Double Power Pack Review - Review - Nintendo World Report

Double Power Pack

by Jonathan Metts - February 17, 2006, 10:02 pm EST
Total comments: 8

Here's a cheap way to double the battery life of the DS, if you don't mind random losses of power.

The Double Power Pack from Game Top is a simple, inexpensive device that connects an additional rechargeable battery to your Nintendo DS. It comes with one 850 mAh lithium-ion battery, and it has a compartment for the system's original 850 mAh battery as well. The two can be alternated with a small switch. With a total of 1700 mAh of charge, the system's battery life is clearly doubled, up to about 20 hours of gameplay under certain conditions. That time isn't continuous, since you must switch between the batteries at some point (they also have to be recharged separately).

Installing the Double Power Pack takes a few minutes, but it's a simple process. The unit ships with a tiny screwdriver to remove the DS battery cover. Then you pluck out the original DS battery and replace it with the new one, which is secured to a casing that fits snugly against the back of the system. Just snap the original battery into the "optional" compartment on the Double Power Pack, tighten the single screw, and you're done. It even has a specially cut corner to leave access to the stylus. With the device installed, the DS is slightly heavier and a quarter-inch thicker, but these changes are negligible after a few minutes of playing.

It sounds like a good package so far, especially for what it costs (less than $15 from Lik-Sang), but the Double Power Pack has one critical flaw: it doesn't fit. Oh, it looks fine when screwed on, and it feels solid enough, but electrical contacts are picky little things. They want the battery to be securely connected at all times, and this device just doesn't fit tightly enough to ensure a continuous power supply. While playing Super Princess Peach, the DS suddenly shut off on three occasions, once in the middle of a boss battle. It can happen even when the selected battery has a full charge and you're gently holding the DS in front of you…not even resting on a surface or getting banged around at all. This is an extremely frustrating problem which is just not acceptable.

Due to this major problem, the device isn't reliable enough to be useful. I can't recommend it unless you consider the current DS battery life so inadequate that you'd take the risk of suddenly losing power to the system, or maybe you're the handy type and want to mod the Double Power Pack to fit better. Most of us can live with eight to ten hours of gameplay, and the upcoming DS Lite promises even better performance.

Score

Appearance	Comfort	Quality	Value	Construction	Final
9	8	8	2	5	3

Appearance

As long as you have a black-bottomed DS, the battery expansion blends in very well and is not too large.

Comfort

You can definitely feel a difference in the weight and shape of the system when the device is attached, but it feels fine. The plastic is contoured to be flush with the system and has no sharp corners or edges.

Quality

If it wasn't constantly in danger of becoming disconnected, the included battery pack would seem to work quite well, powering and recharging just like the standard battery. The plastic casing is sturdy, at least once you screw it in (very tightly).

Value

Feels tight when installed, but the battery isn't making reliable contact, and that makes the whole thing pointless.

Construction

It would be excellent if the product worked reliably. When the battery can't stay connected, it's not even worth the low price.

Final

The Double Power Pack is almost a great DS accessory. A few small tweaks could have fixed the unit's one very serious flaw.

Review Page 1

Summary

Pros

Cheap
Good battery quality
Looks good

Cons

Unreliable

Review Page 2: Conclusion

Talkback

KDR_11kFebruary 17, 2006

Couldn't you bend the contacts with a screwdriver?

vuduFebruary 18, 2006

More importantly, couldn't you just get an extra battery for the same price from store.nintendo.com?

It seems like much better option, especialy since you have to power off the system to switch batteries anyway.

Jonnyboy117Jonathan Metts, Associate EditorFebruary 18, 2006

Well, switching batteries is normally not so easy...you need one of these tiny screwdrivers to do it, and you'll have to unscrew again to recharge both of them. The DPP is certainly useful and convenient, but it's just not made well enough to be reliable.

KDR, if you're comfortable modding electronics, give it a shot.

Jonnyboy117Jonathan Metts, Associate EditorFebruary 21, 2006

FYI, Lik-Sang thinks I may have received a faulty unit since they have not seen this complaint from their customers, so they have asked me to review a second unit. If the second works fine, I'll make some changes to my review, although consistent quality would still be a problem to cite. For now, I have removed the headline from our main page, though the review is still online.

Jonnyboy117Jonathan Metts, Associate EditorApril 21, 2006

By the way, Lik-Sang sent me a second unit for this product to make sure the first one was not a fluke. Unfortunately, I had exactly the same problem with the second unit, so my review stands. Lik-Sang was afraid I might be installing it wrong until I told them that there is only one screw. ;-) I tighted it as much as I could, pressed hard all over the thing to make sure it was secure, but still the power would cut out with no warning, and the power light would flip between green and red at random. Don't buy this thing. Oh, and it does not fit the DS Lite...not that you'd need it anyway, since the Lite has noticeably better battery life than the original DS.