Lynx upgrades...

I don't know how many of you own an Atari Lynx, but if you don't, why not? :)

They are great little portables, lots of fun to fool around with. There's some

really cool upgrades for it and I've been (slowly) working on mine.

First, I got Retro HQ's cool SD card. It basically allows you to load the ROMs

from nearly every single Lynx game out there onto the SD card and run them

from a menu - no more switching carts!

Second, I installed the USB power mod. Basically, you remove one of the 2 clips

on the back of the Lynx (which I've never seen anything use) and mount a small

micro-USB port header there. No more batteries! (unless you want to). It does

bypass the regular Lynx on/off buttons though so I added a cable that has a

switch on it.

Last, I installed the BennVenn LCD replacement mod. It replaces that old fuzzy

Lynx screen with a gorgeous new screen. I'm telling you, my Lynx games have

never looked so good!

Here are a few screenshots of what I did today:

Work site - danger, construction ahead! :)

Inside the Lynx - view of the USB power mod header:

Backside of the Lynx - original clip on the left, the USB header on the right. You can clearly see the Allen head bolt where I

drilled it to mount the header:

Another view:

Here you can see the USB cable with an on/off switch, attached to the Lynx:

Here's the old LCD:

And here's the BennVenn replacement, already in place:

Gates of Zendocon, before the screen replacement:

And after the screen replacement (and the screenshot still doesn't do it justice):

Oh, here's a shot of the Retro HQ SD cart, stuffed full of juicy games (sorry for the picture quality):

So overall I'm really pleased with these upgrades. They've greatly transformed the Lynx and the way I use it.

I did notice a possible problem with my directional key (Right, Left, Up and Down). The Down key seems to be acting up (not responding), so I might have to take it apart and see what's going on there.

That's a job for another day though - onward "Eye Of The Beholder"! 😀