*Review*Afterburner - Gameboy Advance lighting kit (KITS ARRIVING NOW)!

Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

hddy

Member
Dec 7, 2001
142
0
0
i just bought a gba and i compared it to my friend's gba which has a aftreburner installed and it makes a HUGE difference. once u play a gba w/ a afterburner installed and then go back to a normal gba it's like night and day literally! nintendo should should consider installing these.
 

RAQemUP

Junior Member
Jun 12, 2002
20
0
0
I had 3 games when I first got my GBA then shelved it away, then I got the Afterburner kit and installed it (I pre-ordered one the first day of preordering and thought it was a terrific idea back then even anything would improve the current lighting problem I thought) I have had it for 3 weeks installed and since I have bought 6 games since. It's near impossible for me to put the Afterburner GBA down now. It's amazing how big the difference is with it in cause now I can comfortably play it anywhere I want, no bull, and not just when I am on the crapper.

As far as how the installation went, I have never soldered anything in my life and was a bit nervous, but my install went pretty much flawless. Took me 2 hours to install the Afterburner right. The one exception was that I made a hole on the side of my GBA with a xacto knife (very easy to do surprisingly) for the dimmer switch but I accidentally used too much super glue, so its now impossible to turn. Have to order another dimmer switch from TritonLabs when they allow buying of spare parts. I didn't get any dust in my GBA at all, the applying of the AR film was the easiest part just be sure to NOT put it on slowly. The extra things I bought not included in the installation was a 15 watt solder iron from Radio shack $8, the metal thing to be able to solder the wires to GBA motherboard, can of condensed air (to blow any dust off the GBA with extreme ease), weak brand scotch tape (to help remove any dust that the can wont blow off or in case you smudged the afterburner with your finger.......the ONLY possible way to remove a smudge off the Afterburner is by putting the scotch tape against smudge and lifting repeatedly.......if you dare to try to wipe off a smudge with cloth of any type including lint free.......then you are screwed), and some powderless surgical gloves which you can get for free from any nice person who works in a hospital or latex gloves from grocers (so you you dont have a chance in smudging the Afterburner.

Excuse me if I this reads badly as I just jotted down what popped into my head. heh

Overall the Afterburner is worth every penny.
 

iamme

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
21,058
3
0
any of you guys send your GBA to PM.net for an Afterburner install?

I sent mine more than a week ago, and haven't heard a peep from the guy. I emailed once asking how things are going, and he replies, "going fine" :( SO I reply asking when the ETA for my GBA is, and I haven't gotten a reply......
 

iamme

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
21,058
3
0
Originally posted by: iamme
any of you guys send your GBA to PM.net for an Afterburner install?

I sent mine more than a week ago, and haven't heard a peep from the guy. I emailed once asking how things are going, and he replies, "going fine" :( SO I reply asking when the ETA for my GBA is, and I haven't gotten a reply......

Anyone?

I've emailed to james@portablemonopoly.net and support@portablemonopoly.net with no response. Anyone have an email of someone else?

I just want my GBA back :(
 

dude

Diamond Member
Oct 16, 1999
3,192
0
71
It's kinda expensive for a few simple parts but I guess the instructions prevent you from screwing up from experimenting...

 

iamme

Lifer
Jul 21, 2001
21,058
3
0
For anyone considering PortableMonopoly.NET Afterburner install

