When my brother was at school, my mom took his DSi and traded it in at Gamestop for the XL, getting $90 credit. Seems like a ripoff.. anyway, he was miffed that he lost his files. She didn't realize that since there's no account to attach your downloads to, you have to buy them again. That really sucks. Hopefully Nintendo is going to do something about this issue.

The DSi XL looks really nice though. I don't carry around games much and would love to have one of these, if I only had money to burn.

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Well after playing with my brother's XL, I couldn't stand looking at the original DS screen, so I ended up buying one of these things. The way I see it, the changes that have been made since the 2004 launch are significant enough that this upgrade is worth it for me.

My biggest worry was that it would be uncomfortable to hold for long amounts of time. I have slender hands and dealing with the PSP is agonizing. But it feels just fine. I can only imagine a young child having trouble with this.
I don't plan on taking it with me too often, but portability is not a problem. Unless you have to have a DS in your jeans pocket it's not really an inconvenience.

The graphics are fantastic, the games don't look like they were designed for a smaller screen. I guess if you concentrate you'll notice some aspects being a little more pixelated, but it's a minor detail that's quickly forgotten. Having this big of a screen is a luxury. Since I was only familiar with the old DS, a brighter screen and a more precise touch pad are new features for me, and it might be making the DSi Xl seem more magical than it actually is.

I really love drawing on this thing. I mean it's fantastic. If you have access to homebrew, Colors! is a must. It's a wonderfully sophisticated painting application that proves flash carts have great uses beyond piracy. Basically, it can turn your DSi XL into a cheap little Cintiq. I can't possibly emphasize how much I enjoy playing with this.

If I have to nitpick, the camera still takes low-quality photos. You'd think they would improve the resolution for the bigger screen. I don't care at all for cameras, so it doesn't affect how I feel about the DSi. What is this obsession with sticking a camera on everything? My DS has two cameras, my phone has a camera, my keychain has a camera? Stop it.
Also, the top of the lid has this glossy finish that catches fingerprints and scratches like crazy. The rest of the DS uses a non-smudge texture that looks really good, so why does the top have to look like crap? What were they thinking??

It comes with a "photo clock," which I haven't touched, and the two Brain Age Express games. I like the idea of having some mental training type games right on my DS, but this stripped down version of an already meager title just isn't worth anyone's time. They've done nothing to improve the handwriting or voice detection, and it gets old a lot faster than previous versions. And to top it off, these Express games cost $8 each. None of this has to do with the DSi XL really, I just wish the package had given me something other than Brain Age.

With the knowledge that Nintendo won't allow you to transfer downloads, I'm not about to make any DSiWare purchases. But that's not why I bought this. I'm hard-pressed to recommend the XL to someone who already has a DSi, or even someone with a Lite who needs the GBA slot, but if you're stuck with an original DS or don't have one at all, this is a really great handheld. I also highly recommend it for someone who wants an affordable electronic device to paint with.

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