The $1 GBA

I got a recent batch of broken consoles that I am fixing so i figured why the heck not make blog entries showing them getting fixed 1 by 1.

The first one is 1 one out of a batch of 2 gba's tha i got as part of tha batch.
Proceeded to order the replacement shell for 4 bucks on ebay:

TAk5Kfu.png



Then i bought the replacement lcd for 4 bucks:

yULDWLJ.png



After that I dissasembled the old gba and did the gut transfer:

iKz7ma8.jpg


for the final part. after assembly I took the gba inside my shower room where i had the shower head running on hot for 10 minutes. This makes it a pseudo sterile room so it minimizes the odds of getting lint and other crap when applying the glass screen on the other end. No pictures of that but im sure you can imagine how that goes.

The final result:

T8kMvlm.png


not bad for something that was going to the trash. so yeah it was 1 dollar plus 8 in parts. So behold the refurb 9 dollar gba.
looks pretty good even if it is no backlit. For the second broken gba i got, I will be getting a backlight from china ags101 kit and hopefully the results will be neat. I was not even supposed to be doing projects this weekend but it was a quick one while the switch charges so i can go back to playing pokemon sword.
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I pwned U!
My dad once bought a GBA SP (AGS-001) with a broken R button at a garage sale. He took it apart, held the R button over a boiling kettle, and bent the plastic back into shape. After reassembling it, it worked perfectly.

It was the best 25¢ he ever spent.
 
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Sliter
Very nice! even broken consoles are kinda expensive here :P
by mysekf I woud only relace the shell if the original was broken or uncomfortable weared out XD I kinda like the feels of "it's old and works great" my Ga have even tha i would like to mod this with internal light, rechargeable battery and maybe flashcard XD or get one like you did and make a new one )
 
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WD_GASTER2
the broken gba was a dollar m8. yes it took 8 dollars of parts to get it to look pristine but you know...
 
Chary
Super cool! Would love to see more refurb blogs to see what you can do with minimum investment lol
 
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  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    The phat model had amazingly loud speakers tho.
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  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    @Jayro, I don't see whats so special about the DS ML, its just a DS lite in a phat shell. At least the phat model had louder speakers, whereas the lite has a much better screen.
     +1
  • SylverReZ @ SylverReZ:
    They probably said "Hey, why not we combine the two together and make a 'new' DS to sell".
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It's a DS Lite in a slightly bigger DS Lite shell.
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    It's not a Nintendo / iQue official product, it's a 3rd party custom.
     +1
  • Veho @ Veho:
    Nothing special about it other than it's more comfortable than the Lite
    for people with beefy hands.
     +1
  • Jayro @ Jayro:
    I have yaoi anime hands, very lorge but slender.
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    I'm Slenderman.
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    I have hands.
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    king-shark-hand.gif
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  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    imagine not having hands, cringe
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    ESPECIALLY for things I do to myself :sad:.. :tpi::rofl2: Or others :shy::blush::evil:
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  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    @SylverReZ if you could find a v5 DS ML you would have the best of both worlds since the v5 units had the same backlight brightness levels as the DS Lite unlockable with flashme
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    but that's a long shot
  • The Real Jdbye @ The Real Jdbye:
    i think only the red mario kart edition phat was v5
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    A woman with no arms and no legs was sitting on a beach. A man comes along and the woman says, "I've never been hugged before." So the man feels bad and hugs her. She says "Well i've also never been kissed before." So he gives her a kiss on the cheek. She says "Well I've also never been fucked before." So the man picks her up, and throws her in the ocean and says "Now you're fucked."
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  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    :O:ohnoes::lol::rofl::rofl2:
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    lmao
  • BakerMan @ BakerMan:
    anyways, we need to re-normalize physical media

    if i didn't want my games to be permanent, then i'd rent them
     +1
  • BigOnYa @ BigOnYa:
    Agreed, that why I try to buy all my games on disc, Xbox anyways. Switch games (which I pirate tbh) don't matter much, I stay offline 24/7 anyways.
  • AncientBoi @ AncientBoi:
    I don't pirate them, I Use Them :mellow:. Like I do @BigOnYa 's couch :tpi::evil::rofl2:
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  • cearp @ cearp:
    @BakerMan - you can still "own" digital media, arguably easier and better than physical since you can make copies and backups, as much as you like.

    The issue is DRM
  • cearp @ cearp:
    You can buy drm free games / music / ebooks, and if you keep backups of your data (like documents and family photos etc), then you shouldn't lose the game. but with a disk, your toddler could put it in the toaster and there goes your $60

    :rofl2:
  • cearp @ cearp:
    still, I agree physical media is nice to have. just pointing out the issue is drm
  • rqkaiju2 @ rqkaiju2:
    i like physical media because it actually feels like you own it. thats why i plan on burning music to cds
    rqkaiju2 @ rqkaiju2: i like physical media because it actually feels like you own it. thats why i plan on burning...