Hacking Is this card THIS BAD?

[jruschme]

Again, I don't disagree that some people might feel that saving $5 is worth having a laggy menu that doesn't alphabetize games, navigate folders, receive menu updates, or have any of the other myriad features that are standard with nearly every other flash cart. I simply believe that those people are probably in the minority.

When I bought my DSTT, the DealExtreme price was almost $20 and, at that time, it was the least expensive card available.

Sigh. Now, for the same price, I could buy an Acekard 2i *and* a micro-SD card.

John

 

[Karuko]

Each card has it advantages, DSTT compatibility might be worse (although I haven't had any problems yet) since they aren't updating it at all.

When I bought my DSTT, the AK2 card was double the price at 20. I recently got a AK2i for my DSi and the build quality is worse, the menu is nicer... but it doesn't boot directly, it's a better solution for the DSi since you go directly to the DSi menu, although for a normal DS it's a waste of time. Is there any other flash card that boots directly as the DSTT does?

Another thing I like from my DSTT is that I can load NDS, GBA, GB/C and SMS directly from YSmenu (no need to load homebrew, YSmenu sorts that for me).

 

[Bri]

Install AKAIO on your AK2/AK2i and it will run GBA directly from the menu.

-Bri

 

[testic-cancer]

"Virtually" doubling, maybe. Doubling, no.
now you are just being awkward for the sake of it.

DSTT - $5.70
Acekard - $11.08

Difference in doubling the price of a DSTT is $0.32cents. Are you really going to argue that it isn't double the price over 32c?

Slightly lower = $5. Roughly the cost of a fast food meal here in the U.S.
And? It's still half the price.


QUOTE

I simply believe that those people are probably in the minority.

You can believe it, the sales figures show (some would say sadly) that what you believe isn't true. People buy what is cheap, and what they know (hence the continued sales of the R4)

 

[Bri]

And? It's still half the price.

Approximately half the price is approximately $5 difference. In my opinion (and everything I post is of course my opinion) it's well worth an extra $5 to have a flash cart that doesn't lack the basic features available with nearly every other flash cart on the market. I've already agreed with you that some other opinions may differ from mine, that some people might prefer $5 rather than having a flash cart with basic features.

QUOTEYou can believe it, the sales figures show (some would say sadly) that what you believe isn't true. People buy what is cheap, and what they know (hence the continued sales of the R4)

That seems to be a straw man, since I wasn't arguing which flash cart sells the most. If everyone was informed about what they were buying, nobody would buy an R4 at all -- proof that not everybody is informed about what they're buying.

What I did say was that in my opinion, the extra $5 for a flash cart that can sort games, navigate folders, isn't laggy, is updated regularly, etc. would be money well spent for the majority of users.

-Bri

 

[testic-cancer]

That seems to be a straw man, since I wasn't arguing which flash cart sells the most. If everyone was informed about what they were buying, nobody would buy an R4 at all -- proof that not everybody is informed about what they're buying.

I agree not everyone is informed, or that it is a good thing that they are buying such things (which is why I added the "sadly"), but it isn't a straw man - sales figures clearly show that people don't care. If people bought it due to insufficient information at least some of them would return the cart or sell it on & buy something "better".


QUOTEWhat I did say was that in my opinion, the extra $5 for a flash cart that can sort games, navigate folders, isn't laggy, is updated regularly, etc. would be money well spent for the majority of users.

No, what you actually said was :

"I don't disagree that some people might feel that saving $5 is worth having a laggy menu, ...etc... or have any of the other myriad features that are standard with nearly every other flash cart. I simply believe that those people are probably in the minority"

and

"In my opinion, most users will find that the DSTT has too many drawbacks compared to other flash carts despite a slightly lower price tag."


If people who feel that were in the minority, the DSTT wouldn't continue to sell at the level it does, and the AK would overtake it.

If you had actually said that IYO the $5/double the cost would be better spent on an ak (rather than saying most people would find it has too many drawbacks) I'd agree with you for myself (but again, most people I've met don't care about that kind of stuff. they just want what is cheap)/not even bothered posting.

 

[Bri]

I agree not everyone is informed, or that it is a good thing that they are buying such things (which is why I added the "sadly"), but it isn't a straw man - sales figures clearly show that people don't care. If people bought it due to insufficient information at least some of them would return the cart or sell it on & buy something "better".

Some do end up buying something better (although I suspect that they keep the DSTT for a backup rather than going through the hassle of returning it for $6). Some others probably never buy another flash cart because they don't know what else is available. My guess is that most people who buy flash carts don't do much research and don't regularly visit gbatemp.net. They buy whatever they happen to find or whatever their friend has, and they never know any different. So the fact that one flash cart sells better than another doesn't necessarily mean that they wouldn't consider basic features to be worth an extra $5 -- it may simply indicate that they don't know there are much better flash carts that cost only $5 more.

If people who feel that were in the minority, the DSTT wouldn't continue to sell at the level it does, and the AK would overtake it.

Again, not necessarily. Most buyers have no clue what they're buying, as evidenced by the continued brisk sales of R4 clones. My point was that in my opinion (and of course it is only my opinion since there's no way to know for certain) were buyers to be informed of the features and prices of the various models of flash carts that are available, most would choose something other than the DSTT.

QUOTE

If you had actually said that IYO the $5/double the cost would be better spent on an ak (rather than saying most people would find it has too many drawbacks) I'd agree with you for myself (but again, most people I've met don't care about that kind of stuff. they just want what is cheap)/not even bothered posting.

I'm pretty sure that's what I said. At least, that's what I meant by the two quotes you posted. If I was unclear, then I apologize.

-Bri

 

[Karuko]

Install AKAIO on your AK2/AK2i and it will run GBA directly from the menu.

-Bri

Yeah, I have AKAIO in my card, but if I wanted that feature I would put YSmenu because I could boot also GB/C games.
But since the card is in a DSi those features are useless.

 

[Bri]

You could always install YSMenu on the Acekard if you really want to boot GB/C games directly from the menu. Maybe that's what you meant.

Since YSMenu runs on both the DSTT and the Acekard, it's not an advantage for the DSTT. Older DSTT's (which are glued shut) do feel sturdier than the Acekards (which are held together with clips) but you could always glue an Acekard together if you wanted to (I've never heard of an Acekard falling apart, so I don't know why you'd want to, but you could).

The only real advantage the DSTT has that I can think of would be for folks who don't want a menu that lets you navigate folders (small children, for example). That, and the extra $5 you'll have in your pocket if you buy a DSTT.

-Bri

 

[k3vin369]

I had my DSTT (glued) for a year now, and I had never had a major problem with it. The only problem was that the default menu kept freezing. I easily replaced that with Moonshell2 later on though. Besides that the default menu itself is fine. I don't know why people complain so much about the lack of alphabetizing of menu. You can just alphabetize it in your computer; and it doesn't really matter, it sorts by the latest games/homebrew that you've added. I'm sure that I haven't had a problem with the case either. Even though mine is the old one, where it is glued shut, it never fell apart and it feels like a normal cart. Just the microSD slot on it bugs me; it microSD doesn't go all the way in and it's kinda slanted. Maybe it's just me, but I don't know if it does that on other carts either.

DSTT does it's job, it gets annoying when people say it's a crappy card. On DealExtreme, it's one of the highest selling carts too. It's Cheap+Works as the box says=$$