Hacking Is DealExtreme Legit? (if so which cart? help please)

ThriLL

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I just recently found my old Micro. Now I wanna use it again, and it'd be best utilized with a flash cart. I searched up multiple sites that sells Flash Carts but it's rare now. I know about Deal extreme. Hesitated to order from there, I heard both good and bad things from that site. But now I'm desperate so I'll get one from them. Now, I know the best flash carts out there is EFA-Linker, but they're currently both sold out. They only have 3 carts I'm currently interested in:

1. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1021
2. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4707
3. http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.13363

The cheapest one ($8.79) appeals to me the most because of the price, but performance is the most important to me. I'm willing to go up to $25 for the other one if it means guaranteed satisfaction. Any tips on which one to get? Thanks guys =D

Also, if you guys have any sites that still sells them and are reliable feel free to post the link. Thanks.
 

ThriLL

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hacker07 said:
I recomend the E-Link or the firelinker. I had an E-Link and they work great.

Thanks for the reply. Was Elink easy to use/casual gamer friendly? Because I have no knowledge on Roms/Flash Carts/etc. When I buy one this'll be my first time dealing with it.

Also I saw the stickied thread above the page and came across this.

http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.ph...products_id=699

Both same price with the ELink. But which is better?
 

raulpica

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Stay away from the Slot-2 SuperCards. They're good NDS cards, but their GBA function it's not one of the best. Frequent slowdowns are to be expected.

That FireLinker seems one of those cheapos GBA Flashcart. I've had one of these. It lost my saves continuately. So, if you don't like to get angry at your card a lot of times, and waste a lot of playing time, stay away from them.

The eLink seems a good deal.

As for me, I got a EFA Simple. Very good card. Simple, but it does its work effectively. Watch out for the EFA 2 they're selling, though. It's just a larger EFA Simple, and does not have all those fancy functions as reviewed here on GBAtemp.
 

ThriLL

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raulpica said:
Stay away from the Slot-2 SuperCards. They're good NDS cards, but their GBA function it's not one of the best. Frequent slowdowns are to be expected.

That FireLinker seems one of those cheapos GBA Flashcart. I've had one of these. It lost my saves continuately. So, if you don't like to get angry at your card a lot of times, and waste a lot of playing time, stay away from them.

The eLink seems a good deal.

As for me, I got a EFA Simple. Very good card. Simple, but it does its work effectively. Watchout for the EFA 2 they're selling, though. It's just a larger EFA Simple, and does not have all those fancy functions as reviewed here on GBAtemp.


Thanks. But I just saw ELink's sold out ~_~. I'm getting pissed, it's getting harder and harder to find one. After reading your post, my only option now is this one

http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.ph...products_id=699

Any opinions on that one? Easy to use?

And is the site selling it, reliable?
 

raulpica

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ThriLL said:
raulpica said:
Stay away from the Slot-2 SuperCards. They're good NDS cards, but their GBA function it's not one of the best. Frequent slowdowns are to be expected.

That FireLinker seems one of those cheapos GBA Flashcart. I've had one of these. It lost my saves continuately. So, if you don't like to get angry at your card a lot of times, and waste a lot of playing time, stay away from them.

The eLink seems a good deal.

As for me, I got a EFA Simple. Very good card. Simple, but it does its work effectively. Watchout for the EFA 2 they're selling, though. It's just a larger EFA Simple, and does not have all those fancy functions as reviewed here on GBAtemp.


Thanks. But I just saw ELink's sold out ~_~. I'm getting pissed it's getting hard and harder to find one. After reading your post, my only option now is this one

http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.ph...products_id=699

Any opinions on that one? Easy to use?

And is the site selling it, reliable?
They're really good (perfect GBA compatibility, no slowdowns plus rumble and more RAM for NDS), but you have to use them on a Fat NDS, because they have to be flashed from the DS everytime.
And if you put them on a GBA (after having flashed it from a Fat NDS), you can only use the game you put in NOR Flash (only one at time, and if you wanna change game, you have to reflash another from your DS).

So if you need a pure GBA solution, the EZ 3-in-1 is not for you. If you don't have a GBA, and would only use it on a DS, then the EZ 3-in-1 is a good choice. The Ez 3-in-1 is really straightforward. Just launch GBAExpLoader from your Slot-1 card and select your .gba file, and it'll launch the game.

As for the shop's reliability, I cannot vouch for them, as I've never bought from that site before.
DX is a good site, but be ready to wait for 2-3 weeks, before receiving your item.

