Which should I buy: DS Lite or DSi?

Recently my DS Lite pretty much started breaking down. I didn't take very good care of it when I was little but I have had it for around 4 years. *Approximately? Anyway, I've had it for a VERY long time and eventually, through a combination of wear, tear, and age, it has pretty much puttered. Long story short, it's scratched, cracked, and the top screen will soon fall off. And now I feel it is time to buy a new one. Despite being 14 I still LOVE D.S. games and am loving Pokemon White. So I am going to buy a new system but it will need to be used because money's rather tight. Anyway, I looked into the DSi and thought that I should get it for the reason that it was new and improved and just better software because it's the newer model. I also thought it sounded cool because I believe, to connect to other DS gamers, you didn't need to be near each other. I believe you can just be in a Wi-Fi zone to be able to connect, i.e.: battle Pokemon etc... But as I read about the DSi I started to realize that it might not be as good as it seems. For one, the camera and the MP3 features don't apply as necessary to me. Another reason is that the battery is shortened by quite a few hours. Overall, I've realized that the DSi is almost overrated and not nearly as impressive as Nintendo makes it out to be. So, I'm just wondering if I should splurge another 20$ bucks for the newer model; the DSi? Or should I keep the 20 and go the old-fashioned way with the simple DS Lite? The big reason I'm nervous to purchase a DSi is this: I have heard that in many ways, the DS Lite is almost better than the DSi. I'm worried that I will spend an extra 20$ but really be getting scammed into buying somethings worse for something more. Please help me out here because I am having some difficulty deciding.