I hate to sound pessimistic on this, but there are too many red flags being thrown not to say something. I do hope I'm wrong here, but this is my logic telling me what's wrong with this adapter.
Also note that a full size SD card WILL stick out of the unit, according to them.
Reasons I suspect it's a sham:
1) the icons used in the first picture on the product information page are IDENTICAL to the icons used on the M3 menu
2) the Picture of the SD card in the unit is pixel for pixel identical to the picture to the right of that that shows the RS-MMC completely inserted (aside from the SD card pixels). What does this mean? it's a photoshop job and not an actual picture of the unit with an SD card in it.
3) in all the pictures of the unit, except for the bottom one, they don't show the slot at all, and the bottom one does not have any media inserted, AND is at a horrible angle, further making it difficult to discern just what, exatly, it's for..
4) "- Low Power Comsumption. For GBA SP 10 hours, GBM 9 hours, NDS 5.5 hours." (neglecting the poor spelling) the low power consumption on NDS at 5.5 is actually pretty bad, since most every DS with an M3, Supercard, EZ4, or any other flashcart for that matter, can run, on average, around 8-9 hours, it makes me suspicious as to what they're saying here.. pulling it out of a hat, perhaps?
5) There is a total lack of specifications on that website describing anything FOR that adapter. The M3 and Supercard both have detailed information available on their website as to what the units are - what kind of memory they have built in, whether it supports the RTC, etc... this unit has no such information.
6) whois information for both ndsgba.net and minionlinestore.com is IDENTICAL (see below). This is important because minionlinestore.com is the only reseller I can find of this product. Seeing that they're both by the same company suggests that this product is BS - i.e. noone else does, or will, carry this product. The fact that they differentiate from the two stores, as if they WEREN'T the same company, only adds to my suspicion.
WHOIS Record For
ndsgba.net
Registrant:
Yuen Wai Keung
Unit 7, 10/F., Block M, Sunshine City
Ma On Shan, Shatin
Hong Kong, 12345
HK
Registrar: NAMESDIRECT
Domain Name: NDSGBA.NET
Created on: 03-MAY-06
Expires on: 04-MAY-07
Last Updated on: 03-MAY-06
Administrative, Technical Contact:
Wai Keung, Yuen
[email protected]
Yuen Wai Keung
Unit 7, 10/F., Block M, Sunshine City
Ma On Shan, Shatin
Hong Kong, 12345
HK
61870608
WHOIS Record For
minionlinestore.com
Registrant:
Yuen Wai Keung
Unit 7, 10/F., Block M, Sunshine City
Ma On Shan, Shatin
Hong Kong, HK 12345
HK
Registrar: NAMESDIRECT
Domain Name: MINIONLINESTORE.COM
Created on: 20-NOV-02
Expires on: 20-NOV-06
Last Updated on: 25-OCT-05
Administrative, Technical Contact:
Wai Keung, Yuen
[email protected]
Yuen Wai Keung
Unit 7, 10/F., Block M, Sunshine City
Ma On Shan, Shatin
Hong Kong, HK 12345
HK
852-61870608
7) minionlinestore.com is also listing a CD set of NDS ROMs.. This is highly illegal, and no other online retailer/wholesaler of backup kits for the NDS or GBA would ever list such a product. try to find one on www.divineo.com or www.kicktrading.com, or even www.winsunx.com. Doesn't exist, won't exist. These companies continue to exist because what they sell is fully legal. The fact that minionlinestore.com chooses to sell illegal backups of games is highly suspect, and may get them shut down very soon.
8) at ndsgba.net click on support on the left, then in the website that pops up, click on UMC Operation Guide. Look carefully at the pictures for GBA Console mode and NDS Console mode. notice the second picture for NDS console mode. That picture and the one shown for GBA Console mode are pixel for pixel identical. The NDS has a resolution of 256x192, whereas the GBA has a resolution of 240x160. The NDS and GBA menus cannot be identical as they're shown, so it's easy to tell that the top picture is obviously NOT of GBA console mode - this could mean they were simply lazy and just used the picture for NDS mode as GBA mode as they're "nearly" the same, but it also raises suspicions as to the validity of this product
9) looking at the video tutorial of the product listed under "support" provides more clues to the lack of this products validity. the EXTREMELY blurry video only shows, definitively, that their product can accept an RS-MMC card (which I've never seen before, but that doesn't mean the product doesn't exist). We still cannot discern if the product will work at all.
Right now my brain hurts and I don't want to look at this poorly colored product anymore. But there ARE more reasons that this product is fake, but once again, this is JUST opinion, and I can't verify whether or not the product truly exists. Hopefully meccabolix will receive his unit soon and it will live up to the promise, in which case, color me wrong. I'll be happy to recant everything I've said here, as it's good to see healthy competition.
Hope this helps,
-Tak
