Hacking Cyclo DS Evolution poor quality?

[heliuscc]

I've had the Cyclo DS evolution for a week or so now. The included micro SD card reader has already fallen to pieces, literally, after about 3 uses. The card, while good functionally, is not particularly well made. People are also reporting issues with card recognition etc.

Having now seen the M3 and R4 team step up to compete with the cyclo DS, I think it may have been better to stick with the R4; cheaper, better design and better games compatibility off the bat.

So I would agree with shaun in his review, the contents of the tin is a disappointment, and at that price I expect a card reader to last a bit longer.

If you're stuck between R4 and Cyclo DS I reckon go with the R4 as it's cheaper and the reader is better. If you've got an R4 I wouldn't bother with the upgrade, if you can call it an upgrade.

So CycloDS, great card functionally, but overpriced and build quality is not good enough for the extra $$

:'(

 

[4saken]

You do know that the R4 started out with an identical blue usb reader (shaun got a blue one for the review, so I'm guessing most units shipped with it), but eventually improved the quality of readers they supplied.

If you think CycloDS is overpriced, take a look at most full-featured slot 2 cards.

 

[Destructobot]

I got that same blue card reader with my M3 Simply. It's build quality is about the same as the toys I used to get in cereal boxes as a kid.

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

I got that same blue card reader with my M3 Simply. It's build quality is about the same as the toys I used to get in cereal boxes as a kid.

I agree. I got the first batch of R4 units, and the card reader failed on me within (or less than) a week of use. And I only used it ~3 times

 

[4saken]

Well personally I've never had any problems with the blue microSD card reader (not sure about it now, I sold my first R4), but my newest R4 has a faulty card reader (really tight fit - and doesn't even work!)

 

[heliuscc]

I just think that when there's only two things in the tin, they could at least be of a decent quality. And, for those looking at the CycloDS as an upgrade, I would say keep with the R4. This card reader hasn't failed, it has literally fallen into three pieces, I came down yesterday morning and looked at the PC and the card reader was in pieces in front of it. I expect my card readers to be able to deal with gravity at least!

 

[Destructobot]

I agree. I got the first batch of R4 units, and the card reader failed on me within (or less than) a week of use. And I only used it ~3 timesÂ

Mine never failed, but the plastic case did fall off once. It didn't break, they just never glued it together in the first place.

 

[heliuscc]

wasn't sure whether to glue it or not, suppose it would be alright if done carefully

 

[ZAFDeltaForce]

I agree. I got the first batch of R4 units, and the card reader failed on me within (or less than) a week of use. And I only used it ~3 timesÂ

Mine never failed, but the plastic case did fall off once. It didn't break, they just never glued it together in the first place.

Aye, my plastic case split at the point where the 2 separate pieces joined. I snapped them back into place, and it never worked again.

 

[heliuscc]

There's just too many cheap ones about, but I need a SDHC one for my new card. Any ideas?

 

[simpson17]

I just think that when there's only two things in the tin, they could at least be of a decent quality. And, for those looking at the CycloDS as an upgrade, I would say keep with the R4. This card reader hasn't failed, it has literally fallen into three pieces, I came down yesterday morning and looked at the PC and the card reader was in pieces in front of it. I expect my card readers to be able to deal with gravity at least!


Dude that card reader is nothing but a freebie to be convienent to you. You are not paying for the card reader it is just thrown in. Many of the R4 and M3DSS readers were faulty. You can just go buy a regular card reader at wal-mart for $10.

There's just too many cheap ones about, but I need a SDHC one for my new card. Any ideas?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....esc=sdhc&Page=1
http://www.edgetechcorp.com/digital-media/...card-reader.asp

edit - since ur in the UK here's a better link with more products -
http://www.nextag.co.uk/sdhc-card-reader/z...z0--search-html

edit - and about ur first card reader for ur r4 not breaking, that is perfectly possible as i still use mine and it hasn't broken yet.

 

[GeekyGuy]

...I came down yesterday morning and looked at the PC and the card reader was in pieces in front of it. I expect my card readers to be able to deal with gravity at least!

Wow. Yeah, that's pretty bad. But as simpson17 stated, you're not really buying it for the reader, are you?

