I've been looking for the perfect stylus for my DS Lite for a few days now and I have come up with nothing. The stocks one is not only too narrow, which makes it uncomfortable during extended use, but it's also too short, which is a big problem. A number of companies have attempted to solve this by making larger items- but why pay for something that is not going to fit in the DS Lite's stylus holder?

My search for the perfect stylus has come up with a few contenders. Here are the top three so far:

1.  PDA Panache: It's all metal, it looks awesome, and it fits in the holder. Seems like a winner right? Check out that price tag- $15.95 for one. Add in shipping and you could have yourself a game. Plus, it is the standard length, which is still too short.
2. Brando 2-in-1: It's metal, though definitely not as solid as number 1, and uses an extendable design that I really like. Plus it doubles as  pen. It's $6 which is not bad, though you still need to pay for shipping
3. NDS Stylus Pencil: It's a stylus, that looks a little bit like a pencil, awesome. But it's $10 and does not fit in the DS.

Out of these I would probably choose the second one because it is the most practical and the cheapest, but I can't avoid the temptation of the shiny PDA Panache. I am still making my decision though, and I will probably end up getting the cheap plastic extendable ones available at the NYC Nintendo store. In the meantime I put together one that may just be the best, or at least the coolest DS stylus out there. It doesn't fit in the case, so by my own parameters it needs work, but it will do until I get something better.

My version is actually a stock DS Lite stylus cut down to the right size and placed in a Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto pen. I also put in a little bit of rubber from the grip from an old pen so that the stylus tip has a little bit of give. It ended up taking about 5 minutes to put together and it was free, which is always nice. I used an old stylus which, as any DS Lite user knows, starts to fall out of the holder when the little stopper ridge wears out. The extra size makes the stylus a lot more comfortable and the added width helps as well. I should be easy enough to do with any old pen body so long, though the Coleto definitely scores some extra points for style.