Need Advice on Screen/Battery-Modded GBA

[Webhead123 | 678]

For those with experience with the IPS V2 screen mods and USB-C rechargeable battery mods on the classic GBA, can anyone recommend a reliable builder/seller for a pre-built unit?

I know there's fair reason for buying the components and tackling the mods myself. However, I'd honestly be willing to pay a bit extra to just buy a pre-built GBA instead (yeah, call me lazy). As for folks selling pre-builts though, I have heard that not all are created equal, so that's why I'm wondering if anyone has found any particularly quality/trustworthy sellers to make sure I'm getting something worth my money.

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Tanooki | 4,936]

I don't know who to trust.  I trust two vendors in parts, but they don't sell them finished.  GBA is slightly more tricky than either of the SP models but the end result is pretty solid.

If you have no luck, maybe I could do one, depending what all you're after.

I would strongly discourage the USB-C route though.  You're killing a big great feature that way, the ability to use off the rack batteries.  OEM stuff is only good until it can't charge anymore, and i wouldn't expect to find replacements in a few years from now for that unless someone keeps pumping out more stuff, revised stuff.  Nintendo though, we're over a decade out on the GBA SP and people still make batteries on those as they're original.  If you want the ability to have a battery to charge up, just get re-usable batteries instead.

[Webhead123 | 678]

That's a good point, Tanooki, and I didn't really stop to consider it from that angle. I'll probably leave the battery solution alone and just go for a screen replacement then. Appreciate the feedback.

[Tanooki | 4,936]

3 hours ago, Webhead123 said:

That's a good point, Tanooki, and I didn't really stop to consider it from that angle. I'll probably leave the battery solution alone and just go for a screen replacement then. Appreciate the feedback.

No problem.  Last year I started working on doing them before the USB-C solutions started to appear, there were batteries and much the same they just needed removal.  Now you just cut a hole in the handheld and run the usb-c cable into it.  But the problem is they're all custom, and once they fizzle they're not designed to be carved up easily to put a new cell in it unlike old stuff that's easy to chip or unscrew open and throw new within (popular with the old GB and Game Gear brick batteries with NIMH and lithium ion choices too.)

My suggestion find a beat to crap GBA cheap and do it yourself.  All you need really is a soldering iron(maybe) but at the least a dust removing method(wipe, canned air) and some plastic snips or a dremel to mod the shell interior a little.

This is basically all you need.  Drop in IPS, no solder needed.  Scroll below the images, the steps there are so easy, and the images do show what it's talking about.  You could finish it in like 30minutes, hour tops if you're paranoid and really really take it slow.  It would set you back maybe $15 on a shell, $5 on glass, $60 on the kit.

https://retrogamerepairshop.com/products/gba-game-boy-advance-drop-in-ips-backlight-mod-kit?variant=37988813570220

 

Just a heads up there are other no solder unless you want kits.  They do have optional contacts to run around 4-5 wires to spots on the motherboard to use optional image controls using button combos, which are entirely unneeded but still in the old GBA would need the same shell trimming.