3DS as well.