eWin 2 Series: First Impressions

shaunj66

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eWin 2 Flash Series: First Impressions

A look at all three variations








I've just finished writing up a quick first impressions of the new eWin 2 series of Nintendo DS flash linkers.
Want to know more about them before a review gets posted?



1stlook.jpg


eWin SD - eWin Mini SD - eWin Micro SD
View the full post to read the story.
 

shaunj66

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eWin 2 Series First Impressions

Today I recieved sample kits of the latest eWin series of flash carts for the Nintendo DS/GBA.

The new eWin 2 series comes in three variations:
  • eWin 2 SD - The largest of the three, approx. 1 cm taller than a regular GBA game pak. Takes standard SD memory modules.
  • eWin 2 Mini SD - This one's the same size as a regular GBA game pak. Takes mini SD.
  • eWin 2 Micro SD - The smallest of the three. But not dust cover sized. Takes micro SD memory.
All three cards are not compatible with GBA ROMs. They support DS ROMs only.

All cards in the eWin 2 series are available at very cheap prices. They are actually the cheapest NDS flash kit currently available, going for around approx. £20/€30/$40.

box.jpg


There's the box the eWins come in!

sd.jpg

The standard SD eWin 2.

minisd.jpg

The mini SD eWin 2.

microsd.jpg

The micro SD eWin 2.

sizecomp.jpg

A size comparison

sizecomp1.jpg

A size comparison

sizecomp2.jpg

A size comparison

sizecomp3.jpg

A size comparison

My first impressions when looking over these three cards was the build quality. The eWin team are known for their high quality products, and the eWin 2 series are no different. The build quality is superb. The carts feel very solid! The plastic is rock solid and doesn't flex or creak, it's free of defects and has a nice frosted look to it. The casings fit together really nicely. The labels look good, and the PCB's are designed nicely and are made in high quality and with high quality components.

The standard SD version has a side loading SD slot, the mini-SD is front loading, and so is the micro SD.
The first two have spring loaded slots, but the micro SD has a standard slot and for the love of me, I can't figure out why on earth they designed it like this... It's impossible to remove the micro SD card once it's inserted without using a pair of pliers. It's even worse than the EZ Flash IV slot.

The eWin software is very straight forward, and easy to use. I tried three random ROM backups - New Super Mario Bros., Castlevania and Need for Speed Underground. They all worked just fine. But yes, the Castlevania intro lagged!

The loading times on the eWin are quite good, and it shows you it's progress during the load. The user interface seems great and has several nice features, all of which we'll cover more in the review. When playing a game, the save game is on a internal rechargable battery - this is then backed up next time you play a different ROM. The eWin detects the change and notifies you and asks to backup the save before the new game overwrites the battery. Saves are in .sav format.

That's all for my first impressions, the eWin 2 will be covered more extensively in our full GBAtemp review that should be up soon.

If you have any questions or things you'd like to see added to the review before it's published please leave your comments here.
 

cracker

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How about game compatibility, how it performs with the Castlevania intro and Tony Hawk in-game, homebrew compatibility, etc?
 

DirtyH

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QUOTE said:
If you have any questions or things you'd like to see added to the review before it's published please leave your comments here.

maybe some pictures with these cards in a ds lite
 

AshuraZro

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Tests with current versions of various DS Emulators and programs maybe. Look forward to the review but one thing about this...

Did you really have to say "A Size Comparison" below every size image
laugh.gif
 

shaunj66

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Here are some more photos to tide you over until the review!

lineup.jpg


micro1.jpg

The Micro SD version in DS Lite

micro2.jpg

The Micro SD version in DS Lite

mini1.jpg

The mini SD version in DS Lite

mini2.jpg

The mini SD version in DS Lite

sd1.jpg

The standard SD version in DS Lite

sd2.jpg

The standard SD version in DS Lite

sd3.jpg

The standard SD version in DS Lite

mini3.jpg

The Mini SD version in regular DS

mini4.jpg

The Mini SD version in regular DS

mini5.jpg

The Mini SD version in regular DS

sd4.jpg

The SD version in regular DS

sd5.jpg

The SD version in regular DS

sd6.jpg

The SD version in regular DS

I'd like some info about movie playing capabilities (if present).
All the movie capabilities are via Moonshell.

How about game compatibility, how it performs with the Castlevania intro and Tony Hawk in-game, homebrew compatibility, etc?
We'll try to cover more in the review.


Tests with current versions of various DS Emulators and programs maybe.
Sounds like a good idea.
smile.gif


This flashcart required any pass through method?
I suppose to no, as it supports DS ROMs only.

Of course it needs pass through, it goes in the GBA slot after all.
Yes it requires a PassMe.
smile.gif
The eWin team have developed their own super cheap PassMe - the PassWe. We'll have a review soon.

is the micro only available in white?
It's also available in navy and ice blue, but these are hard to find.
 

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