I had the original, but the hinge broke, then it broke more, until the wires were bare, then it just collapsed over time, I have it somewhere still, in 2 pieces.
I'm on my second red DS Lite, the first one's hinge broke (Sounds familiar) over time, and now the second one has started to crack in the same place. I'm not overly rough with them like some people, just from general usage I guess. I have no plans to replace this one, if anything I'll just buy a new custom case for it and change it myself, or buy another Lite (Since the price is dropping all the time), no plans for a DSi, they have too much pointless stuff added to them it doesn't need.