Hacking G6 lite vs Supercard lite

[jigaboo]

Honestly, I've never seen anyone attempt to really quantify the battery use of either of these components in a fair manner (and no, I don't believe "my brother/cousin/friend" with a different DS battery, different usage pattern, and different screen brightness cuts it as a "fair" comparison). I think compared to original carts, ALL solutions out there use more battery - due to the fact that the GBA cart has a bank of memory that needs to be powered (over and on top of the actual NAND or flash card).

What someone needs to do, and I've agreed with the various threads where others have said it as well, is a proper battery test, with the SAME DS unit, game, and demo/usage pattern. Until that comparison, all we have is "yes it is", "no it isnt", "yes it is"... ad infinitum. As far as I'm concerned, I believe its close enough to be a wash, hence my statement of urban legendness - no one has any _real_ data that it's better/worse (people are still using anecdotes culled from the CF versions of these cards!) other than opinions and shared anecdotes (of which I've seen going both ways). I will admit - I don't have both.

As far as quality goes - given that the G6 has gone _down_ in quality, I wouldn't be too proud of it. And from the anecdotes I'm picking up, I don't see the SCL as being as bad as the EZIV (no one is filing the SCL to fit microSD cards, or bitching that the plastic doesn't line up) and fares very well with the old G6 (sturdy plastic). "Tight fit" is the only real issue to this point. But then again, anecdotal evidence shows the G6 suffering from sporadic data corruption - do we label this a "quality" issue? I would think so.

Re: the 256 vs 512 debate, I'm with Qrayzie. I was actually trying to get the 256 card for $10 (which would make this solution the cheapest), but the store bait and switched me (web inventory said they had it, but they were "sold out"), so I had to opt for the 512. I'm never _that_ far away from my computer that I can't load more stuff on anyway, and I'm never going to use it for music and/or movies. So, the SCL will give you some measure of flexibility.

J

ps. Let's try to keep this civilized eh? No need to insult or call each other names. These are flash carts, not your kids!

 

[Mangofett]

I pick SCLite if homebrew is important to you(since many programs already support SD). I rarely play any commercial games. With the latest software you can play the C DoS intro without slowdown, with a regular sandisk microsd, so the slowdowns are a thing of the past NDS wise.

I don't have a SCLite yet(it should be here on friday or monday), so I can't make a fair comparison, but I am writing a full review when it does arrive. I'm even going to submit it as a user review to GBATemp.

 

[meangreenie]

Everybody demand a battery test, now.

I so badly want to see these romours quashed a their very core (Qrazie). Since my SC CF's and SC mini and EZ4 all have about the same battery life which is only slightly less than a real DS cart, I have to say that these reports of crap battery life is just rubbish. If the M3 is any better it's only going to better by the smallest of margins, unless somehow the M3's outperform a real DS cart, which I doubt.

So 'Qrazie' are you saying M3's have so much more less battery drain than a real DS cart, remembering that the flashcart only takes up a smaller rather than larger part of the total battery drainage of the DS (cpu/gpu screens would be the major hoggers as the new DS-lites show clearly)... that somehow this equates to hours of extra gameplay ??

..remember even the most elequant and clever people look rediculous when trying to fool everyone all the time.

 

[rkenshin]

Though it is kinda ironic that the SC was introduced as a GBA flash media cart a year before the M3/G6 came onto the scene..

Now it's just.. Oh the Supercard was made to be a NDS flash cart..

>_>

 

[phoood]

Though it is kinda ironic that the SC was introduced as a GBA flash media cart a year before the M3/G6 came onto the scene..

Now it's just.. Oh the Supercard was made to be a NDS flash cart..

>_>

Right on.

I'm like.. WTF?m8.
It's made for GBA backups. Not DS ones. And now supercard has great support for DS backups?

So DS roms > GBA roms on a supercard?

 

[evilreddot]

ps. Let's try to keep this civilized eh? No need to insult or call each other names. These are flash carts, not your kids!

