Ooooookay! I got my new DS set up completely with all the hacking and lil extras done and done. Some things of note to dust off my brain:

It's now clear just why this system was priced so cheap. It arrived without the system being formatted and with the SD card still loaded with the original owner's pictures and videos dating all the way back from 2016- so for a console that old it's in very good condition all in all, especially since from the photographic evidence it had shared ownership between a teenager and a younger child. Likely the person listing it was the older of these two and was listed more for the purposes of making some quick cash, hence the oddly low price despite no major defects.

The thumbstick cover is gone and it didn't come with a stylus- both things that were noted in the listing and not surprises, I can replace both easily. It has the typical scuffs on the outer casing and hinge areas but no areas with cracks or stress marks indicating weakness in the casing and no scratches on either screen though there is one strange spot that appears to be a tiny cluster of dead pixels which isn't uncommon for a console this old and owned by the demographic it was.

Because there are no major issues with the casing I don't think I'll replace it- at least not right away- since I've already been looking in to matte metal covers because I hate the glossy feeling of the New 3DS's outer casing (I MUCH preferred the feeling of the 3DS XL's casing. Because any replacement casing would have that same glossy feeling and it can really only be solved with a cover, and there are no extreme issues with the cases as is, I can't justify replacing it right away. I know of places that sell just the outer shell pieces so if I wanted to make it pretty I could just get those.

Anyway, this is my first time interacting with the New model 3DS and honestly design-wise I think it blows compared to the original model. The SD card slot being locked away behind the casing and only accessible by removing screws is a hassle and is more of a feature I would expect from the 2DS as it was designed to be more geared toward young children and the ones you'd have to worry about getting at something delicate like that. The gloss is Gross and the placement of the stylus and cartridge slots is icky and off kilter for anyone who's ever used another model of DS. I do enjoy the placement of the power, select, start, and home buttons compared to the old models though the way the 3DS XL had their home, select and start row as proper buttons rather than a panel like the standard 3DS was still just fine and didn't necessarily need changing. Functionally, though, I can't argue with results. It's quite a bit faster than my 3DS XL was and it's capable of handling games that are a bit more beefy so I can even play PS1 games on it and that's Pretty Cool. All in all it's not an awful console by any means I just don't much care for the design changes to the console's exterior, and even then I'm sure I'll adapt and get used to everything that's a little funky.