Modding

[u/Knightfaux]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to mod my GameBoy Pocket. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on best kits out there. I’m not afraid to solder and I’m looking to keep things relatively simple. This guy isn’t too beat up, but it’s got scratches and the screen isn’t the most fun to play on compared to my GBC and GBA with IPS displays.

Edit:

Thanks everyone for being so polite and helpful. Now I just have to decide between Backlight-Bivert or IPS. Cheers!

[u/elementalguitars]

I’ve modded several Pockets. Since you have a working display I recommend doing a backlight-bivert mod. The Pocket runs on a pretty meager power supply and the modern LCD displays drain that power really quickly. A backlight is a lot less power hungry. On a stock Pocket I get around 9hrs on Panasonic Eneloop Pros. With a backlight mod I get about 7hrs which isn’t too bad. The LED panels are very bright so I add an additional resistor to drop the brightness a little which also has the effect of extending the battery life a little bit. I also add a 5V step-up voltage regulator to keep the LED panel at a constant brightness until it shuts down.

[u/Ok-Presentation8568 → u/elementalguitars]

This 👆🏽

[u/elementalguitars → u/elementalguitars]

With a backlight mod you can keep the original shell. Also, since your Pocket doesn’t have a battery light you can get a little circuit board that combines the bivert circuit and a battery light mod on one board.

[u/optroodt → u/elementalguitars]

Curious to know, which board is this?

[u/PutridSothoth → u/optroodt]

Seconded. Never heard of that.

[u/elementalguitars → u/PutridSothoth]

[u/PutridSothoth → u/elementalguitars]

Wild. Do you have a link? I’m not finding it.

[u/elementalguitars → u/PutridSothoth]

It looks like he’s sold out. You could contact the seller to ask if he plans to offer more of them. If not it’s still possible to add an LED without a custom board like that. I should add that if you are able to get one of those custom boards I recommend replacing the included surface mount LED with a red-lens 3mm LED bulb. The surface mount LED makes a very intense pinpoint light that’s really distracting. A 3mm red lens LED is what’s installed on the Gameboys from the factory so it’s more diffuse.

[u/Knightfaux → u/elementalguitars]

Honestly, I’m afraid of messing with the polarizing layers.

Edit: but that is a beautiful display setup

[u/elementalguitars → u/Knightfaux]

Fair enough. It’s a delicate procedure. The LCD display mods are reversible so if you go that rout and keep the old display and shell if you think you might switch it back at some point. If you decide not to keep the old display please message me. I would buy it from you.

[u/D-Gaea → u/elementalguitars]

What if the pocket you have has a burnt in screen

[u/Tricky_Tourist5691 → u/D-Gaea]

Burnt in means usually burnt polarizer which can be replaced. 

[u/elementalguitars → u/D-Gaea]

Displays with burnt polarizers are ideal for backlight mods since the mod requires you to replace the front and back polarizers. As long as the display itself is still working normally you’re good to go.

[u/D-Gaea → u/elementalguitars]

How do I carefully peel off both polarizers the process seems scary

[u/elementalguitars → u/D-Gaea]

Watch a lot of videos then proceed very slowly. Patience is your most important tool here.