Review EX4DS review <3

[iFish]

Welcome to another ifish review!!

This review was sponsored by Gamezway


Today I will be reviewing the EX4DS

Introduction

The EX4DS, made by R4-LI Team, is another one of the new 2nd Generation of Slot-1 flash kits. It's competing with the Supercard DSTWO along with the other 2nd-Gen Slot-1 flash kits.

Packaging

The EX4 comes in a nice and shiny box which feels nice to the touch. It’s not really the most sturdy box however, but the EX4 comes in a little blue carrying case which holds 2 games (same as the R4 if I recall correctly, but I’ve never had an R4). The blue case keeps your EX4 very safe from drops and other damage. It also comes with a MicroSD card reader which is very shiny and made of stainless steel (according to PharaohsVizier it is the same one that comes with the EZ-Flash Vi).

Spoiler

[titleackage]

Software (GUI)

The GUI is the same as the R4. For a new person to the DS scene, it's excellent. For a person like me who is used to AKAIO and Supercard EOS, I find it a bit too... what's the word... easy?
Either way, it's very user-friendly.

It has 3 options:

1. Game
2. Multimedia
3. Boot Slot-2

I will explain all 3.

Game

This is what you would expect from a flash kit. It boots your ROMS - both GBA and NDS. NDS games take about 3 – 4 seconds to boot while GBA games take about 15 seconds. If you want to play GBA games, you will not need a slot-2 expansion pack.

Multimedia

This gives you 2 options:

Moonshell
I will not be explaining Moonshell since this review is about the EX4. Moonshell is Moonshell, enjoy.

EX4 Movie

EX4 Movie is where you would load your movies, songs, etc. It has 4 buttons:

1. Play
2. Pause
3. Fast-Forward
4. Rewind
They all do as you would expect.

Slot-2
If you are using a DSi this is useless as the DSi has no Slot-2 to boot from. On a DS Lite or the older DS model it would boot an old Slot-2 card (which I don't see the point of since the EX4 does everything a Slot-2 card can do… everyone has their own reasons though).

Another good thing about the EX4 GUI is that you can use all the old R4 themes

Hardware
This cart has a great build quality. It's sturdy and strong. The MicroSD slot is not spring loaded which is a gift to some and torture for others. I personally prefer a spring loaded slot, but oh well.

Spoiler: EX4 Pictures

Compatibility

All current NDS ROMs will load. All of the ROMs that I tested loaded fine and without any problems.

As for GBA games, I tested a handful of them. They all worked as I expected. However, I hear from PharaohsVizier that a handful of GBA games will not work, along with some problematic ROMs such as ones that are patched.

Here is a list I got from PharaohsVizier's review on DSDatabase

Dragonball GT – Volume 1: Does not run
Golden Sun: Lags on the world map, as well as in battle
Golden Sun – The Lost Age: Lags on the world map, as well as in battle
Gradius Galaxies: Seemed to work fine
Pokemon Series: There is no real time clock support, but they do run
NES series or Famicom Mini: Does not run
Boktai – The Sun is in Your Hands: Does boot up, however, does not have solar sensor
Mario Power Tennis: Boots, but has extreme lag, unplayable by all standards
Rebelstar – Tactical Command: Seemed to work fine
Zone of the Enders – The Fist of Mars: Seemed to work fine

Conslusion

This card is a worthy opponent for the DSTWO. It does everything it says it should, right down to the video playback (which the DSTWO doesn’t even have yet).

If you're bit short on cash and can’t afford a more expensive cart, I can recommend this cart. It lives up to what it says it can do and is definitely worth your money.

Score

Packaging: 2/5
Build Quality: 5/5
ROM Loading: 13/15
GUI: 4/5

Total

24 /30

You can buy this cart from www.gamezway.com

This review has been written by ifish for GBAtemp.net and Dsdatabase.org only!

Kudos to
Skyline969 for editing my review for me

Video is still processing. give it some time

video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTdgALYYqlw

 

[kiafazool]

ex4ds is good but not as good as dstwo
i wonder how people will react to the ex4ds
could you do a comparison of the dstwo and ex4ds
that could help clear up alot of fanboys

 

[Traitor]

sucks ****
dstwo wayy better

NO REAL TIME CLOCK
NO ONE WANTS THIS CR*P

Keep in mind the DSTWO didn't have RTC at the time of its release.

 

[naruses]

ifish, come on what happened, you always make better reviews. Detail the review a little bit if you could.