I bought a AB kit as soon as I heard it was released. Then I saw PM.NET and saw they were doing "pro" installs w/ a 1 year warranty. I was stoked, so I cancelled my AB kit order and ordered w/ PM.NET. Time passed and I sent my GBA in when I got my email from them. On their website it says, "We will have your GBA back to you within a week of it arriving here." I estimated that my GBA took, at most, 3 days to get there, and I emailed him 4 days later. I asked how things are going with the installation. A day later, I get a one line email saying, "It's going fine". I was a little turned off by the dismissal tone, but I was like, "I'll just wait the rest of the week, and I should have my GBA back".
I waited until the week had passed, and still no GBA in my mailbox, so I emailed him again, asking for an estimate on when I would get my GBA back. No response. I emailed him again 3 days later, asking if my GBA's been shipped yet. No response. Another 2 days later, I email him asking again, if he could let me know if my GBA's been shipped. No response. By now, I'm getting a wee bit annoyed and worried. I find this forum and searching for PM.NET reviews and experiences. Not many, but lots of drama (to say the least) leading up to the release of the AB. I do a search for PM.NET, as a member search and find that he's posted here several times (promoting his service), during the time I've emailed him. SO, I email him AGAIN, saying that I've emailed several times without a reply from him. FINALLY I get this reply from him:

"Look, if everyone that sent me a GBA to install a fronlight in emailed me every other day all I'd do is respond to emails and I'd never install anything.

Stop bugging me so I can install the frontlight in your GBA"

:| :| :| :| :| :| :|

Nice customer service. All I wanted was an explanation or a estimated date of when he'd be done. He could have said, "I'm very very busy. There are 10 GBA's ahead of you, and each one takes me 1 day." I would have been satisfied. Heck, he could have said, "I'm being a lazy-ass so, I'll get to your GBA in 3 days." I would have been satisfied. Well, he's got my GBA, so I'm pretty much helpless. :(

Just wanted to share my experiences with everyone else.
 

Danman

Lifer
Nov 9, 1999
13,134
0
0
Originally posted by: iamme
For anyone considering PortableMonopoly.NET Afterburner install

I bought a AB kit as soon as I heard it was released. Then I saw PM.NET and saw they were doing "pro" installs w/ a 1 year warranty. I was stoked, so I cancelled my AB kit order and ordered w/ PM.NET. Time passed and I sent my GBA in when I got my email from them. On their website it says, "We will have your GBA back to you within a week of it arriving here." I estimated that my GBA took, at most, 3 days to get there, and I emailed him 4 days later. I asked how things are going with the installation. A day later, I get a one line email saying, "It's going fine". I was a little turned off by the dismissal tone, but I was like, "I'll just wait the rest of the week, and I should have my GBA back".
I waited until the week had passed, and still no GBA in my mailbox, so I emailed him again, asking for an estimate on when I would get my GBA back. No response. I emailed him again 3 days later, asking if my GBA's been shipped yet. No response. Another 2 days later, I email him asking again, if he could let me know if my GBA's been shipped. No response. By now, I'm getting a wee bit annoyed and worried. I find this forum and searching for PM.NET reviews and experiences. Not many, but lots of drama (to say the least) leading up to the release of the AB. I do a search for PM.NET, as a member search and find that he's posted here several times (promoting his service), during the time I've emailed him. SO, I email him AGAIN, saying that I've emailed several times without a reply from him. FINALLY I get this reply from him:

"Look, if everyone that sent me a GBA to install a fronlight in emailed me every other day all I'd do is respond to emails and I'd never install anything.

Stop bugging me so I can install the frontlight in your GBA"

:| :| :| :| :| :| :|

Nice customer service. All I wanted was an explanation or a estimated date of when he'd be done. He could have said, "I'm very very busy. There are 10 GBA's ahead of you, and each one takes me 1 day." I would have been satisfied. Heck, he could have said, "I'm being a lazy-ass so, I'll get to your GBA in 3 days." I would have been satisfied. Well, he's got my GBA, so I'm pretty much helpless. :(

Just wanted to share my experiences with everyone else.


Ewwwww......that sucks man. I sold my GBA for that main reason, lighting! IT SUCKED! :(

 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
I got mine done tonight. I had to order more reflactive film (I recommend you buy a couple when you order your kit...you'll need them). It's very hard to keep dust off the LCD screen when applying the film. After the third try, I got it down. The soldiering is pretty easy...and I've never soldiered ANYTHING before :) It worked as soon as I put it back together though (I was impressed!) Now all my friends think I'm some sort of mad super genius or something :D