One brilliant modder has made a Game Boy Advance SP for the end of time. Redditor u/Bangooh created a Franken-SP attached to a DeWalt XR FLEXVOLT power tool battery. Essentially, a retro handheld that could fit into a contractors tool box instead of a toy chest.
It’s ridiculous, rugged and based on commenter’s guestimates, should run continuously for approximately 17 days without interruption.
All of the internal components of the original GBA were preserved in this modification, except for the battery, obviously. In its place the modder used a buck converter that takes the 18 volt input from the DeWalt battery and drops it to about 4 volts which is what the original Gameboy Advance SP needed to operate. Due to the fact that the DeWalt battery has a rating of 162 watt hours, the runtime of this build is now in a completely new class compared to everything ever made for a handheld.
This build is limited only by your patience, wrist strength, or the inevitable heat death of the universe.
Bangooh painted the shell of the handheld the same industrial yellow and black colors that DeWalt uses on their products, and added a DeWalt logo that is so professionally applied that at first glance, the handheld appears to be a legitimate DeWalt product accessory. The massive drill battery serves as a base for the handheld, providing a sense of retro-industrial charm that is hard to ignore.
For those who need it spelled out, this is a one off mod and not commercially available. But, at a time when manufacturers of handheld gaming platforms are focusing on making sleeker designs and smaller form factors, this build dares to dream huge.
Source: Reddit via Yanko Design
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