And please Im just saying my opinion and my reccomendation. Please do not flame me or call me a N00B, if you dont agree with me.

 

[iFish]

ex4ds is good but not as good as dstwo
i wonder how people will react to the ex4ds
could you do a comparison of the dstwo and ex4ds
that could help clear up alot of fanboys

I don't have a dstwo ;<

Getting one next week for review most likely.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Kinda went into this on the shoutbox.

The EX4 at Gamezway is only $2 less than the DSTWO at ShopTemp. And the DSTWO is already built with constantly updating firmware (making it pretty much the most compatible flashcart on the market, even more than the Cyclo), it's getting a SNES emulator that uses the onboard chip, and with the official team behind it still (and probably for a long time), who knows what bunny they'll pull out of the hat. The EX4 just seems like a card rushed to the market seeing how much hype surrounded the DSTWO. Once the DSTWO fully blooms this thing is gonna be blown out of the water. I doubt the team behind it will update the firmware much, if at all, and by the time more DS games with more anti-piracy crop up, it'll be an antique. The thing it'll rely on the most is a homebrew community behind it. And unfortunately, I doubt it'll get something like the miracle of AKAIO on the Acekard or even Wood on the R4. It seems like it works now for what it does but for only a $2 difference, it's pretty obvious in the long run the DSTWO is gonna win.

 

[Deleted User]

What video codecs and bitrates /resolution are supported?
Is there any lag in playback?

 

[iFish]

What video codecs and bitrates /resolution are supported?
Is there any lag in playback?

I really had no videos to test.

It supports

RMVB?AVI?MOV?DIVX?MPEG?FLV?3GP?ASF?WMV

 

[Deleted_171835]

Good review.
I suggest you make it longer, though. A bit too short for my tastes.

 

[ThatDudeWithTheFood]

So you have to use a expansion to use the gba emulator?I thought it didn't need one Does the dstwo need an expansion.

 

[Arm73]

So you have to use a expansion to use the gba emulator?I thought it didn't need one Does the dstwo need an expansion.

QUOTEGame

This is what you would expect from a flash kit. It boots your ROMS - both GBA and NDS. NDS games take about 3 – 4 seconds to boot while GBA games take about 15 seconds. If you want to play GBA games, you will not need a slot-2 expansion pack.

How hard it is to read it the first time ?

here just in case, from the review:

Game

This is what you would expect from a flash kit. It boots your ROMS - both GBA and NDS. NDS games take about 3 – 4 seconds to boot while GBA games take about 15 seconds. If you want to play GBA games, you will not need a slot-2 expansion pack.

 

[ThatDudeWithTheFood]

Just making sure no need to be evil about it.

 

[Ryukouki]

Hmmmm... too short for my taste. Looks like the features got regurgitated and spat out. And you mentioned you had no videos to test. You kinda should go make a video. It's sort of what people want to know.

 

[iFish]

Hmmmm... too short for my taste. Looks like the features got regurgitated and spat out. And you mentioned you had no videos to test. You kinda should go make a video. It's sort of what people want to know.

I actually edited it. and made a video of a video playing on the ex4

 

[haflore]

Nice work ifish!

It's well structured and to the point.
Also, the addition of the Video Playback section really helps the overall feel of it.

 

[Orel]

Does it have it's own firmwares, or is it relying on other firmwares? (Like some R4 clones).

 

[iFish]

It uses the EX4 firmware... which is pretty much the R4 firmware

 

[Langin]

Nice review iFish, I need to say: Supercard dstwo is better at the moment. But who knows what will happen to this card! I have a sc dstwo, if you need any info just pm me!

Side note: I am a reviewer for retro games(on some magazine) and this is a VERY WELL styled review!

 

[Phoenix Goddess]

Nice review iFish, I need to say: Supercard dstwo is better at the moment. But who knows what will happen to this card! I have a sc dstwo, if you need any info just pm me!

Side note: I am a reviewer for retro games(on some magazine) and this is a VERY WELL styled review!

Don't forget to give credit to Skyline for editing it.

 

[iFish]

Nice review iFish, I need to say: Supercard dstwo is better at the moment. But who knows what will happen to this card! I have a sc dstwo, if you need any info just pm me!

Side note: I am a reviewer for retro games(on some magazine) and this is a VERY WELL styled review!

Don't forget to give credit to Skyline for editing it.

Seriously. shut up. the only edited typos and grammar. the template was my idea

The titles were mine. i can show you the un-edited version if you want