I was perplexed if I should, but now I’m definitely not going back, they require like 50% disassembly of the device to reach them haha

The reasoning is pretty simple, this kit comes with all the screws deck uses and more, so I was left with tons of extras :)

Nope, didn’t know about this mod actually, is it worth it?

Speaking of GBA, I’ve recently picked up this little guy in the same color! It can emulate anything up to PS1 including, well, GBA.

P.S. It’s called Miyoo Mini Plus but there is also a whole bunch of competitors in similar price range so picking one of them is a matter of personal choice

If surface feeling is your only concern, you may look into getting some trackpad stickers from aftermarket. I’ve had dbrand skin before this mod and it felt fine. There should be a bunch of variants with different textures on places like etsy. I mean redoing the trackpad covers seems like a huge pain in the ass.

It feels nice too! I’ve been afraid it’s some cheap plastic, and even if it is, feels nicer to touch than my dbrand skin I’ve been rocking for several months

Thanks! It’s a tough mod, but unlike others saying they regret the struggle, I don’t, it’s just so pretty!

I was not around when original consoles in this color were released, only found out about it recently and I’m obsessed! Already own two other things in atomic purple (8BitDo controller and Miyoo Mini Plus)

It requires full disassembly, and by full I mean full. Every component has to be unmounted and then remounted again because the front plate is the carrier of all other components. Official video guide I followed (with cuts and perfect execution) is 1.3 hours long.

People usually say it takes them 3+ hours, I took my time and was very careful, took little breaks, double checked everything and landed at around 5.2 hours. No regrets though!

I’ve considered getting joystick replacements too but decided against. They are not super hard to replace as they are immediately exposed after taking the back cover off, and while less durable can still last years upon years, none of controllers I used in my entire life ever developed stick drift.

Buttons meanwhile require to take out a lot of stuff, so be prepared and leave enough space on your desk for components. Good luck with mods!

I’ve basically just finished it an hour ago and only run a single game + input tests to make sure everything works, so I can’t vouch for anything longterm.

I decided to keep original trackpad covers because I gave up trying to lift the covers and got scared it may break if I apply even more heat / pressure. You have to place black adhesive under transparent covers anyway so it’s not a huge visual compromise. They don’t seem to rub on the chassis, at least so far. Otherwise I kept to the instructions and replaced everything.

Also grats on your mod too!

I disagree. I’m pursuing an engineering degree, most of my professors are boomers (In fact, no millennials apart from few Humanities classes) and they are very simple down to Earth people without any strictness my school teachers warned me about.

One thing I always talk about is how DE is much more important for new user than a distro. New users will only use GUI anyway so their choice of DE has to be the most comfortable.

Took me years personally to switch to Linux, trying stuff like Ubuntu or PopOS, and I couldn’t understand why it doesn’t “click” for me until I understood that I simply personally dislike Gnome (being an ex Windows user). Tried a KDE distro and it clicked immediately, never looked back. Now I don’t even use KDE but it helped me to get through initial frustration period.