My flashcart can beat up your flashcart.

 

[Darkspark]

Plus, I dont think its a inportant basis for making a decision, but even though the ez4 lite does not sit totally flush with the ds lite, (it only sticks out 2mm or less), its symmetrical design does mean it can fit in both the ds lite and older units. Where you will see the G6 and SC Lite, supplies a cart that looks like the ds lite dustcover and.or supplies another cartridge to specially fit in a gba sp or ds., it has no chance of fitting in the nds, or gba sp.
Plus its not that hard to get out, since you press the cartridge against the unit to slide it out, and dont push it in all the way.

 

[Lily]

Everybody demand a battery test, now.

I so badly want to see these romours quashed a their very core (Qrazie). Since my SC CF's and SC mini and EZ4 all have about the same battery life which is only slightly less than a real DS cart, I have to say that these reports of crap battery life is just rubbish. If the M3 is any better it's only going to better by the smallest of margins, unless somehow the M3's outperform a real DS cart, which I doubt.

So 'Qrazie' are you saying M3's have so much more less battery drain than a real DS cart, remembering that the flashcart only takes up a smaller rather than larger part of the total battery drainage of the DS (cpu/gpu screens would be the major hoggers as the new DS-lites show clearly)... that somehow this equates to hours of extra gameplay ??

..remember even the most elequant and clever people look rediculous when trying to fool everyone all the time.

Ok.

You're on for the battery test, and I'll use both an original DS & a DS Lite. I can cross compare various M3/G6/EZ-Flash & SuperCard models, as well as the Ultra Media Card & a few others. You're one of the only people I've ever seen claim the SuperCard getting so much playtime on the DS.

I will post results the same way I do for the NoPass chart - as I've finished with each cart. If my results aren't what people expect, anyone else is welcome to perform the same tests.

This will take me a little while to put together, so don't expect Rome to be built in a day - but I'll do it.

 

[Hypnotoad]

This should be interesting.

 

[IxthusTiger]

The M3 will be superior to all of them right?

My EZ4 lite microSD is crying in the corner.

 

[jigaboo]

Hats off to you Qrayzie. I've seen a lot of people promise battery tests with multiple carts, but most fade away due to (imo) one factor - each test take HOURS if not an entire DAY!

Anyway, lets make a proper test procedure.
1) Kill the battery however you like - until the unit cannot turn on.
2) Charge for a specific amount of time (must be same every time) to ensure similar start points for all carts. This can either be timed, or you can specifiy an arbitrary number (5 hours?). Also, charge with the target flashcart (to make sure that the onboard cart battery is not taking an undue amount of juice to charge itself during play).
3) Test with same game, same demo, same DS unit, at same light level. You probably want to make sure that the screens are not static - I wouldn't want your screens to burn in because of the battery test!
4) Mark caution light time (red) and time until death (when the DS shuts off).
5) Rinse and repeat!

Just so others can follow along at home, please tell us the parameters you'll be using: charge time, flash pass card (or if you use a flashed DS, what flashme), light level, cart (incl. firmware ver), game and sequence.
It's too bad noone's compiled any benchmark utilities (like Prime95 or the like) we could use in lieu of a game.
Instead of compiling absolute play times, it might be a better idea to compile flashcartplaytime/originalcartplaytime and tabulate as a percentage - as the batteries are going to be the variable for most people. This would also mean that anyone could add to the benchmarks, theoretically.

Just some thoughts. Good luck!
J

 

[ron555]

This will take me a little while to put together, so don't expect Rome to be built in a day - but I'll do it.

Take your time.


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.........Is it done yet?

Just kidding. Thx man. My hat off to you too!

 

[pelago]

Thanks for agreeing to do this test, Qrayzie. As you own so many carts, you're in a very good position to compare them.

Can you do a comparison on nopass devices too? I know your PDF table says that most of them make no difference or very little difference, some people say that they cannot sleep their DS for more than one night with a Passcard 3 in the slot, compared to sleeping several days with an original game.