Nintendo Supersizes Its Handheld With New Jumbo DSi LL

From DailyTech: Nintendo, a quirky Japanese game and gaming console maker, is known for its unusual ideas, creating everything from a bestselling series of games about a plumber who fights turtles to a sales-leading gaming console with meager graphics but innovative motion controls. However, we swear the Japanese firm stole this one of the U.S. -- take something much beloved, and make it bigger.

At a special Tokyo press conference Nintendo unveiled a brand new version of the bestselling Nintendo DSi. The new DS is the Big Mac of the handheld world, so to speak, with a supersized 4.2" screen. The unit is dubbed the Nintendo DSi LL -- with the LL standing for large size. The DSi LL will feature a bigger price of ¥20,000 (US$220), bumped up from the approximately $180 that the DSi (standard) retails for, and much more than the $120 a petite DS Lite commands.

The redesign keeps the pixel count the same, but the screen swells 93 percent. That should help the device be more functional as a mobile internet device and as a music player, two key markets Nintendo looks to capture.

The unit beats the traditional DSi on battery life last 13-17 hours on minimum brightness and 4-5 hr. on highest brightness, versus 9-14 hr. and 3-5 hr. respectively with the traditional DSi. However this still falls a bit short of the DS Lite, which features an impressive 15-19 hr. and 5-8 hr. respectively. The DSi LL will take 3 hours to charge, the same as the DS Lite and slightly more than the 2.5 hr. for the DSi. Where as the DSi and DS Lite each weigh about 215 g, the DSi LL is approximately 50 percent heavier, weighing in at 314 g.

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