Hacking Looking to purchase a CycloDS but I have a few questions

[taggart6]

howdy all,

I'm looking to purchase a Cyclo DS as a gift and I have a few questions.

Do updates still come regularly?

Is video slowdown still in issue (such as in Castlevania: POR) ?

What brand and size of SD card do people recommend? I'm looking to max out with a 8gb Sandisk but I remember hearing that the 4gb Kingston have a better performance/compatibility rate.

I'm thinking of going with this or a M3 Sakura. Thanks for the help!

 

[Blaze163]

I'm using a Cyclo with an 8GB card and I rarely have any serious problems with it, never any problems that can't be solved by switching it off and on again. I've never noticed any slow down on any videos, not even on ones I play via Moonshell. Updates are still fairly regular and if there's no update to bypass a problem, chances are the guys and gals here will come up with a cheat code that solves whatever problem you're having. Case and point, Chrono Trigger. Within about 2 hours of the anti-piracy check being discovered, it had been bypassed and was working perfectly.

 

[Chrono_Tata]

The updates still come regularly (last update was released just about a week or two ago*). Not as fast as some other carts but I'd say it's acceptable.

Castlevania POR still has problems, but that is really a problem with the MicroSD rather than flashcarts since they happen regardless of which flashcarts you use.

I don't think it would be necessary to buy a Kingston 4GB just to play a few problem games (POR is really the only one that has major problems anyway). Might as well just go for a bigger card.

*Edit: Scrap that. New update got released just earlier today.

 

[taggart6]

Thanks all!

On a side note, would it be better to go with a DSi compatible flashcart like the Acekard 2i?

How does it compare to the M3DS Real?

 

[Fyga]

For the M3DS Real comparison I can personally say CyEvo's a much better choice.

As for the AK2i, I know overall CyEvo's the better choice there, but what I've usually seen is people purchasing it over the CyEvo when they're not willing to spend as much.

Example: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=156156 (*read elixirdream's post, it's excellent)


EDIT: I probably should've said something about the DSi thing; if you haven't got one, you probably won't transition for quite a while so it shouldn't be a worry. That part of the decision depends on how soon you think you'll get a DSi. (Team Cyclops will have theirs out eventually)

 

[Chrono_Tata]

Yeah, the DSi compatible carts are virtually the same as their non-DSi counterparts, just more expensive. Unless you plan on buying a DSi there's really no point paying more for one. It has been semi-confirmed that Team Cyclops will be releasing one.

As for how the Cyclo fares against the M3Real, I'd say the Real has 3 main advantages over the Cyclo.

1) Cheaper
2) Much nicer GUI (Sakura omg)
3) Very good Slot-2 integration (Support patching GBA roms with cheat in-GUI, speed up Sakura, etc.) Only support their own expansion cart though and not more widely-used carts like the EZ-Flash 3-in-1

The Cyclo though, feature-wise, I'd say is superior. It has the very useful in-game guide feature and I heard Cyclo's RTS performs better than the Real's RTS. The enhanced menu on the Cyclo is very nice as well. One thing I find slightly off-putting about the Real at the moment is that there are 2 firmwares, Sakura and Touchpod, and while Sakura is fine for most things you still has to boot up the (rather bad) old firmware sometimes to launch some things, mostly homebrews.

But I'd say the Real is still a very good choice. Feature-wise it's up there with the top-range carts like the Cyclo Evo and the Supercard One. Personally I prefer the Cyclo myself.

 

[taggart6]

Thanks for the great advice! I've decided to purchase the CycloDS. Can any one recommend a good site to purchase one from? The cyclods homepage is down and I can't access their suppliers.

This would be for the USA.


Thanks!

 

[Fyga]

GameByGame (formerly known as DealWoot) is the most reliable site I've used/seen, & it's usually the most recommended. Not really necessary to list others

 

[taggart6]

THanks!

Does any one know if the Cyclo DS Evo is compatible with the G6 Lite for GBA games?

I have a g6 lite and I wanted to pair it with the Evo rather then havign to buy an EZ Flash 3 in 1.

 

[Fyga]

It is, and I felt I should link you to the Cyclo Wiki page just in case:

http://cyclods.theta.in/wiki/GBA_ROMs

 

[Chrono_Tata]

You can use it with the GBAExploader tool. Not on the Cyclo's GUI though.

 

[taggart6]

Thanks for the help and the link!

 

[taggart6]

Can any one recommend a solid micro sd card for the cyclo?

I want something 8gb and from the CycloDS wiki, it sound slike a class 6 card is the the best you can get. It's fast enough to play Portrait of Ruin with no problems.

I was going to get this:

http://www.amazon.com/Transcend-Class-micr..._pr_product_top

What do people think?

is there a compatibility chart out there?

 

[taggart6]

Got the Cyclo DS Eveo and tried out with 64mb Sd card. neat littel card with a smooth interface.

opurchased an 8gb Kingston microsd and 8gb Transcend

Used HD Tech and saw both have a 2.0 ms Random Access Time.


So I'm pretty diaspointed now. My guess is that this only affect portrait of ruin, but I'm still bummed.

I wonder if all 8gb cards are slow and if I should try grabbing a 4gb.

Any suggestions?

 

[taggart6]

wow...some interesting thigngs to report.


I reformated the transcend 8gb using the panasonic SDFormatter v2.0 app and then ran HD Tach with the microSD in a kingston USB adapter.

RAT is on avg. 0.8 ms with the USB adapter and 2.0ms on avg with a SD adapter and my internal SD reader


Did the same for the kingston found:

RAT is on avg 1.1ms with USB ADapter and 2.1ms with SD Adapter.



The kingston is Japanese Class 4 and the transcend is chinese class 6.


I'll havw to try with POR and see what happens. Looks like the class 6 Transcend might be a winner.