Hacking Looking for easy to use flashcart for games and movies

[bsk997]

Hi guys,
Please forgive me if this exact question has been discussed. I've looked back about 15 pages in this forum as well as done some searches but can't come to a definite conclusion.

I just bought my 3yr old a dsi.
I'm looking at a flashcart for her to play ds games and watch her movies on. That's it. No other homebrew or gba games or anything like that.
I would like it to be easy to use as well.

So far, it seems like the two best choices are the Acekard 2i or the DStwo.
Acekard 2i would be a no frills flashcart that works good.
DStwo would be the ultimate flashcart with all the bells and whistles like onboard cpu, gba support, iplayer, blah blah.

Would I be better off with the Acekard 2i for playing games and using Moonshell to play movies?
I've read that moonshell will actually give you better quality when it's encoded properly in dpg format vs iplayer.
Another issue I've read is that some games are buggy on the acekard while not so on the DStwo. Is that really true?

Cost is not a real concern between the two carts.
I'm more concerned with ease of use, quality of videos, and game support.

Please let me know your opinions.
Thanks!

 

[Rydian]

I've read that moonshell will actually give you better quality when it's encoded properly in dpg format vs iplayer.Yes, but that has more to do with the fact that the encoding isn't being done on the fly. The DSTwo's player's main advantage is you have to convert a lot less in order to view it at all.

QUOTE(bsk997 @ Nov 30 2010, 01:36 PM) Another issue I've read is that some games are buggy on the acekard while not so on the DStwo. Is that really true?

Not really. Bugs can be on either one at any given moment, as is life. You'll just see more about the Acekard than the DSTwo because the DSTwo is a recent product.



The DSTwo does have a "clean mode" that can play games without having to wait on firmware updates, though.

 

[Sebbel]

Well, as I own both Acekard and DSTwo, I have to say that for the uses you want, the Acekard is just fine. The Acekard is the best choice if you want a easy-to-use flashcard that fulfills all your needs you said. As you said, the DSTwo has the big extra features, but if you don't need them at all, why spend 30 more dollars for it. And as your kid isjust 3 years old, I think it won't mourn over some games that have anti-piracy, that the Acekard can't play without a patch.

 

[haddad]

I think the Supercard DS2 is unique becuase of its added snes+gba+divx playback capability.

 

[RupeeClock]

If you want it specifically for watching movies, then DSTwo would be your best bet.
On the other hand she is very young and might be prone to deleting files by accident, but the Acekard 2i can be set-up easily with a child-safe lock.

 

[bsk997]

Thanks for everybody's opinion!

I don't mind converting all her disney movies to dpg as long as that will give me the best picture quality. It shouldn't take long to set up the conversion and just leave it.
I've read that doing the conversion of a bigger sized avi/divx to the smaller resolution of the dsi on the fly causes some degradation in the pic quality.

I think I will try the acekard 2i right now and if it doesn't meet my expectations then I'll get the dstwo.


Anybody have a good clean guide to covert movies over to dpg? I'm looking for the best picture quality and not too concerned with speed.
Thanks!

 

[shamiko_]

Thanks for everybody's opinion!

I don't mind converting all her disney movies to dpg as long as that will give me the best picture quality. It shouldn't take long to set up the conversion and just leave it.
I've read that doing the conversion of a bigger sized avi/divx to the smaller resolution of the dsi on the fly causes some degradation in the pic quality.

I think I will try the acekard 2i right now and if it doesn't meet my expectations then I'll get the dstwo.


Anybody have a good clean guide to covert movies over to dpg? I'm looking for the best picture quality and not too concerned with speed.
Thanks!

xilisoft video converters do very well at convertng vides (even .dgp's) not free but you know what to do next

 

[RupeeClock]

Thanks for everybody's opinion!

I don't mind converting all her disney movies to dpg as long as that will give me the best picture quality. It shouldn't take long to set up the conversion and just leave it.
I've read that doing the conversion of a bigger sized avi/divx to the smaller resolution of the dsi on the fly causes some degradation in the pic quality.

I think I will try the acekard 2i right now and if it doesn't meet my expectations then I'll get the dstwo.


Anybody have a good clean guide to covert movies over to dpg? I'm looking for the best picture quality and not too concerned with speed.
Thanks!

The moonshell download package should come with both the DS homebrew files, and some Windows utilities.
Among those you'll find DPGENC.exe, this is all you need to convert video to DPG files, they should be of suitable quality.
DPGENC can also download videos directly from youtube links.