it was not the backlight that did it, it is the intense drain the both lynx I and II have. anything that will drain 6 AA's in 2-4 hours can do that to any battery. you need to give the batteries a break after an hour. 90% of the batteries are fine, it's that 10% of them that it can happen to. i had an old game boy I do that, i was plying for like 2.5 hours, and "POP" it scared the hell out of me. i pulled out the batteries, and one was sizzling. but it happened only once,and it did not hurt the G.B. i've never had it happen in either of my lynxs.
don't let that change your view of the lynxI i like it better, i have both of them, and i like the lynxI better, i think it looks cooler, it's about an inch longer, but thinner than the lynxII so to me it is more comfortable to hold. and the volume can but turned up higher too.