In the worst case (if you aren't gonna use the EZ 3-in-1 on a Fat NDS) you can go for one of those el-cheapo Flashcards from DX, hoping that the battery will last enough for a few months
smile.gif
 

ThriLL

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raulpica said:
ThriLL said:
raulpica said:
Stay away from the Slot-2 SuperCards. They're good NDS cards, but their GBA function it's not one of the best. Frequent slowdowns are to be expected.

That FireLinker seems one of those cheapos GBA Flashcart. I've had one of these. It lost my saves continuately. So, if you don't like to get angry at your card a lot of times, and waste a lot of playing time, stay away from them.

The eLink seems a good deal.

As for me, I got a EFA Simple. Very good card. Simple, but it does its work effectively. Watchout for the EFA 2 they're selling, though. It's just a larger EFA Simple, and does not have all those fancy functions as reviewed here on GBAtemp.


Thanks. But I just saw ELink's sold out ~_~. I'm getting pissed it's getting hard and harder to find one. After reading your post, my only option now is this one

http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.ph...products_id=699

Any opinions on that one? Easy to use?

And is the site selling it, reliable?
They're really good (perfect GBA compatibility, no slowdowns plus rumble and more RAM for NDS), but you have to use them on a Fat NDS, because they have to be flashed from the DS everytime.
And if you put them on a GBA (after having flashed it from a Fat NDS), you can only use the game you put in NOR Flash (only one at time, and if you wanna change game, you have to reflash another from your DS).

So if you need a pure GBA solution, the EZ 3-in-1 is not for you. If you don't have a GBA, and would only use it on a DS, then the EZ 3-in-1 is a good choice. The Ez 3-in-1 is really straightforward. Just launch GBAExpLoader from your Slot-1 card and select your .gba file, and it'll launch the game.

As for the shop's reliability, I cannot vouch for them, as I've never bought from that site before.
DX is a good site, but be ready to wait for 2-3 weeks, before receiving your item.

In the worst case (if you aren't gonna use the EZ 3-in-1 on a Fat NDS) you can go for one of those el-cheapo Flashcards from DX, hoping that the battery will last enough for a few months
smile.gif

I have a DSLite. Can I flash the cart with it?

Not a fan of losing my game saves so I dont think I'll go for that Firelinker. Their ELink is sold out ~_~.

Do you know any other websites that still sells carts? I've looked for hours and most of them are sold out =|.
 

raulpica

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ThriLL said:
raulpica said:
ThriLL said:
raulpica said:
Stay away from the Slot-2 SuperCards. They're good NDS cards, but their GBA function it's not one of the best. Frequent slowdowns are to be expected.

That FireLinker seems one of those cheapos GBA Flashcart. I've had one of these. It lost my saves continuately. So, if you don't like to get angry at your card a lot of times, and waste a lot of playing time, stay away from them.

The eLink seems a good deal.

As for me, I got a EFA Simple. Very good card. Simple, but it does its work effectively. Watchout for the EFA 2 they're selling, though. It's just a larger EFA Simple, and does not have all those fancy functions as reviewed here on GBAtemp.


Thanks. But I just saw ELink's sold out ~_~. I'm getting pissed it's getting hard and harder to find one. After reading your post, my only option now is this one

http://www.gamersection.ca/product_info.ph...products_id=699

Any opinions on that one? Easy to use?

And is the site selling it, reliable?
They're really good (perfect GBA compatibility, no slowdowns plus rumble and more RAM for NDS), but you have to use them on a Fat NDS, because they have to be flashed from the DS everytime.
And if you put them on a GBA (after having flashed it from a Fat NDS), you can only use the game you put in NOR Flash (only one at time, and if you wanna change game, you have to reflash another from your DS).

So if you need a pure GBA solution, the EZ 3-in-1 is not for you. If you don't have a GBA, and would only use it on a DS, then the EZ 3-in-1 is a good choice. The Ez 3-in-1 is really straightforward. Just launch GBAExpLoader from your Slot-1 card and select your .gba file, and it'll launch the game.

As for the shop's reliability, I cannot vouch for them, as I've never bought from that site before.
DX is a good site, but be ready to wait for 2-3 weeks, before receiving your item.

In the worst case (if you aren't gonna use the EZ 3-in-1 on a Fat NDS) you can go for one of those el-cheapo Flashcards from DX, hoping that the battery will last enough for a few months
smile.gif

I have a DSLite. Can I flash the cart with it?

