How do i know if this is a fake ds lite or not?

So i recently bought a new ds lite from dubai and i've been wondering if its a fake or not... it has some things going on with the text on the box of the handheld (stuff translated to arabic, it has both english and arabic texts on it).

The ds lite is "Royal Gold" as it says on the box, it kinda looks like the zelda triforce one except without the triforce, so i think that gives it a kind of fake vibe.... I opened the box and the instruction manual and everything seems normal, the charger looks like a genuine nintendo one and the instruction booklet that looks like the english manual (No blurry text like other fakes i've seen) except its translated to Arabic.

I bought it from a shop called Geekay Games at a fairly cheap price at 320 AED which equals 87~ dollars. About the handheld itself it looks like other ds lite's ive seen and the buttons feel like the limited edition (red) one my brother has, i checked the screw driver behind the near the cartridge slot and its a black screw like the red ds but its screen is kinda shifted to the right, its not centered and its serial code begins with USF.

Is it a fake ds or not? Are there other signs i should look out for to see if its a fake or not? ill post pictures of the box and the console in a second.

Thank you very much

Edit: Here are the pics:

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=bx4jd&s=5
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=9htf0h&s=5
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dm31x1&s=5 (It says not compatible with 3ds carts... Weird)
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=90yr06&s=5
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2k4jmw&s=5

To clarify something to inexperienced people most of the so called '' fake'' nintendo ds systems sold are NOT FAKE, they are REFURBISHED.

Yes there is a GIANT difference because REFURBISHED system are able to play retail nintendo ds games just fine on top of that they use an ORIGINAL NINTENDO motherboard. I know this because i repaired a great number of these systems and i know the difference between refurbished, brand new and ''fake''.

In fact the ''fake'' models will not even play nintendo ds games instead they play gba, gamecolor and other emulated games its just the design that looks similar to nintendo ds lites and UI.

To answer your question: nintendo ds lites are quite rare now, even if most stores have them which are not known large retail stores they are probably selling refurbished units.

I don't recall a royal gold color ever being released other than the zelda limited edition one in North America but i could be wrong.

If you want to really verify you would have to open up the back of your system and check the actual motherboard, another indication would be the battery too, most refurbished units have 3rd party batteries.

If your unit is really reburbished would it be all bad? There is nothing wrong with a refurbished unit in most cases, and they work just fine on top of that the specific color you got is kind of unique. The only thing i would worry about is the 3rd party battery if it is one, because those don't last as long as the original ones.

I would be cautious on opening the back of the system to check the motherboard though, as its somewhat easy to break off your power switch when putting the bottom back cover on again.

My guess is its probably refurbished, the serial number kind of gives it away and the whole box thing stating the 3ds part is even further evidence. You do realize these systems were released years before there were any 3ds games right? After seeing the pictures i am somewhat sure that if you unscrew the battery cover that you have a 3rd party battery.

so in a nutshell , yes i do believe you have a REFURBISHED nintendo ds lite system

NovaCast posted...

If your unit is really reburbished would it be all bad? There is nothing wrong with a refurbished unit in most cases, and they work just fine on top of that the specific color you got is kind of unique. The only thing i would worry about is the 3rd party battery if it is one, because those don't last as long

If i open up the battery case, how do i know if its a 3rd party one or original? I could compare the battery between the red ds lite and the golden one...

Thank you for the detailed answer :3

MMSMB posted...

NovaCast posted...

If your unit is really reburbished would it be all bad? There is nothing wrong with a refurbished unit in most cases, and they work just fine on top of that the specific color you got is kind of unique. The only thing i would worry about is the 3rd party battery if it is one, because those don't last as long

If i open up the battery case, how do i know if its a 3rd party one or original? I could compare the battery between the red ds lite and the golden one...

Thank you for the detailed answer :3

If you bought the other ds lite you have in a known retail then you can just compare the 2. The original ones will always have the nintendo logo on them and it will say 1000 mah.

Most 3rd party ones have something written like 1300mah-1800 even though its not really true since they usually last like 2 hrs less than the originals ones. Though I've seen some 3rd party batteries look almost identical to the original ones. I am sure if you compare your original ds lite red model you have with the current one you bought you will see a difference.

Like i said i never personally never heard of a ( official) plain gold color other than the limited edition zelda one. You can also do a drain test in the battery

Leave the unit on for a couple of hours then check it when the battery is red already. If it is truly new and using an original battery the battery should AT LEAST last you about 8 without using wifi ( on medium brightness).

I always do battery drain tests when i repair and sell a unit if it doesn't pass a 6 hr mark on medium brightness settings i trash the battery and test another one. You always want original batteries though they just always last longer and hold charges better.

Honestly i am sure yours is refurbished specially the place where you bought it from. The serial numbers are too large, and its missing the barcode every single ds models serial sticker has a barcode in it ( on top of the serial numbers)

At this point if you just check the battery it would be only for you to test it and see how long it lasts overall.

pretty sure its a fake, the DS Lite box does not look like that, the stylus should be parallel to the system and the wording "Nintendo DS Lite" should be on the left side of the box.