New Review - AceKard

[trebus]

AceKard just needs to work on thier software more to be much more stable and take out the frustations. Drag and drop is much more convenient and I'm sure the DS-X is very useful for trimming games and so on. I guess people just want to have a choice of dragging and dropping their games rather than being forced to use a game manager.

hksh- You're not really good at english are you? I was just using a lot of sarcasm about the game manager thing. Don't worry I'm chinese also.

Edit: -Ex-, noone is arguing that the Acekard is not full of faults. We all know what the problems are from the product but what hksh is talking about is the strengths of the product. We all know how bad the cons and but it is not really that problematic. It's just an extra hassle to people with it's problem right now.

People are now rather than buying it, waiting and seeing if these issues are going to be fixed or not. DS-Xtreme is a superior product which is noone is arguing with but some people are ready to look over the flaws of the AceKard for the strengths which is the 100% compatibility and the cheap pricing along with the use of Micro SD cards. People that do not want the DS-Xtreme due to it's firmware not allowing it 100% compatibility like they have claimed and the restrictions of the 512mb card.

 

[-EX-]

trebus, don't even try to justify it. The pros of Acekard will NEVER be able to make up for its cons, period. Furthermore, yes, it uses large removable media, but what's the point of it without fragmentation?! The 100% compatibility also fails, as I don't want to select the save type myself for each new game, many people wll agree with me on this.

 

[trebus]

That is true but people are willing to overlook the cons in favour of the pros. Which is what I am implying.

 

[hksh]

-EX- I have to say I didn't really read the post very carefully ;p My bad. I agree with you on the problems it has, the ony thing that annoys me a little is that why DS-X gets such a high comment ? It has flaws too, right?

to trebus:
Yep, my English is so and so, and it's bad enough not seeing the sarcasm behind it...

 

[hksh]

-EX-
so far, it's still 100% compatible while DS-X already has problems with some games right? Untill it's proved, Acekard is still the one has the best compatibility. And it hasn't failed yet, agree?

And I do hate that FREE SPACE problem too, hope they'll solve it future. And about the save type, what I see is the team is keeping updating the database which ease the game play a lot, right? ;p

 

[robbierotten]

It can't be denied... acecard is the only card that can play every game.

As for drag dropping clean rom files onto a mem card is just stupid... without trimming you're just throwing away memory space on an already cramped 1/2 a GB memory space.

I get the saying 'you get what you pay for', but does anyone ever balance that argument with the phrase 'throwing you're money down the drain' ?

 

[OSW]

I do like the Acekard for its great compatibility and the fact that it's "future proof". That's really a good thing.
But in my everyday life I won't be using it. It's not easy to use and the software is instable.
And I can't test my DS homebrew on it... I really need that feature to develop DS apps.

The fastest way for me to play a .nds (homebrew or game) is to open the .zip, drag & drop from winrar to my dsx, put my dsx in my DS and turn it on. That's priceless for me when it comes to flashcarts.

quoted for truth. ease of use is the reason why people use stuff. if not, apple wouldnt be selling millions of ipods. windows wouldnt be the #1 OS. etc. there may be other products out there that are cheaper, offer better things, but they arent easier to use. the ds-x offers the most easiest (yes i said that on purpose) thing ever. download, drop it onto the USB device, play. you cant argue with that, and the price is worth it imo.

Ease if use of ds-x is great, i agree. But the ipod example sucks. So many mp3 players are drag and drop, yet apple forces people to use itunes which of course doesnt provide the greatest ease of use.

 

[Destructobot]

Is there a compatibility list for the Acekard? I keep seeing 100% but noone seems to be backing this claim up. Is everyone just assuming it's true, or is there real info to prove it?

 

[trebus]

http://wiki.scorpei.com/index.php/AceKard_compatibility_list

Here 100% compatibility. They need to work out the Kinks with the download play and so on.

Edit: So far the Chinese people have found not even one game not being able to run. Also, GBAtemp also tried testing a lot of games and all of them ran. The Acekard Guy also said they have tested every game that has been released and all of them run whether you trust him or not.

 

[jpxdude]

A DS-X Manager came out today, version 2.2, which really has the sole function of trimming roms.

The recent windows only update and now this manager demonstrates that it is not fully compatible with all OS's, but the fact that these are being developed regardless is nice. I do feel any subsequent firmware updates should be drag & drop like the Ninja DS is.

I think they should create a DS-X Lite version, which just removes the lights on the unit (ironically). I should think that would cut the overall cost enough to make it the most uncompromisingly attractive solution. IMHO, the price is the biggest deterent.

 

[jpxdude]

http://wiki.scorpei.com/index.php/AceKard_compatibility_list

Here 100% compatibility. They need to work out the Kinks with the download play and so on.

Edit: So far the Chinese people have found not even one game not being able to run. Also, GBAtemp also tried testing a lot of games and all of them ran. The Acekard Guy also said they have tested every game that has been released and all of them run whether you trust him or not.

They really need to bring this list up-to-date

20 out of 712 entries doesn't prove anything

 

[Costello]

jpxdude, I would tend to believe that Acekard does have 100% compatibility. I can "feel" it because of the way Acekard uses to boot the roms. So I believe that.

