The original GBA ran on AA batteries so it had a normal battery cover. It wasn't that odd a change really, it was when they switched to lithium-ion rechargable batteries. They're only really meant to be changed as a replacement for a worn out battery.

I was enthusiastic about the 3DS. I'm not so much anymore. Reasons for that:

1. steep price (but i guess it's only fair for a brand-new technology)
2. huge amount of 3D remakes. I want original games
3. battery life. I'll stick to my classic DS for that, especially in plane trips
4. seems that the 3DS will be zoned, so if you have an european one, you can kiss goodbye to your import games

I'm still excited for the 3DS and even though there's a bunch of remakes coming for it, there's still going to be originals like the new Kid Icarus game. I am looking forward to the Ocarina of Time since I never got to complete the N64 version (I stopped at the very last dungeon). The only concerns I have are the price tag and the battery life but I usually play handheld games at home.

I had to replace a broken DS Lite recently and I bought another DS Lite:
1) No DRM
2) GBA slot
3) Cheaper

on the downside, they don't support WPA/WPA2 wifi encryption.

I've kind of wondered if I could set my Android phone up as a bridge. But yeah, it bugs me too, WEP is old and no one runs it (for good reason, it's insecure), most people still don't configure their routers, but they all come with WPA and a default password.

How does the 3DS have DRM any more than the DS? The DS uses proprietary media and I'm pretty sure only signed stuff will run (I assume the same will be true for the 3DS). Just because the DRM on the DS was completely broken a few years ago doesn't mean it doesn't have any. ;P

Totally agree with you on 2 and 3 though.

But then again... the Lylat Wars remake is looking at me...

Nope, stereoblind.

This.

Right, gotcha. Although... it'll only be region locking on 3DS games. Either will play DS games from anywhere, but only a 3DS will play 3DS games. Still sucks, though I'm sure it'll be cracked before long. The Homebrew Channel on the Wii is a wondrous thing.
If you don't mind me asking, is it because of monocular vision or is there another reason you don't have depth perception?

Hell if i know, it's a gene thing inherited from my father, one eye wants to, the other eye doesn't care. I used to have something with "lazy eye" thing, which was fixed with a few lasers, prisms and some annoying thing using light [they use a tool to flash light in Your eye, then let You watch colorful spots on the walls. In the end, i've regained a sh..load of vision in my right eye [basically one eye sees all on Snellen chart, the other sometimes sees most, sometimes up to 5 rows;P]. So i have hyperopia and myopia, depending on the eye. Kinda cool. ;P
I don't use glasses for almost 10 years, but i still don't see 3d. When i'm tired my eye likes to jump a bit. And in those annoying 3d glasses i see a purple screen with a green blur somewhere in the middle. Meh.;>

[edit:] Playing volleyball and basketball sucks ass with this. Soccer is fine, because the ball is usually on the ground.