Review Ewin2 Lite Mini-Review

TheSpade · Jan 6, 2007

Please see the post below for the review

Sinkhead · Dec 19, 2007

Ewin2 Lite Mini-Review
by TheSpade
Supplied by: CheapMod
Homepage: http://www.ewin2.net/

Simple box..simple product.
Inside the box, you'll find the following:
Ewin2 Lite

There have been plenty of well-known and established flash card manufacturers pumping out revision after revision of their hardware to best suit DS Lite owners desiring that cosmetic invisibility when in use. Even the lesser-known flash cards are following suit. We have before us, the Ewin2 Lite. While it was a late arrival into the Slot-2 marketplace, they did come out with a surprisingly good product with their previous models. Is this genuine DS Lite version able to yank the dollars out of your wallet, or would it be wise to stick with the kings of the industry? Let's have a look.

The micro-SD slot is in the right place.
NOTE: Since this is nothing more than a hardware revision versus previous Ewin2 models, the review will focus solely on the costmetic changes rather than the sum of the product. In order to better familiarize yourself with the Ewin2 product line, please read Darkforce's Ewin2 Review here at GBATemp. I could find no differences in its use of software, ROMs, homebrew, etc. that isn't already mentioned by Darkforce.

Upon immediate inspection, the Ewin2 Lite's casing seems to bear the same dimensions as the Nintendo GBA Slot Cover. However, as we insert it into the DS Lite, simply observation reveals that the casing sticks out a millimeter or two. For once, I'm glad the sample showed up in a different color than my white DS Lite in order to demonstrate this. The memory clicks in securly and and is just as simple to remove. Unlike most slot-2 DS-Lite flash cards, the micro-SD slot is conveniently located at the bottom. I say convenient, because the Ewin2 Lite is extremely tough to get out of the slot. It makes the M3 Lite seem like it is loobed. The end plate of the cover is not as long as the standard cover or other flash cards of this type, so you might find yourself grabbing something to help get it out, a butter knife for example, or finding someone who has very tough fingernails. As long as you plan on making this the only slot-2 flash card that you will ever use, you will be just fine.

Don't ever do this to yours!
Looking at the guts of the Ewin2 Lite, you can see that this is not something an amateur would want to take apart. The micro-SD bay is seperate from the main board which is connected via a ribbon cable. It was a bit tasking to reassemble, as I had to put a decent amount of strength on one side in order to close the casing properly. Since it is only sold with a single casing available in white, black, ice blue and pink, this is a moot issue. At least the screw doesn't strip easily. Still, to those who would buy it, resist the urge of grabbing the screwdriver and tearing this apart. There's no point in doing so. Buildwise, it could have used a bit more refinement. Just don't take it apart, and you will be fine.

If your casing is to mimic the original cover, then please put forth a little more effort.
As Darkforce stated in his review, older PassCard 3 and Superkey models won't boot this flash card. The newer revisions supposively will, but I don't have those handy to personally verify these claims. I tested the NinjaPass X9 and M3 DS Simply, and both of these slot-1 flash cards will boot the Ewin2 Lite just fine. I also found that my 1GB Kingston would not work with the Ewin2 Lite at all, no matter how I formatted it, but luckily, my 512MB Sandisk worked just fine (FAT16, 16k cluster format). The Ewin2 website states that it can handle up to 1GB of memory, but it seems even some 1GB are not yet supported. Now, assuming you read through Darkforce's Ewin2 Review, which covers the NDS Tool, updating firmware, ease of ROM use, etc. (if not, go now!), it's time for my synopsis.

The Ewin2 Lite does suprisingly well for running ROMs from a company with such a short tenure. While more comparable towards M3 Lite Pro, as it too is without GBA playability, it seems to have arrived a bit too late in the game. The casing needed a bit more refinement in its design prior to its release. Homebrew fans will definitely want to avoid this one for the time being. With slot-1 flash cards pouring out of the woodwork, this may be one of the swan song products within the slot-2 marketplace. At a cost of $30-35USD, it's not too bad, but when you can add 15-20 more to get a slot-1 solution of equal or better performance, it just doesn't have what it takes. The Ewin2 product line would have been more than welcome over a year ago, but today, it falls short simply because of its timing. This isn't a bad first flash card, but you can find better out there. Let's hope Ewin 3, their upcoming slot-1 flash card, yields better results and arrives before it too is late for the party.

Pros:
+ Low cost
+ Tough build
+ Memory slot faces out for convenience
+ Available in various color casings
+ High ROM compability
+ Easy to use and skinnable loader

Cons:
- Difficult to remove
- Not completely flush when inserted
- Only one casing with purchase
- Low homebrew compatibility
- Poorest bandwidth of any flash card site
- Some nopass devices will not work
- A bit too late to not have GBA support

I rate it: - out of 10

Ewin2 Lite Links:

Ewin2 Homepage
DjoeN's Compatibility List

Affiliated sites
Purchase this cart from our affiliated shops:

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Review Ewin2 Lite Mini-Review

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