Weekend Review: TeknoCreations’ TekCase for the DSi
Remember back in the salad days of the Game Boy Color, when each and every accessory manufacturer had to release some sort of gimmicky battery-backup solution? Attachments like Nyko’s Shock n’ Rock—essentially a battery pack imbued with louder speakers that gave out haptic feedback whenever an explosion or something equally terse filled the soundscape—ruled the scenes and were much-appreciated by players tired of running out to grab extra AA batteries, or charge the (severely limited) NiCD batteries that were all the rage.
TeknoCreations’ almost-eponymous TekCase serves as a throwback to those days, featuring what is essentially a garden-variety polycarbonate case duct-taped to a battery pack. Though, in these days of easily-rechargeable Lithium batteries one may be forgiven for scoffing at the mere idea of sacrificing a bit of portability for extra battery life. Before getting ahead of myself, TeknoCreations promises on the box that the TekCase is “designed to extend game play by nearly 3 times longer while also protecting the exterior body of the DS Lite or DSi.”
At the risk of sounding like a total brat, I almost threw a fit whilst inspecting the packaging of the TekCase. Not only was it smothered within the confines of that damnable molded plastic packaging (you know the kind, that hard, clear packaging that takes ages to open with kitchen scissors, and manages to cut you in the process), but there was a lightning bolt with “3X” apparently tattooed to the TekCase. “Great,” I thought, “as if whipping out the DSi in public wasn’t embarrasing enough, now I have a lightning bolt that looks straight out of ‘Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers’ to hide and contend with now.” All my fears were dissuaded when I actually opened the packaging; the lightning bolt was nothing but a card inserted in front of the case; a little piece of marketing fluff to drive the point of extended battery life home.
The TekCase comes packaged alongside a standard Mini-USB cord (everyone who’s even slightly invested in consumer electronics for the past ten years probably has a million of these now), and a USB-to-AC wall plug, which I thought was very thoughtful.
After briefly digressing into the packaging and innards of the TekCase, I slipped in my DSi to the case, conveniently near discharge (let’s forget the Food Network-style smoke and mirrors for now–yes, I did charge the TekCase for eight hours as directed in the instruction leaflet), flipped the “on” switch and watched as the DSi’s charge indicator came on. I really can’t say anything at this point other than “it works,” but really, what else do you need to know? The TekCase is powered by an internal battery that hooks up to your DSi’s charge port, and unloads the juice into the unit at the flip of a switch. Charging the TekCase can be done simply by plugging in the aforementioned Mini USB cable; there’s a bit of neat trickery where, if you charge the TekCase with the DSi hooked up, it’ll charge the DSi, then the TekCase.
As I mentioned, the TekCase adds a bit of heft to the handheld (as well as the same sort of gloss it eschewed growing out of the DS Lite, which is kind of a bummer), but not too much as to totally ruin portability or ergonomics. There are indents for all the shoulder buttons, slots and switches; and there’s even a little flick switch that ejects the stylus upon operation. I’m not gonna lie, the TekCase will make your DSi a bit uglier (particularly if you went for that hot pink color variant — your mileage may vary, of course), but again, the added benefit of battery life may be a bigger deal for most of you out there.
The TekCase lasted me through a good two days of straight-up marathon gaming — we’re talking loser weekend here folks — so I’m really happy as aside from the initial charging phase, I didn’t even have to stop and think about charging the darn thing. For $30, I’d say it’s well worth the asking price if you actually need the extra battery life/protection, and don’t really mind the slightly-bulbous additions on your handheld.
The Verdict
| Overall |   |
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Apologies for the really poor quality on the photos, folks!
TekCase Gallery:
Boy Color, when
