The Switch and Console Durability

[scotland]

I am old enough to remember many forms of music media, including vinyl. A fairly cheap media, it was neither portable nor all that durable, and it was read only. Mag tape, most especially in cassettes, was better in many ways, but careful on leaving them in your car on a hot summer day, and over time they stretched. And so forth.

We have seen this with consoles too. The first generation Pong consoles were built pretty well, and I have many that play as well now as they ever did. Same for my Atar 2600 and its carts. Some consoles, like the NES, had design issues, but it was not due to the media necessarily. Over time, consoles put in moving parts for hard drives and optical drives, as well as having issues with disappating heat sufficiently.

Nintendo portables are pretty sturdy, but have issues too. For instance, a drop is not a drop of a controller but the entire console. Scratch the screen and its pretty permanent. Even cosmetic scratches are an issue with portables, because they are portable.

So is a console that goes back to no drives but includes the risk of scratches and drops better, worse, or just an even trade for durability?

[Rookie1]

These portables have come a long way. The new gorilla glass (which I would assume they are using) is pretty much indestructible. My $15 virgin mobile pay-as-you-go phone has it, and its scratch and break proof. I am pretty rough with it, and the screen still looks brand new. Drops have come a long way too. My sons tablet has been dropped a few times and it is still ticking. Of course there is a larger risk of drops, but I would assume its no greater than any other portable out there. If I had to guess, I would assume Nintendo will be selling some sort of protective case for these things with a 10000% markup. and I bet Nintendo comes up with some sort of insurance program for it as well.

Gotta make that $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

[scotland]

I touched on heat, but I guess thats an issue too. Even actively cooled consoles have heat based problems, so a portable trying to up its game as a console on the go might too.

I have lost a few Nintendo portables to drops, but yes, an Otter box or something really helps. However, a big rubber case is an insulator, so the heat issue is there.

Gorilla glass still scratches (check with women whose phones and keys often make contact in their purses) but yes, its much better.

[Rookie1]

I touched on heat, but I guess thats an issue too. Even actively cooled consoles have heat based problems, so a portable trying to up its game as a console on the go might too.

I have lost a few Nintendo portables to drops, but yes, an Otter box or something really helps. However, a big rubber case is an insulator, so the heat issue is there.

Gorilla glass still scratches (check with women whose phones and keys often make contact in their purses) but yes, its much better.

I am curious about heat as well. My sons tablet gets hot, as does my phone. I dont know the specifics of these things these days, so I am not sure how they overcome the issue. Ipads always have big bulky cases on them, and they seem to work fine?

As for scratches, you can still get deep scratches, but those minor scuffs that would kill a screen are things of the past. I remember my GameGear had so many scuffs from me wiping the screen off that it was hard to play games on it after a while.