I just ordered the CycloDS myself, so I hope you're wrong. But this is my first DS flash-card enhancer, so I have nothing to really compare it to. I did opt for it over the R4, however, because of the many reports I'd been reading about R4 units being non-functional upon arrival from the retailer. The quality control for the CycloDS -- so far -- seems to be reportedly better.

Hopefully, it will prove to satisfy my needs. I'm a gamer who knows very little about any of this stuff outside of the mainstream (which is why I'm here -- to try and educate myself). All I want to be able to do is have a media player on my DS, as well as ROM back-ups for play. Basically, just make things more portable and easier for myself (I hate physically carrying around tons of games -- they get lost and damaged). I don't need to have too many options, so perhaps it will work out better for me. I've got my fingers crossed, anyway.

 

[bobrules]

irpacynot read this:
http://www.teamcyclops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=192

 

[tenja]

btw does zelda work flawless in cycloDS? or is it the same as R4?

 

[Sinkhead]

It works perfectly (without patches or a firmware update)

- Sam

 

[bobrules]

For those who have the card, how is the sticker quality. From pictures it looks like a piece of paper.

 

[cheeo]

I recommended the CycloDS to a few friends over the R4 because I thought you got more for the buck with it. Man did I get some people mad at me! The 2 that bought the CycloDS had their card reader die with in the first 2 days, & we know the only reason they include a card reader is because there competing with the R4 & it comes with a free card reader. But when the R4 had their problems with there reader they had no competition, the CycloDS can’t be putting out crappy hardware when the R4’s is working fine.

Then came the problem, one of the CycloDS’s would corrupt their card after it was only half full, after 3 corrupt cards & emailing CycloDS back & forth he sent it back for a R4. And now there’s an update to fix corrupting cards if your card gets full, but his never got full, so there may still be an other bug out there. My other friends CycloDS seems to be good but after he herd that the R4 now had auto DLDI & will soon be working on 100% download play he’s wishing he had just got the R4 especially when you can get a R4 for $40 with a 1Gig card, that’s tuff to beat.

Plus it’s going to be very hard to compete with R4’s awesome support. They have one of the cheapest cards out there with the best support I’ve ever seen. But I don’t like it when one card has 80% of the market, it’s a target for all game developers.

 

[bobrules]

I wonder if they did any testing with the usb reader.

 

[GeekyGuy]

I recommended the CycloDS to a few friends over the R4 because I thought you got more for the buck with it. Man did I get some people mad at me!

Then came the problem, one of the CycloDS’s would corrupt their card after it was only half full...

Plus it’s going to be very hard to compete with R4’s awesome support. They have one of the cheapest cards out there with the best support I’ve ever seen. But I don’t like it when one card has 80% of the market, it’s a target for all game developers.

Yeah, I doubt it's a good practice to recommend anything that you yourself haven't yet tried. But I believe in the case of the corrupted cards, Team Cyclops has released a new firmware update (which is smack-dab on the front page of this site) that is supposed to deal with the problem.

As for the price, I noticed about a $10 difference (between the R4 and the Evo), which seems pretty negligible from where I sit. For the improved user-friendliness and 100% compatibility and download play it's worth the extra few bucks to me. But again, the quality control for the Evo seems...well, more in control than for the R4. Customer support, too, looks real good for the CycloDS (though I'm not making a comparison in this case to the R4).

I'll let you know, though, in a week or so how it pans out. My main fear with these types of products is quality control. I'm an acoustic guitarist, and have been using cuttting-edge pick-up technology for years. But in order to get the latest and greatest stuff out there you usually have to work with engineers that are basically always in a state of experimentation. I know with one system, I had to send back units constantly until I got one that worked just right. But you could hear the potential in the product, nonetheless. With these flash cards it seems that it's a similar type of community, where there's a lot of trial and error going on. That said, there also seems to be a genuine desire by most of these manufacturers to satisfy their customers.

 

[Sinkhead]

For those who have the card, how is the sticker quality. From pictures it looks like a piece of paper.

It's a sticker. What more do you want? I know it's nice to have a pretty looking flashcart but the most I can say about it is that it's average. Nothing special. Yes, it's paper. And it's white. And it has some people on the front.

- Sam