So while looking up some things to buy online, I made the mistake of looking in one of my wishlists full of GBA parts. I've got one of the original wide models (AGB-001) and never jumped to the SP when it was the hit handheld because 1) money and 2) holding one in my mitts once was enough to tell me to avoid it. But, for those of you too young to remember, the wide's screen has no light and is practically an all consuming void that even light itself cannot escape. The stupid magnifier and book lights that plugged in the link port always put a bright glare in the middle of the screen, making it worse than no light at all except in pitch black ambient lighting. I've always wanted to mod my model with a front light and just want to see want everyone thinks before doing it. (Also, feel free to share your pain from the days when lights clamped onto your handheld of choice.)
There are several ways to go about this. One kit you could buy, called the Afterburner, involved cracking open the case and installing an lED frontlit plate around the screen. They are really hard to find today, aren't really that great looking (A trapezoid ghosting effect is common.), and I could probably do that myself with some SMD LEDs and lots of patience. The other kit, called the Halo Light [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gameboy-Advance-Halo-Light-Glacier-Afterburner-Back-Light-for-GBA-Game-BoyNEW/181203251954?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27538%26meid%3D3dd19637ee94498a9ff46dc3f8528d86%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D11353%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D181149558328] is a new lens with built in LEDs to replace the old lens. The only problems I've heard about that one are the giant growth that has to be plugged in to connect the two contacts on the lens to the link port for power and that the quality is just under the frontlit SP's (AGS-001) screen. Some people have taken an old SP's front light panel and put it into a GBA or GB Color. A final really awesome one is where you take a backlit SP (AGS-101) screen and put it in the GBA wide body.(The Micro is too expensive and doesn't support original GB games.) The only issue with that is it requires making or buying an adapter cable to work. The custom cable is a bit out of my league, and the Chinese guy who makes the them disappeared. (While typing this, I found a cable on ebay, so at least there's that.)
Personally, I'm going to try making my own lens out of a piece of acrylic with LEDs in them, like the Halo light and probably put a variable resistor somewhere out of the way, making it nice and tidy. Or, I might get the Halo thing, if someone says they like it. (I do need a new lens and the Halo or my custom job would take care of that by design.) Or, for maybe $15 more than the Halo, I could get a backlit (the bestest image, no washed out colors) SP and do something crazy. I kinda want to take an SP's guts and put them in a case I custom machined/3D printed. That way I got the best image in a shell that is comfy for me. (I probably will do both my light mod, and then the SP mod. HM loves to tinker with crap like that.)
TL;DR: Has anyone seen, firsthand, one of those GBA light mods (Afterburner, Halo Light, custom design) in action and how do they compare between all the stock GBA SPs? What are some of your worse experiences with any Game Boy's (1989-GBA) lighting or accessories? I've heard the GBA Castlevanias are notoriously hard to see on the original GBA. And, watching Stuart Ashen's video [http://youtu.be/DDF4T5X6tZM] on the old school Game Boy's giant accessories makes me happy I grew up with the GBC/GBA and white LEDs.
Also, I'm completely insane and want carve and/or melt plastic until it's roughly the shape of a wide GBA, then put GBA SP guts in it.
There are several ways to go about this. One kit you could buy, called the Afterburner, involved cracking open the case and installing an lED frontlit plate around the screen. They are really hard to find today, aren't really that great looking (A trapezoid ghosting effect is common.), and I could probably do that myself with some SMD LEDs and lots of patience. The other kit, called the Halo Light [http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gameboy-Advance-Halo-Light-Glacier-Afterburner-Back-Light-for-GBA-Game-BoyNEW/181203251954?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D27538%26meid%3D3dd19637ee94498a9ff46dc3f8528d86%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D11353%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D10%26sd%3D181149558328] is a new lens with built in LEDs to replace the old lens. The only problems I've heard about that one are the giant growth that has to be plugged in to connect the two contacts on the lens to the link port for power and that the quality is just under the frontlit SP's (AGS-001) screen. Some people have taken an old SP's front light panel and put it into a GBA or GB Color. A final really awesome one is where you take a backlit SP (AGS-101) screen and put it in the GBA wide body.(The Micro is too expensive and doesn't support original GB games.) The only issue with that is it requires making or buying an adapter cable to work. The custom cable is a bit out of my league, and the Chinese guy who makes the them disappeared. (While typing this, I found a cable on ebay, so at least there's that.)
Personally, I'm going to try making my own lens out of a piece of acrylic with LEDs in them, like the Halo light and probably put a variable resistor somewhere out of the way, making it nice and tidy. Or, I might get the Halo thing, if someone says they like it. (I do need a new lens and the Halo or my custom job would take care of that by design.) Or, for maybe $15 more than the Halo, I could get a backlit (the bestest image, no washed out colors) SP and do something crazy. I kinda want to take an SP's guts and put them in a case I custom machined/3D printed. That way I got the best image in a shell that is comfy for me. (I probably will do both my light mod, and then the SP mod. HM loves to tinker with crap like that.)
TL;DR: Has anyone seen, firsthand, one of those GBA light mods (Afterburner, Halo Light, custom design) in action and how do they compare between all the stock GBA SPs? What are some of your worse experiences with any Game Boy's (1989-GBA) lighting or accessories? I've heard the GBA Castlevanias are notoriously hard to see on the original GBA. And, watching Stuart Ashen's video [http://youtu.be/DDF4T5X6tZM] on the old school Game Boy's giant accessories makes me happy I grew up with the GBC/GBA and white LEDs.
Also, I'm completely insane and want carve and/or melt plastic until it's roughly the shape of a wide GBA, then put GBA SP guts in it.