GBA lighting...

[Sinner]

I have a defective Blackberry (9720).  I also have an original Game Boy Advance.

Do you think it would be possible to remove the light from the BB and modify the GBA to use it?  Kind of an Afterburner type mod.

Anything I should know before trying to get this thing apart?

Thank you.
 

[PCtech]

hmmm, definitely belongs in the "Eveything Else' Category...

These folks might be able to help...good luck!

http://www.blackberryforums.com

[mahuti]

I don't know about blackberrys... but I know that the afterburner kit was majestic...

Totally worth the time, cost, hassle.

[Tahnok]

It's an awful shame they don't sell the afterburner any more. I would probably buy one just for the shock factor (nobody expects to see an original lit so well).

[mahuti]

I was one of the first to buy. I still have mine, and I'll probably keep it until the light dies. With the DS, though, I guess it's silly to keep it. The form factor works just as well and it plays the old games. The best part about the old GBA was its wide shape for my big hands, but the DS has that anyway. Oh well. I keep it because I can.

I still wonder if Triton labs sold their idea to Nintendo... it was awful convenient how TL switched from some guy and his hobby site to a music producing studio overnight

Anyway, back to the thread, good luck with the retrofit. After installing a few afterburners... here's my overall opinions

1. Not much space in there to work with
2. you'll have to dremel out some of the plastic somewhere
3. The solder points aren't that hard to get to for the power, so that's something at least.

[Sinner]

I was one of the first to buy. I still have mine, and I'll probably keep it until the light dies. With the DS, though, I guess it's silly to keep it. The form factor works just as well and it plays the old games. The best part about the old GBA was its wide shape for my big hands, but the DS has that anyway. Oh well. I keep it because I can.

I still wonder if Triton labs sold their idea to Nintendo... it was awful convenient how TL switched from some guy and his hobby site to a music producing studio overnight

Anyway, back to the thread, good luck with the retrofit. After installing a few afterburners... here's my overall opinions

1. Not much space in there to work with
2. you'll have to dremel out some of the plastic somewhere
3. The solder points aren't that hard to get to for the power, so that's something at least.

Thanks...I do have one question...where exactly do you put the light?  I understand that at the bottom of the screen there is space (after moding the case a little of course)...do I put the light where the screen and the lens meet?

[mahuti]

The afterburner had a screen integrated with a led light that sat on top of the monitor, below the screen protector, sandwhiched, and it may have had a very small cushion pad to offset it from the monitor IIRC. The thing that made the afterburner work was the screen that carried the light, not so much the light.

Very special screen material.

[Sinner]

The afterburner had a screen integrated with a led light that sat on top of the monitor, below the screen protector, sandwhiched, and it may have had a very small cushion pad to offset it from the monitor IIRC. The thing that made the afterburner work was the screen that carried the light, not so much the light.

Very special screen material.

Crud...I wonder if a BB screen could be modified to fit...

[mahuti]

I couldn't say if the BB uses the same technology. The afterburner was pretty specifically built for the GameBoy.

[brandon]

The original GBAs and GBA SP had reflective LCDs.. That is, they had a mirror type material glued on the back to reflect ambient light or an LED frontlight if it had one.  The  Afterburners and the SP use a special material that diverts all the light evenly down into the LCD. If your BB uses a backlight I dont think it would work in the GBA. 
some people dont know this but the new version of the GBA SP has a MUCH better LCD screen that's backlit.  The colors are nice and vibrant not so washed out like the frontlit ones.  I think its bright than the DS even.

[farmecologist]

I think its bright than the DS even.

We have a new backlit GBA SP and a DS.   The new GBA SP is a bit brighter than the DS.

Note that the backlit GBA SP lets you choose the intensity of the backlight via a button on the top of the unit.   It is a power savings feature.   

[Tahnok]

I've heard though that the new DS will be brighter than all of them. The brightest setting is supposedly too bright to actually use.

Oh, and hang on to that GBA with the afterburner. The DS can play GBA games just as well, but it can't play GB original or GBC at all.

[J-Rod]

I installed the AB in my GBA, and still have it. Completely worth the price for the time, since there wasn't much of an alternative. The colors do get a bit washed, but hey that's the price you pay to be able to see it properly. I understand N was concerned about unit cost, but a backlight is not something you should skimp on... But I agree, it wasn't the light that was special, but the film you stuck to the LCD.