ravihpa said:
Wow...the price difference is huge
Anyways...thanx a lot. I guess I'll go with the EZflash IV
Thank you so much for all the help guys
Edit: Any site you guys would recommend that ships internationally to India ? I checked out ishopvideogame.com, and they have the EZ-Flash IV. Is there any other site that I should check out the prices on ?
Thanx again
I just came across this whole thread, and I might have a bit of insight to provide. When it comes to high quality flash carts for the GBA/SP/Micro that have external memory, there are really only two good options, which have already been pinpointed. I have both, and I'm regretting getting the EZFlash 4. I have a couple of the older versions of the M3 - the M3 Perfect, and the M3 Mini Perfect, neither of which fit flush, which is unfortunate. I'm looking to get a couple of the M3 Perfect Lite's which is a good thing I found this thread (I've been waiting for Jandaman to get a shipment for god knows how long).
Here's the comparison that may make or break it for you (I'm not going to list things they both have identically - like they fit flush).
EZFlash IV:
Pros
$30ish (maybe less if you can find it without the reader)
Works flawlessly with most all GBA games. Works with all GBA homebrew (haven't found any that don't support it)
Has 256Mb of flash memory to copy over the one (maybe 2 or 3) games that require it - Riviera Promised Land - I just have it permanently copied over. (IF there was a problem with any game that isn't RTC related, this flash memory will also fix that - once again though, haven't experienced any problems)
Uses a miniSD card (though MicroSD cards are easier to find, a good MiniSD card just feels more sturdy and is less likely to disappear).
Cons
Has no real time clock, so games requiring that require additional patching
The interface. First thing is having to deal with the interface being in a different language - pain to get it working in English. Once in english ALL help texts are poorly wrapped in boxes (middle of words cut off to next line), misspellings, etc... General skinnability is high but does not allow modification of the help texts.
The system automatically defaults to the flash memory when you select the Games icon, basically meaning you ALWAYS have to hit A (on the icon) to get back to the Roms menu. This gets tedious over time.
No Real Time Save.
Near impossibility of removing the MiniSD card - no springloaded design, and without a pair of pliers, it seems like you're going to break it every time you try to remove it. At this point I actually find it easier to dismantle the cartridge to remove the card for fear of doing damage to the MiniSD itself.
M3 Perfect Lite:
Pros
Works flawlessly with nearly all games. All GBA homebrew works - period (this is stated as the EZFIV doesn't have an RTC and some homebrew may require it).
No Flash memory needed. It has 32MB of built in memory that the system uses, but no games need to be copied over to the memory to work (again, for only 1 or 2 actual games).
Supports MicroSDHC - yeah, I know, who needs 8GB or more of space on a GBA cart... I have not tested anything above a 4GB that's not labelled as an SDHC card, and I watched development of the firmware until it supported SDHC - it's been ages though, so I don't fully know if it works flawlessly - at the least, you can still get up to 4GB cards, but they may have to be nonSDHC (bizarre concept, I know, but they do exist, I've found 2 4GB MicroSDHC cards - designed for cell phones that don't support SDHC but support FAT32).
Real Time Save - It gives you 3 save slots to use for Real Time Save - which can also be used for any homebrew.
Nicely skinnable interface - unfortunately, all icons must remain in their current location, but I've done some odd things with the interface.
Cons
$90ish (maybe less if Jandaman ever gets a shipment in)
Sadly, one of the most talked about problems with the M3 is the bootup disclaimer screen. It simply states that the M3 is not endorsed by Nintendo - this is happening while the unit is being booted up and the general consensus is that if it were removed (IF it were possible) it wouldn't speed things up anyway - but people still complain about it.
The interface is slightly slower than most other flash carts (esp. for the DS, but the GBA is notably a bit slower as well).
In the end, aside from the pricetag, the M3 is a better cart overall. All in all it's just a much more professional cartridge, and I'm regretting having wasted the $40 I spent on my EZFIV, and wish I'd sprung for the M3 when Jandaman had it in stock.
On an odd note, neither the M3 Perfect Lite, nor the EZFlash IV have a casing that's exactly the same as an original GBA cartridge. Both fit flush inside the GBA, but neither have the tabs on the side like you'll see with every other standard cartridge out there.
On another oddly unrelated side-note (as it's for the DS), the M3 is also better supported, not just by the team, but also by homebrewers everywhere. Games like Quake DS can use the extra memory on an M3, and the Opera DS browser hack can use it as well (Quake DS recommends the use of both a Slot 1 and Slot 2 cart, and Opera requires it), however the EZFlash IV isn't supported by any of the hacks or homebrew out there for that (Quake DS suggests it *might* work, however, I've never gotten it to). Oddly, the EZFlash IV Deluxe IS supported for those things, but steer clear of that, as it has already been said that it has poor GBA compatibility.
I know a good lot about NDS flash carts, etc., but don't know anything about one which would work great for a GBA SP
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