About drag&drop, one must be blind or playing the fool for not being able to realize the advantages.
First example that comes to my mind is when I develop a homebrew app, which I do, I need to test it about 3 times per minute

I'm of the likes who add a line of code, compile and test.

With the acekard I would have to remove the Acekard from my DS, insert my microSD card, open the game manager, remove the previous rom (or format... but once in a while the program does that for me without I even have to ask) and flash the new rom, remove my microSD, put it in the acekard, put the acekard in the DS.
I said I "would" because my homebrew won't work with the acekard.
Anyway, that's 8 steps.
With the DSX: I leave it in my DS and connect it to my pc with the usb cable, drag & drop the rom on the drive (click "yes" to erase when asked), disconnect the cable. That's 3 steps. 8 vs 3.

I know what you'll say: "of course the acekard isn't meant for homebrew". All right then.

 

[jpxdude]

Fair play

To be honest, I admire both cards, and the reason for bringing up these points is to highlight what I felt were undercooked parts of this discussion. The favouritism of both DS-X and AceKard camps have pigeon-holed the topic on a 'mine is better than yours' thing.

It's still really early days for both cards, which reminds me of the days with the SC and M3, whereby the M3 was always predominently better than the SC in both DS and GBA support. Ironically, the SC support improved a lot while still remaining cheap.

It was still not as superior in sense of build, or support of the M3, but the NDS functionality and homebrew 'matched' up to the M3 and is as successful in the market. Now I think the M3 team have been pressured to segment their pro 'ranges' to match with the cheaper 'nds only' support of the SC at the moment. Cheap can be cheerful

For one thing, it's a pretty exciting time right for the scene with all these new slot 1 developments. I forecast an M3 and SC slot-1 variant sooner than most think

 

[DavePS]

Anyone know how I can order an Acekard from the UK direct. I'm impatient and do not want to wait for the international distributors to get on-line

 

[CronoTrig]

I do like the Acekard for its great compatibility and the fact that it's "future proof". That's really a good thing.
But in my everyday life I won't be using it. It's not easy to use and the software is instable.
And I can't test my DS homebrew on it... I really need that feature to develop DS apps.

The fastest way for me to play a .nds (homebrew or game) is to open the .zip, drag & drop from winrar to my dsx, put my dsx in my DS and turn it on. That's priceless for me when it comes to flashcarts.

quoted for truth. ease of use is the reason why people use stuff. if not, apple wouldnt be selling millions of ipods. windows wouldnt be the #1 OS. etc. there may be other products out there that are cheaper, offer better things, but they arent easier to use. the ds-x offers the most easiest (yes i said that on purpose) thing ever. download, drop it onto the USB device, play. you cant argue with that, and the price is worth it imo.

Ease if use of ds-x is great, i agree. But the ipod example sucks. So many mp3 players are drag and drop, yet apple forces people to use itunes which of course doesnt provide the greatest ease of use.

Pretty off topic here, but you can upload an OS named 'roxbox' to your iPod, which is open source and fully customizeable (and allows drag and drop; it acts as external storage).

 

[stop_loading]

how's the battery test going?

 

[shaunj66]

how's the battery test going?

The AceKard battery tests have been completed and results have been posted in both this thread and the review itself.

If you are asking about the DS-Xtreme, battery tests are still being run. Results should be up tonight.

 

[stop_loading]

how's the battery test going?

The AceKard battery tests have been completed and results have been posted in both this thread and the review itself.

If you are asking about the DS-Xtreme, battery tests are still being run. Results should be up tonight.

well there's no point on 1 result with nothing to compare, although i can say it's better than my m3 for sure

will you be running battery test on genuine cart as well?

 

[crazyshiza]

One benefit of their unique file system appears to be that all future games will work with the current version of the product. This can't be said about any other products. If all the teams die out and stop releasing updates the acekard will still be able to play all games while other cards won't. I'm not saying this will actually happen, but it's a potential benefit.

 

[stinkingbob]

I can't believe that some individuals would overlook the flaws in the AceKard only because it supposedly is 100% compatible with all nds roms.
So, lets settle this once and for all.

Here are the flaws of the ds-x:
- a FEW nds titles do not work (and I mean a few)

That's it. Just one(1). Price is not a flaw of the ds-x. It having 512Mb is not a flaw of the ds-x. Both of these were known months before before the ds-x was shipped.
I have a feeling soomeone will say the dancing lights is a flaw, but are not because they work like they are supposed to and you can turn them off.

Here are the flaws of the AceKard (as quoted fom Shauns review):
- Proprietary AceKard file system causes more problems than it solves
- Need to use buggy client software (Windows only) to transfer ROMs
- Doesn't auto detect game save types - need to wait for software updates to play the latest games or set the size manually (requires research)
- Some slowdowns occur in games even using an Ultra II Sandisk - the AceKard requires specific micro SD cards for best compatibility results
- Low download play (single cart multiplayer) support
- Poor build design means it's a tight fit in your DS slot
- GUI is not customisable
- Lack of extra features
- Very low homebrew compatibility

SO, looking at the cons of each product, can you honestly say that the AceKard is better than the ds-x??????