What's this New 3DS XL I bought going to turn out like? (Update: Unboxing video)

[Nabbit]

My OG Flame Red 3DS is starting to show signs of wear with the R button not always responding and the SD card reader maybe having some issues.

A used N3DSXL is currently selling for $200+ (and often much more than this) in the US.

eBay prices were just obscenely high so I decided to go another route. I purchased this through a charity reseller auction. I got into a last-minute four-person bidding war, too. I ended up paying $150 including shipping. If this works out well, I saved $50+. If it doesn't, um...it's a donation to charity and I'll try to think about it that way.

The description is "Looks Good, Not tested. As/is."

It should ship by Friday and it's UPS Ground so theoretically I should have it by the end of next week.

1) Does the black upper and transparent-ish lower screen suggest one is IPS and one is TN? I was trying to figure out why they look like that.

2) Does the black inner casing mean it's definitely going to be a Black N3DSXL? If not, I wonder what kind of shell it has.

Maybe the existence of the case implies it's in good shape. Maybe the "Looks good" comment implies that too. Maybe the charity auction person thought it would be an interesting social experiment to see how people would bid based on the limited information given.

What say you, Ninten-folks? Is this all according to keikaku?

I hope this turns out better than the Original Game Boy Unboxing at Nintendo Life. That was a really funny and hard-to-watch video.

 

[Mitch]

From the pictures, it looks to be in decent condition but considering it isn't powered on, it's hard to say.

I'm hoping it works out for you. $150 shipped is a steal.

 

[xsquiddox]

Like new probs or close looks like the person took care of it or was carefull. No powered on pic is a bit iffy but im sure itll be fine! Guess the case took the beatings

 

[Nabbit]

From the pictures, it looks to be in decent condition but considering it isn't powered on, it's hard to say.

I'm hoping it works out for you. $150 shipped is a steal.

Thank you!

It's tricky about it not being powered on. I guess 'cause it came with no AC adapter they couldn't test it. Hard to say what's in store when powered on. Hopefully just two glimmering, clear displays!

Like new probs or close looks like the person took care of it or was carefull. No powered on pic is a bit iffy but im sure itll be fine! Guess the case took the beatings

Hopefully the case did take the beatings! The case is a good sign. But yeah the lack of no powered on is b/c the charity auction didn't have a charger. So they couldn't test it I guess. Hopefully it will turn on and play without issue.

Speaking of the case, you think it might suggest it's a SNES version N3DSXL inside?

Edit: oops. How did I see that as an SNES controller?

 

[xsquiddox]

Thank you!

It's tricky about it not being powered on. I guess 'cause it came with no AC adapter they couldn't test it. Hard to say what's in store when powered on. Hopefully just two glimmering, clear displays!



Hopefully the case did take the beatings! The case is a good sign. But yeah the lack of no powered on is b/c the charity auction didn't have a charger. So they couldn't test it I guess. Hopefully it will turn on and play without issue.

Speaking of the case, you think it might suggest it's a SNES version N3DSXL inside?

Edit: oops. How did I see that as an SNES controller?

Charity auction? Then the outlook should be good and who knows? I guess thats part of the surprise my friend

 

[Nabbit]

Charity auction? Then the outlook should be good and who knows? I guess thats part of the surprise my friend

Oh yeah I'm being cagey here but the charity has an auction site where good gaming deals can be had at times. So this is just stuff people donated, not necessarily with any intent of it being auctioned. But yeah should be interesting to see what it's like...!

 

[Xenoblade 3]

"Not tested" would have scared me off of buying it. I hope it turns out fine.
I was looking for a non XL N3DS. The prices are crazy

 

[Niraj]

Hope it works out for you. Nice to see you here buddy.

 

[Thorakai]

I’ve also been looking at the Nintendo 3DS market. I’ve been hoping to get a New 3DS for the improved 3D, but prices have been just too high as you noted. I’ll probably stick to my 3DS for now. I’d love to replace the shells and put in a new circle pad, but I’ve never done anything like that before.

Hope this works out for you!

 

[Nabbit]

Hope it works out for you. Nice to see you here buddy.

Thanks - good to see you, too. Almost didn't recognize you without your avatar!

 

[Nabbit]

"Not tested" would have scared me off of buying it. I hope it turns out fine.
I was looking for a non XL N3DS. The prices are crazy

I’ve also been looking at the Nintendo 3DS market. I’ve been hoping to get a New 3DS for the improved 3D, but prices have been just too high as you noted. I’ll probably stick to my 3DS for now. I’d love to replace the shells and put in a new circle pad, but I’ve never done anything like that before.

Hope this works out for you!

Thank you both! It's interesting, the reason why N3DS in particular is absurdly overpriced. Nintendo only ever released it in NA twice, and both were limited editions. One was the Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer bundle. The other was a Black Friday-only black or white N3DS, but it was so cheap ($99) that stock went instantly. The New 3DS XL was widely available for years though. It's just really odd how rare the smaller model became. That was the one I'd have preferred. Especially for those faceplates. I hope that idea comes back in some form someday.

