After my review of the SuperCard Lite the SuperCard team announced a black model of the SuperCard Lite and released it soon after. The new black model is a separate retail release of the SuperCard Lite and is not just a case modification, meaning you must buy another SuperCard Lite to get the black colored case. Why the SuperCard team decided to choose this upgrade path is unknown, but it has caused some angst among some early adopters that have black DS Lites. The SuperCard team also announced that they had modified the mold design for all new SuperCards so that they would fit better in the GBA slot of the DS. I recently received a new SuperCard Lite with the new mold design and decided to see if there were any differences between the two besides the obvious.
As most people know, when the SuperCard Lite was released it could be quite a pain to remove from your DS and the SuperCard team actually posted instructions on how to make the process easier on their website. Also, on many flashcart forums users started to complain of the tight fit and soon thereafter the SuperCard team announced the new color as well as the new mold.
The new mold design first started to appear on the black model SuperCard Lites and then soon after dealers began to report the new mold appearing on the white models as well. This newer mold shaves off a small section of plastic on the back of the SuperCard Lite and extends approximately a quarter inch up from the bottom contact pins. This shaved off section is designed to make the flashcart slide more easily into the Nintendo DS GBA slot. Currently all other “Lite” model flashcarts and even the GBA dust cover include this design feature and why it was missing on the first incarnation of the SuperCard Lite is anybody’s guess.
To test the new mold design I measured and used two original SuperCard Lites and one newer model with two Polar White DS Lites. Since the original SuperCard Lite had problems being inserted into the DS Lite one could easily think that the new design would correct this issue, right? No, the newer mold SuperCard Lite is .25mm thicker than the original version, which is just 7.5mm wide at the bottom, and is now almost twice as hard to get into the DS Lite. You wouldn’t think that 0.25mm could cause so much trouble but it’s the difference between a hard struggle and an easy slide. The older model SuperCard Lites are the same thickness throughout as the shaved bottom area on the newer mold model meaning that the SuperCard team added .25mm to the overall mold design. The thicker, newer mold SuperCard Lite actually makes the GBA slot bow out a small amount to where you can see darkness coming from the area just under the lip, where the previous mold design does not.
Also, it seems that the newer DS Lite colors, such as Onyx and Pink, have a slightly changed design mold in which the GBA slot is a tad bit larger allowing the SuperCard Lite to slide in much easier than the older Polar White DS Lite models. I hope that the new DS Lite design changes are implemented into the newer Polar White models but only time will tell.
The addition of the black model and changed mold design were not the only two changes made to the new SuperCard Lite. I also discovered that the microSD holder is approximately .5mm further down on the microSD adapter PCB making for better overall aesthetics and function. Now that the microSD holder is slightly further down on the PCB it allows the memory to be pushed deeper into the precut slot keeping the microSD more secure. This new layout also lets the microSD sit level and flush to the top of the slot making the difference between the old and new mold designs noticeable as the previous model SuperCard Lite had the microSD card sitting crooked and unleveled. With the microSD sitting deeper and more level it makes the SuperCard Lite more visually appealing. I’m not 100% positive if the microSD “level” problems on the original model SuperCard Lites are isolated to a few bad production batches, however, I doubt this is the case as most first model users have reported that their microSD cards are crooked.
While viewing the pictures, you can easily differentiate the old mold design from the new as well as observe how the microSD sits deeper and more level. Also, some SuperCard users have asked if they should consider getting a new mold design SuperCard Lite to replace their current model or if they should seek out the newer mold before making a purchase and to them I reply, “No!” In no way do I think that you should purchase the new mold design just to get the better microSD placement as the mold problem negative outweighs the placements positives. I also don’t think it’s necessary to search out either mold design if you are going to make a SuperCard Lite purchase as they both get the job done well and look great in your DS Lite doing it.
The only real improvements that can be made to further the design and aesthetics of the SuperCard Lite would be to correct the mold size issue and add a layer of gloss to the outside lip to make it more closely resemble the GBA dust cover. Other than the above changes to the color, mold and microSD PCB configuration the SuperCard Lite still functions as one of the best Slot 2 flashcarts on the market and is a very worthy purchase for any interested buyer.
This SuperCard Lite aesthetics update is in addition to my previously released SuperCard Lite review. You can find my review and guide, "FifthE1ement's Complete Guide to Flashcarts and Homebrew", on MaxConsole.net and many other respectable flashcart websites and forums. I would like to thank lenselijer, sonicwind, and onekelly for providing me with the high-res pictures used in this article.
Link to my orginal SuperCard Lite review by clicking here!
FifthE1ement
