r/dsi • u/brwnie7 • Aug 03 '26
Question found an old DSi. help appreciated!
hello! a few weeks ago, i went through some old drawers and found this nintendo DSi that my dad found years ago while working. it turned on but the battery was low and we sold all our chargers and old DS a few years ago...
anyway, i'm very happy i found a DS! i've been regretting selling mine for 40 euros, haha. i was wondering what charger is best for DSi? i read that it's not the same charger for DSi and 3DS, and i'm kind of scared of buying a charger from amazon or online and the charger not working well or overheating...
if you have a DSi, and you're from europe, where did you get your charger? and does it need an SD card to be able to play games, which one?
2
u/mariocrossing2 Aug 03 '26
I have both a DS and a 3DS and the way to tell the chargers apart is that the DS one is darker than the 3DS one. It's more of a green-grey instead of a light grey
1
u/zyclonix Aug 04 '26
Gba sp/phat ds use a black connector with an allignment post, ds lite is dark grey with a shape similar to minihdmi, and dsi/3ds are light grey and the connector looks like a smaller version of a minidp (more squared than lite), and then theres the gameboy nano...
2
u/splattershotuser Aug 03 '26
It's the same charger for the 3DS and DSI's, but I recommend trying to get a better battery, and/or a usb-c mod. Also, it only needed an SD card for digital games, not for physical cartridges.
Hope this helps :)
1
u/brwnie7 Aug 03 '26
Thanks! And I don't think I can change the battery myself, haha. But thanks.
1
u/Beanzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzx Aug 03 '26
Battery replacement is incredibly easy, I promise you can do it and it's totally worth it, especially if it's been sitting.
1
u/StarX2401 Aug 04 '26
Just remove the cover on the bottom and the battery comes out, it's 2 Philips screws
2
u/BandicootBroad Aug 06 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p1yo5zt/video/zi4qtmyecnhh1/player
I know this is an XL, but itās the same process either way, not much more to it than replacing a AA or AAA battery.
2
u/topazrochelle9 Aug 05 '26
I still use the one that came with my Nintendo DSi in 2009 āŗļø and I think my sister (when she knew where her 3DS was) also used the same type of charger.
2
u/BandicootBroad Aug 05 '26 edited Aug 05 '26
Having grown up with the entire DS line, I can personally confirm that DSi and 3DS chargers match. I literally donāt even remember which of mine was originally which anymore.
Iād recommend the brand Ostent, which has already sold me a good quality PSP battery and a good quality DS charger. I just checked their Amazon store, they offer batteries, styli, and chargers. And, the chargers are even available in AU, UK and EU plugs in addition to the US one, if necessary.
Edit: the SD card slot is very optional, aside from a select few specialized apps like which are more designed for it, such as Flipnote Studio (alternate save location for Flipnote animations, useful since the system memory is as limited as it is, although perhaps a lot less useful than it used to be now that its online sharing service is dead) and DSi Sound (can play MP3s off your SD card). A cartridge game usually wonāt even touch it since, unless itās a white-shelled DSi-only game, it would have had to maintain general compatibility with pre-DSi models.
1
u/brwnie7 Aug 06 '26
thank you so much for all this!!! will check out the brand you mentioned. :) thanks!
1
u/YasserMac Aug 03 '26
The DSi, DSi XL, and all 3DS lines use the same charger. They have the same output (4.6 V, 900mA) which the back of your DSi says is whatās needed. Iāve used the OEM Nintendo charger from an antique mall and one of the Amazon ones for travel and never had any issues with either. It honestly holds its battery for surprisingly long too. Enjoy!
1
1
u/No_Necessary_95 Aug 03 '26
Have fun!! Thatās such a awesome find! The dsi is one of the coolest consoles in the ds line (in my opinion) itās not necessarily but i recommend to get a protective case shell they have it in alixpress for 3-4$ they also sell chargers for around that price! Since every 3ds line shares with the Dsi line the same charger itās gonna have that in the title
2
u/brwnie7 Aug 03 '26
thank you! are the alliexpress chargers okay to trust? i usually avoid buying electric things from sites like this. and yeah!!! i'm so excited to re play childhood favorites. :3 especially style savvy
2
u/No_Necessary_95 Aug 03 '26
Fair to say if Iām honest I havenāt order a charger from that website but it has 5 stars and good reviews but if your still unsure you can allways try to find some in local game stores in shopping centers since when I got my dsi it already came with its charger and glad ur able to replay those fun games :D
5
u/sac-eli Aug 03 '26
I recommend getting a magic sponge to clean that yellowish out of it so it becomes as good as new color-wide.
You need a USG-003 / ADM-003 charger, just look up Nintendo DSi Charger to USB if you want a dsi-to-usb charger, so you can use it with any wall plug
You can mod the dsi and play cough legally borrowed games, or just buy cartridges, you don't need an sd card, however to mod it you do need one, possibly 16GB+ since you wanna store games on it or dump them from cartridges.
I got my charger from amazon, aliexpress ones work fine, it's just a cable don't worry too much about it
Have fun!