The Nintendo DS Lite (much better than the regular Nintendo DS)

Nearly all of the changes made appear to be for the better in my opinion. The microphone is now located in between the two halves of the unit, which means it's a lot easier to blow, talk or direct sound at the DS. The A, B, X and Y buttons now possess more travel, so there's a greater sense of actually pressing buttons than before. The same thing applies to the d-pad too, which is a little smaller than the original, but slightly more effective in my view (it's very similar to the old school NES d-pad).

The power switch is gone from the top-left of the touch screen and is now located on the right side of the DS. This means no accidental power offs anymore. The action needed to turn it on and off is a slide/hold technique very similar to, but not as lengthy as the Sony PSP's method of powering up (although there is no lock-out feature disabling the buttons like on the PSP). The DS Lite is obviously still based on the clamshell design, but now the unit's screens are completely flush when closed; meaning that stray pocket fluff and pennies can no longer get in there and cause scratches. The left and right shoulder buttons are also entirely flush with the casing and are a little bit smaller than the old ones, but no less functional.

The headphone/mic socket is pretty much in the same spot as before, while the power and charging LEDs are now on the hinge of the DS Lite and are located to the right-hand side. They are also always visible even when the unit is closed. Another nice tweak is the volume slide, which has been raised substantially and given more resistance; something that's crucial for fine-tuning. The stylus (which is actually now longer in length and wider in girth) is housed on the right-hand side of the unit and now slides into the docking space horizontally. It's worth noting that the bigger, fatter stylus feels a little more solid and comfortable in use as well.

The last few differences include a new, smaller power charger socket (meaning that old DS chargers won't work) and the redesign and relocation of the start and select buttons. These two buttons are now much smaller (round in shape) and are located beneath the four main controller buttons. In fact, this was the only aspect of the DS Lite that didn't seem like much of an improvement to me, because they seem a little bit more niggly to use. I rather liked the older versions on the original DS but hey, it's not a big deal really.

And now we get to the functionality and performance of the DS Lite. The biggest feature here is that the DS Lite now has four levels of brightness for its dual screens. On the brightest setting, running side-by-side with an old DS, the difference in picture fidelity is literally unbelievable. Both screens are now backlit (in the same way the recently updated GBA SP units are) which provides a much brighter, vivid picture. Playing Mario Kart DS on both models of the DS really highlighted to me just how excellent the DS Lite really is.

I guarantee that once you see the difference for yourselves, you'll pretty much want a DS Lite immediately. It really does make that much of difference. The DS Lite now has more in common with those high-end LCD displays seen on the PSP and iPod, and for me, it's the best thing that could have happened to the system.

Another nice bonus regarding the four levels of power is that you can easily extend the life of the battery charge simply by stepping down one level of brightness. Great for those long flights or commutes if you've not got access to an electrical outlet. Nintendo reckons that you'll get around 5 to 9 hours of play on the brightest setting and around 15 to 20 hours on the dimmest setting (which is actually more than acceptable). Pretty great stuff overall.

The DS Lite still sports the GBA cartridge slot (and even includes a nice little plastic slot protector) but most likely won't ship with a rumble pak cartridge; something I believe might have been a nice little extra bonus for those thinking about making the upgrade. It's not yet known (although it'll probably be solved very soon) if the DS Lite will be region-free in terms of software lockouts, but I'm betting it will be the same as the regular DS in this respect. Nintendo isn't commenting on this at the moment.