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Nintendo DS System Configurations

You'll find thee variants of the Nintendo DS out in the wild, the original DS, the DS Lite, and the DSi. The gameplay capabilities of the three consoles are virtually identical. The DS Lite is slimmer and has brighter screens than the original DS.

Successor to the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS is Nintendo's latest handheld system. The company released the original Nintendo DS in the fall of 2004, and a redesigned version, the DS Lite, arrived in March of 2006. The third DS model update, the Nintendo DSi, will ship in Japan at the end of 2008 and worldwide in 2009.

How Do I Get Started?

So you've got a PSP now. And you've got video files on your PC in .avi, .wm, or some other format that won't run on your PSP. How do you convert your existing movie files into a format that will work on your PSP? Start by installing 3GP Converter--you can download it from this Japanese site. We also have a direct DLX download here. It's as easy as unzipping the file to any directory, but you'll also need Apple QuickTime installed to make it work. 3G Converter doesn't have a proper install program, but there is a setup program (setup.exe) that you'll need to run first.

Many gamers have very capable computers according to Valve's hardware survey. Not everyone has 3GHz CPUs paired with GeForce 7800 GTXs, but about 90 percent of all the computers surveyed have an Athlon XP, a Pentium 4, or better CPU. On the video card front, almost 65 percent had a video card made in the last three years.

Plasmas

With prices starting at about $1,500, owning a coveted plasma TV is within reach of most shoppers. Compare that to the $4,000 or so that you'll have to pay for a 42-inch flat-panel LCD, and you'll see why plasma continues to surge in popularity.

More than any other type of display technology, picture quality varies greatly between different makes of plasma, so be sure to read reviews before you plunk down your cash. Despite significant advances, plasma panels still can't quite replicate the deep blacks that tubes can. Otherwise, the best plasmas can produce nearly CRT-quality images, with excellent color and viewing angles. LCDs generally have higher resolution at similar screen sizes, however, which does affect visible detail with HD and computer sources.