DS Phat from china

:(Hey peeps,I got a DS phat for my daughter from ebay, (hong kong) it arrived in good time, but felt cheap. I have charged it a couple of timles, but it only holds the charge for around an hour....I asked the seller to send me a new one and it is the same.I have just ordered a new euro charger, as the one with it was a flat pin USA/JPN one.Does anyone have any feedback other than "don't buy crap from hong kong"????cheers guys

DSs are region free for games, however it's different for charging. Usually USA DS's have 110v, and other region DSs have different battery capacities meaning you shouldn't charge them with any charger, see the NDS box manual for the volt number. However since yours charges, I assume it's because you're using a different region, or that the person wore out the battery (used it nearly to it's will) since the lithium batteries don't last forever. See your manual for the statistics of how long a new battery will last if you want.

The thing is new, We only started playing on it recently as I bought it in advance my daughters B-day which was earlier this month.I'll check the instructions for the region thing.If my DS is 110v and I change the charger do you think it will blow it up being pluged into a french 220v line with a 220v charger????
Is it the battery or the DS that is region specifique????The original charger does make a buzzing noise when I plug it in, that maybe the reason.... too much juice for the charger...

No a buzz from a charger is normalIf you put a 110v charger into 220v - there would have been a very large bang!You should get about 4 - 5 hrs out of a Phat, if the unit charges (orange light comes on) then goes off when fully charged it is not the charger.Try a replacement battery - remember cheap batteries from Hong Kong rarely last long, better to get one locally so you can return it if it fails.So new battery, fully charged with an original game (not a flash cart) should last 4-5 hours.

lol for the bang comment. my euro charger makes no noticable noise.The thing charges fine (orange lite and all) but I tested it with animal crossing on a DSTT and I got just over 1 hour.The first battery in it had chineese writing on it, the guy sent me a replacement over coz I moaned a lot over email acusing him of fraud etc etc.... and the new one is the same, except there is no chineese writing on it.If the charger doesn't change anything then I'll try a new battery, do you know anywhere to get good quality spare parts for DS and DS phats??? (I have both)

It's the battery and it's compatibility with other chargers according to the number of volts.

OK, update,I got another battery from the internet, new in a sealed plastic wrap package. (third battery tried).It still only lasts for around 1h 30.I was wondering if there is any way that it could be the console itself drawing too much juice....
Maybe a short circuit somewhere....I am not scared of getting into the thing for tweaks and repairs.If anyone has any hints tips or sites, jot them down.........

post the mAh rating of the battery.

It's an old DS so automaticaly it's 850mAh, I saw some 800's floating around on the net but I bought the 850...I am using a DSTT with it, with animal crossing, sound at a normal level and brightness at full. But it should still last longer than 2h, the battery is BRAND NEW...I am waiting for a DS lite to come in the post, but I would like to muck around with the Phat to understand them better..

The brightness doesn't make that much of a difference to the battery life when fully charged.