 

[Nabbit]

Update: the mystery 3DS has been shipped and is scheduled to arrive Saturday.

 

[Nabbit]

One more update: the delivery has been rescheduled for tomorrow, October 15th.

 

[Nabbit]

Update: it was scheduled to be delivered yesterday, but only made it to my state and not my door. It was just delivered a little while ago. I'll make a little unboxing video (for the first time, lol) so you can see my confusion in action. I'm eager to see what exactly we got.

 

[Xenoblade 3]

I wanna see

 

[Mitch]

I’ve been waiting. Eager to see what you end up getting.

 

[Phantom Thief]

New 3DS is great. It will be great.

 

[Thorakai]

Nabbit is overcome with ecstasy at the improved 3D. I know it.

 

[asagami_]

It will be fine while there are not spiders inside the console.

 

[Nabbit]

Forgive my broken 日本語。すみません。It's all to help @Oheao study. ^^

 

[Xenoblade 3]

Forgive my broken 日本語。すみません。It's all to help @Oheao study. ^^

Oh no. Did it turn on?

 

[poochy]

So much for the donating to charity backup plan... sorry OP

 

[Pineapple Pizza]

Did it turn on in the end? I saw the LED charging light come on. Sometimes batteries do need a little while if they've not been charged for months... Feel for you if it didn't but I'd definitely be looking into taking it to a repair shop. A lot of tech places that deal with mobile phones might be able to help. I know my local one repaired a person's faulty USB-C connector on their Switch. Maybe this needs a new battery?

Absolutely love the form fitting case. I struggled to find a decent one for mine and ended up importing one from Japan.

I'm gobsmacked at "retro" prices. I regret selling a lot of my stuff when I was younger and now won't sell anything.

 

[TheMoon]

Oh you're here already!

Don't let us hang on the cliff!

 

[Nabbit]

Thanks all for your good vibes and hopeful interest with the outcome.

So, no more intermittent orange light, or any light of any kind. The AC adapter is still working with my OG 3DS so it seems like that's not the issue.

My thought now is to open the back panel and see if the battery looks problematic. I want to stick to Nintendo parts or repair only. So if the battery isn't the evident issue, I may send it to Nintendo for repair. Then I'll probably end up having paid market value for the product in the end, but at least the first $150 will have gone to a good cause.

Plus, who knows when Nintendo will stop doing repairs, and a repair with them is a decent shot at a fix that gets it highly functional or even a replacement refurbished model. Their refurbs are generally super high quality, too.

So my next order of business is getting a precision screwdriver set because I can't find ours.

Oh no. Did it turn on?

Unfortunately, not yet...

I left it charging overnight, and now absolutely nada on the light front.

So much for the donating to charity backup plan... sorry OP

Thanks @poochy! It's okay, I might've been unclear about donating but what I meant was that in the worst case scenario, my purchase price already went to charity, since it was sold by a charity auction site.

Did it turn on in the end? I saw the LED charging light come on. Sometimes batteries do need a little while if they've not been charged for months... Feel for you if it didn't but I'd definitely be looking into taking it to a repair shop. A lot of tech places that deal with mobile phones might be able to help. I know my local one repaired a person's faulty USB-C connector on their Switch. Maybe this needs a new battery?

Absolutely love the form fitting case. I struggled to find a decent one for mine and ended up importing one from Japan.

I'm gobsmacked at "retro" prices. I regret selling a lot of my stuff when I was younger and now won't sell anything.

Thanks for all of the ideas and encouragement! I thought about a local repair shop but I I'm gonna (Koopa) shell out for repairs I think I'm best off with Nintendo. Of course, their repair site is down right now, but hopefully it will be back on Monday or something.

And yeah retro prices are insane, especially since the pandemic.

Oh you're here already!

Don't let us hang on the cliff!

Yep I'm here! Hey ! Apologies if I was unclear about my post on Era but I just meant that I planned to mainly be spending my time here on FamiBoards, not that I hadn't joined yet. I can see how I was unclear though.

 

[Nabbit]

I've got the precision screwdriver (0 and 00) in hand so once I get home...

Fast forward

Ok, I spent like 30 mins trying to get the screws unscrewed, and then with more research found out that when they click they'd unscrewed (even though they don't look unscrewed). I also found out that the back plate takes a good amount of force to remove. I was slightly freakin' for a sec, thinking that if I couldn't get the plate off myself, how would I be able to install the micro SD card after it came back for repair?

Anyway, I I managed to get it open. The battery looks normal. So I have no idea what the issue is unless the battery is in fact dead. The LCI doesn't indicate water damage if I understand correctly, though there's some stain-esque discoloration behind the battery. So I'm gonna set up a repair with Nintendo tomorrow. Maybe I'll have it back by the end of the month. Very curious to see how this turns out.