Two weeks ago I traded in my old 2007 era 360 and taking advantage of the GS deal applied the credit towards a DSi XL. Previous to this I owned a Japanese imported DS Lite. Some notes:

• The device is not as big/nor as heavy as I thought. With that being said, for one handed holding one hand stylus playing, you do have to hold it differently so you can support it better with one hand.
  
• It sounds fantastic! I'm not sure if the better sound is new to the XL or available on the DSi as well but it's great!
  
• The screens are huge! At first look they don't seem that big however once lined up with the DS it is a big difference. Plus I no longer get eye strain with long play time. Also, the bigger screen does not stretch or distort the games. They look better too. Also has better (and wider) viewing angles. I guess this is better for people who look over your shoulder as you play
  
• The touchscreen is better. It is very responsive. I can use my fingers pretty precisely when using the touchscreen. I could not do with this with my lite. Plus there was sometimes a delay (which made competitive Planet Puzzle League difficult)

I mainly decided to get this instead of waiting on the 3DS for two reasons. a)I rarely play on the go and I do play for longer periods of time. A bigger screen is a huge draw. b)I'm one of the 10% of people that cannot see 3D images so the 3DS is pretty much useless for me.

I took this out with me on Friday (it is perfectly purse sized) to play while waiting in line for Kick Ass. When I busted it out a small crowd formed to ooo and aaaah. It really does look great in person. I recommend the bronze over the burgundy. Now onto pics!






















The bigger stylus that it comes with it does not fit inside the XL, it is carried separately. They did include a stylus that is carried in the XL itself (like the other ds's) but it's only slightly longer then the previous stylus versions.

I've been thinking of getting a dsixl as well. That screen looks huge! I dont plan on getting rid of my ds lite though. That will be used for gba games

You're obviously overcompensating for something.

Size matters not.

The Xl could Nom the regular DSI

You know, I thought it would be bigger.

DSiWare it up now.

Art Style Series (all of 'em)
Aura-Aura Climber
Dark Void Zero
Escapee GO!
Pinball Pulse
Mighty Flip Champs
Mr. Driller: Drill till you Drop
Spotto!
Trajecticle

This is what I've got right now I could recommend at least looking into.

so is it true that the picture is essentially stretched for games and makes them look slightly blurry?

As awesome as those sound I refuse to support DSiWare until Nintendo has a method for allowing the games to be moved to another device. I don't want to be out money when I upgrade again because the games can't be moved over.

I think Nintendo made a mistake in letting the 3DS news leak so close to this launch. I was pretty much set to upgrade my DS Lite to a DSi XL and decided to hold off. If I see one at some crazy price, I might still grab one, but otherwise I'll just wait for the next generation. Those pics do make it look pretty sweet though. If I could swap mine out for $50 or so, I'd probably do it.

If you decide to get DSiWare I would also add Mario vs Donkey Kong, AlphaBounce and Glow Artisan to this list of titles I really enjoyed.

squidget, you said it's a good size for your purse? Do you carry a huge or medium-sized bag? Portability is the key to whether I'm going to purchase one. I don't carry my DS in my pocket or anything, but it needs to fit in my purse.

And about the weight. I've seen opinions that state it's heavy when played on for awhile and they rest it on a surface at home. I'm not looking for that at all. I want to play like I do with my DS, always in my hand, sometimes laying back on a pillow.

It's so frustrating that I haven't found a demo systen anywhere to see it myself and compare.

I got it from GS and they had a burgundy one that they let me play with first.

I guess my purse is medium size? I consider it small. here's a pic. Note the rubber ducky and scissors for scale.


I keep it in the front pocket there.
I actually do not rest it on the table when I play. I usually hold it. Because of the size I use the the whole back of my right hand to hold it when I'm playing professor layton. For Mario Kart there are no problems because I have it in both hands for dpad/button play.
If I'm playing for over 1.5 hours sometimes I prompt it up in my lap (sitting on couch, knees up) or rest on pillow. The screen is so much larger then the DS that you do not need to have it as close to you when you play.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post this picture, it's very helpful.

Yeah, I'd consider that purse on the small size and the XL would fit all of the purses I own. And it sounds like it small enough to be comfortable with long hours of play...perhaps even more since the Lite is really too small to sit on your lap to play.