N-Card or clone for slot 1 is best.\
The Ncard community is helpful and fun to post with, while the R4 is for noobs that seem to think the R4 can run GBA roms and they just need to post a new topic asking where they EMUs can be found just in case.

Your choice though.
I have both and like my Ncard more.

 

Also, what's a good 3-in-1 to get?

 

Great, thanks for the info! Now only question is, should I go for CycloDS or Super Card One v3? CycloDS is out of stock everywhere and I'd have to wait longer. I also read from reviews the chip is stuck on the label or something. Meanwhile SC seems to have no problems and it has SDHC support too so performance might be better? They both cost the same anyways.

 

I enjoy my Acekard alot. But the CycloDs was a good piece of hardware when I had it.

 

M3 perfect, or G6 flash for DS & GBA games. M3 Real or G6 Real for DS only. of course, you could always add a EZ-Flash 3-in-1 to the Slot 1 cards for GBA. basically, if you want removable media, go with the M3. if you want built in media, go with the G6.

EDIT: there are a lot of R4 fanboys around here. honestly, it's a great card, too (i used to have an M3 Simply, the same thing). i just think the M3/G6 Real is a better way to go. i'm also curious to see what the R.P.G. can do if the open source developers take to it.

 

Bamboogaming.com is the only place that has them for the time being, and pretty much all slot-1 flashcarts have built in NoPass functionality which allows them to act as a Passme for slot-2 devices.

 

Keep in mind that its going to set you back about 80USD.

 

get an r4 with ez flash 3in1 !!

what your ds needs XD

 

Well I was never looking at R4 to begin with right now. I was looking at initiall the SuperCard One v3 and the CycloDS. Both work using drag and drop right out of the box, and from what I read of each have good features all around. If I had bought one last year I might have chosen the R4. However I went with the AceKard mainly because of the open source, 100% compatibility with games, built in 1GB storage (saves me the trouble of getting another memeory card), ability to transfer between NAND and MicroSD, an decent download play & homebrew support. The open source part really is the clincher though, since there's so much that could possibly be released for it. PSP has lots of custom firmwares that add-on functionality, and it would be interesting to see what people can do when it's open source to begin with!