Not a fan of losing my game saves so I dont think I'll go for that Firelinker. Their ELink is sold out ~_~.

Do you know any other websites that still sells carts? I've looked for hours and most of them are sold out =|.
If you're gonna use it only on your DSLite, then you're lucky, as the NDSL versions of the EZ Flash 3-in-1 are REALLY common, and almost every web shop that sells flashcards carries them.

Remember, there are two different versions of the EZ 3-in-1. A GBA-size version (rare) and a DS-Lite-sized version (very common). You can use the GBA-sized one in your DSL and then in your GBA, but that doesn't go for the DSL-sized version. That will ONLY work in a DSLite.

Now, if you're only going to play on your DSLite, search for a "EZ 3-in-1" and you should easily find a DSL-sized version for cheap.
If you're gonna use it on your GBA too (if you have one), then go for the GBA-sized version, but take in mind that it's really rare and it'll cost some money.
 

m3rox

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Normally I'd recommend ordering from DX, but they've been going downhill lately. It can take up to two weeks from the date of purchase before they actually get your product shipped out, and then it'll take another two+ weeks for you to get your item.
 

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hacker07 said:
I recomend the E-Link or the firelinker. I had an E-Link and they work great.

Well, Elink has some driver problems and is probably not compatible with other OSes.

I prefer the EZflashIV, but I am not sure if it works with a mac or any other OS.
 

ThriLL

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raulpica said:
If you're gonna use it only on your DSLite, then you're lucky, as the NDSL versions of the EZ Flash 3-in-1 are REALLY common, and almost every web shop that sells flashcards carries them.

Remember, there are two different versions of the EZ 3-in-1. A GBA-size version (rare) and a DS-Lite-sized version (very common). You can use the GBA-sized one in your DSL and then in your GBA, but that doesn't go for the DSL-sized version. That will ONLY work in a DSLite.

Now, if you're only going to play on your DSLite, search for a "EZ 3-in-1" and you should easily find a DSL-sized version for cheap.
If you're gonna use it on your GBA too (if you have one), then go for the GBA-sized version, but take in mind that it's really rare and it'll cost some money.

I'm planning on using it on my GBM. I'm going to sell my DSLite for the DSi when it comes out, but I still want to use my GBM for on-the-go. That Gamersection site sells an EFA-Linker but for a whopping $48....

If anyone got other sites they'd recommend please do.
wacko.gif
 

raulpica

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m3rox said:
Normally I'd recommend ordering from DX, but they've been going downhill lately. It can take up to two weeks from the date of purchase before they actually get your product shipped out, and then it'll take another two+ weeks for you to get your item.
Man, don't even tell me. I've ordered something like 2 weeks ago, and they're STILL packaging and getting items around suppliers.
unknownworlder said:
QUOTE(hacker07 @ Mar 12 2009, 06:35 PM) I recomend the E-Link or the firelinker. I had an E-Link and they work great.

Well, Elink has some driver problems and is probably not compatible with other OSes.

I prefer the EZflashIV, but I am not sure if it works with a mac or any other OS.
Yeah, I almost forgot about the EZIV. Search for the EZ Flash IV miniSD too. It's a REALLY good GBA card.
 

ThriLL

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raulpica said:
Yeah, I almost forgot about the EZIV. Search for the EZ Flash IV miniSD too. It's a REALLY good GBA card.

I checked that out, DealExteme has it for $30. Kinda too much... That and it only accepts MiniSDs which is like hard to find nowadays. But I read the reviews and one of the people said "the 256Mbit NOR memory being a great help, not only with big roms, but also if the miniSD card used is a bit slow". Does that mean it's still usable without a MiniSD? If I understand what he said correctly, It has a built in 256mb memory, would that be enough to put a a few games in it? I don't really know how much space 1 Rom game requires.
wacko.gif
 

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PharaohsVizier said:
Generally 1 rom requires 64MB, obviously games go larger or smaller, from 1MB to 256MB. Technically you *can* use it without a MiniSD, but how would you put games in it? Logically speaking, you place the games into your MiniSD then transfer it to your NOR section, but without the MiniSD in the equation, you have to use roundabout methods. Burning from your DS works, but I think it is volatile. The other method is if you happen to have one of the EZ Flash cartridge reader things that cost around $10-$15. You can then connect your cart straight to your computer's USB.

The smallest rom size is 8mb, not 1mb. Of course, if you trim the rom, it could go down to 6mb or 4mb.
 

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