Nintendo DSi XL gets ripped apart

Torn down to just its parts

29 March 2010 12:48 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The Nintendo DSi XL has undergone the usual teardown treatment at iFixIt to reveal giant sized electronics and a few surprises.

For those really interested, rather than just looking at pictures of cool stuff dismantled, Nintendo is again using a custom ARM CPU, which is virtually identically to the DSi.

Battery capacity is significantly greater than the DSi. The DSi uses an 840 mAh battery compared to the DSi XL's 1050 mAh battery. Given the internal similarity of the XL to the original DSi, the battery boost is most likely for those large screens.

Interestingly the DSi XL weighs in at 314 grams, about 45% more than its smaller DSi cousin (only 217 grams). A significant portion of the heft comes from the larger screens, and 4 grams comes from the added battery juice.

iFixit worries that the XL is "really on the outer limits of what people consider to be portable" especially for a hand-held game console.

Those looking for a "Supersize Me" inscription on the inside, will be disappointed. There weren't any found anywhere on the internals.

Read our Nintendo DSi XL games console review

Full tags

Gaming, Nintendo, Nintendo DSi XL, iFixit