We often take the battery chargers for our portable gaming devices for granted.  The Nintendo NDS-002 is no exception.  The product has delivered consistent, reliable performance for the past two years and I feel it will work for years to come.  I decided to measure its power consumption figures and included them in this review for you.

The NDS-002 is made of a dark grey plastic and measures approximately 2"x 3/4" x 2".  To give you the maximum reach while gaming, the charger cord is 75 inches long.  The two prong, retractable power plug neatly swivels out of the dark grey plastic enclosure to make it easier while storing away for travel.  Since this wall adapter only has two plugs it does not have a ground so be sure to plug it into a surge protector like the APC P1T Surge Suppressor. 

Power Consumption
Using a Kill A Watt P4400 power meter, I measured the amount of power that the Nintendo DS Lite power adapter pulls.  To recharge a dead Li-ion battery to full capacity took 7.25 hours pulling a constant 2 watts.  The total Kwh used was .01. 

I wanted to see how much power I could pull with this charger so I found my favorite airplane game, Freedom Wings DS and turned up the sound to pull the most juice.  Using the Nintendo DS with the adapter plugged in I pulled a maximum of 3 watts.

Summary
The NDS-002 power adapter is only compatible with the Nintendo DS Lite.  The Nintendo DSi will not work with this power adapter because its power plug features a proprietary interface.  However, the lack of compatibility should not scare you away if you have a Nintendo DS.  In fact if you have one, stocking up on a spare is a good idea now that it is considered out of favor in the market place.

Recommended: Yes