Nintendo DS Lite... or pay extra for DSi??

[Pia]

I'm trying to plan ahead a little for Christmas, since my baby is due a few weeks earlier, i usually leave it all as late as possible!

Basically, my son is 6. Last year i got him a V Smile Cyber http://www.vtechuk.com/products-and-...scooby-doo-le/ which tbh he's not played with much. It's quite 'young' in it's controls and the games focus on sums/spelling which is why i bought it, but he gets bored as the games don't have much scope, he gets bored of them after half an hour.

We had a Wii but i've split with ex who took it with him, son loved it though. I'd get another Wii but it's just too expensive, i'd be looking at at least £300 for the console and a few decent games/steering wheels etc (he loves Mario Kart).

So i'm thinking of getting him a DS, with Mario Kart and Sonic type games.

For a DS Lite i'm looking at about £100. For DSi it's minimum £150 by the looks of things. (that's before any games, although the Lite usually comes with one).

I don't usually spend too much at Xmas, about £100 - £130-ish, so either way i'll be spending more than usual, along with a few other bits i'll get him.

I just don't know if i should bother paying the extra for the DSi?? I have a few months to save the difference, and don't want to buy a Lite if i'll end up wishing i paid the extra. Then the higher the price gets the more i wonder if i should just go all out and buy another Wii, although i might look at 2nd hand!!

The dilemmas....! Any advice?

[dilli-theclaw]

The only reason I upgraded to the dsi for my son was as he broke his ds.

Ok so it's got some extra features on it but it's not like he uses them all the time.

---------- Post added at 18:13 ---------- Previous post was at 18:12 ----------

What I'm trying to say, badly , is that I don't think it's worth the extras

---------- Post added at 18:21 ---------- Previous post was at 18:13 ----------

Another thought, if you're low on funds don't forget the ds can play game boy advance games while the dsi can't.

You will likely to pick up cheaper game boy advance games on ebay amd the like.

[Halcyon]

While there isnt much in it between the two, I'd go for the newer one as you just know with kids that they end up comparing and if you have the older model whilst his mates have the newer one, it won't be cool or make them happy.

[Pia]

thanks Thomas, good point about the GBA games....

Have they both got cameras, can you actually take pictures?? He's obsessed with taking pics on my phone so he'd like that.

only the dsi has a camera

[SnoopZ]

If you save enough i'd go for a DSi, which you can pick up for £149 with free game and accessory pack from game.co.uk, although it is still alot of money compared to a DS that you can get for £90 with free game too.

hmmmz i guess it's whether he would notice or not and whether his friends have a DSi.

[Pia]

Yeah, i'm not too bothered about what his mates have tbh, his school is in another area so although they tell him stuff, he doesn't see it much to be overly bothered. I'm sure that will all change in the next few years though, that's why i've always tried to be relatively sensible at Christmas.

He wants a new bike, but he's got 2 that still 'fit' him, he only wants another cos he wants gears so that can be 2010 Xmas sorted