R4 Clone vs. Original

zandatsu

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Planning to buy my first R4 when i received my DS Lite and my only choice right now is to buy the clone because i don't know where to buy an original one. Is it good to use the clone r4 for the YSmenu and use gbc and gba emulator? will it function the same as the original?
 

Sypherone

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Cant tell difference in function between original and clones. But iam using a R4 clone ( R4i gold 3DS) and never got problems. So aslong you dont want to something specific, you should be fine. But the gba games will be emulated on a DS, so some may not run 100% perfect and none DSi games. And you dont need to use YS-Menu, there exists also TWLmenu++ for flashcards.
At the moment is also a DSone clone available which is nearly the original. But there is chance of 1 to 3 you get a faulty and only YS-menu or TWLmenu++ can be used on it, not the original kernel/OS.

Edit: About R4 Cards and kernel timebombs. Which means the kernel/OS needs to be updated maybe every 2 years, else the card is blocked for usage.
By using nds_bootstrap for flashcards (YS-, TWLmenu) you will never have to do with this. In case there exists a flashcard archiv with uptodate kernels for many cards.
But as example, my original kernel (R4i-gold.eu) was timbombed and no new ones where available. So i have a kernel from a different manufacturer of the same clone card (R4i-sdhc.com) and since 2018 strangly not timbombed.
 
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zandatsu

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Cant tell difference in function between original and clones. But iam using a R4 clone ( R4i gold 3DS) and never got problems. So aslong you dont want to something specific, you should be fine. But the gba games will be emulated on a DS, so some may not run 100% perfect and none DSi games. And you dont need to use YS-Menu, there exists also TWLmenu++ for flashcards.
At the moment is also a DSone clone available which is nearly the original. But there is chance of 1 to 3 you get a faulty and only YS-menu or TWLmenu++ can be used on it, not the original kernel/OS.
Nice, planning to finish my oracle of ages game and hopefully the save file will work there and the other gbc games too
 

master801

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You can buy an original R4 on Ebay or AliExpress if you really need / want one (they're the no label cart). I personally don't recommend them when you can get something else like an DSONE or Acekard 2, since you're gonna be using it on a NDS Lite.

Using an original R4, the only advantage you'll have is WoodR4 compatibility. Meaning most games can be played without patches.

The advantage with a DSONE, is it has a CPU physically in the cart, so it has a real-time cheat menu. Very good game compatibility as well.

AceKard 2 is a decent choice as well. It doesn't have a CPU physically in the cart like a DSONE, but the menu is pretty and functional like WoodR4.

And the R4 clones... They work, but they're not a great experience compared to the DSONE and AceKard 2. A clone like the r4isdhc.com is okay since it has a real-time cheat menu similar to the DSONE (although not the same experience) and has WoodR4 (albeit a very outdated version). The only problem with the r4isdhc.com R4 clones, is the time bomb. The flashcart will stop working after a certain date due to the kernel. This can be bypassed however, by using YSMenu.

I won't mention the R4i Gold 3DS Plus because they're not available on the market to buy.

tl;dr Buy a DSONE. If you can't, buy an AceKard 2. If you can't.... buy an R4i SDHC Gold Pro (r4isdhc.com version). If you really can't... I don't know what else to tell you.
 
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FAST6191

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You can buy an original R4 on Ebay or AliExpress if you really need / want one (they're the no label cart). I personally don't recommend them when you can get something else like an DSONE or Acekard 2, since you're gonna be using it on a NDS Lite.

Using an original R4, the only advantage you'll have is WoodR4 compatibility. Meaning most games can be played without patches.

The advantage with a DSONE, is it has a CPU physically in the cart, so it has a real-time cheat menu. Very good game compatibility as well.

AceKard 2 is a decent choice as well. It doesn't have a CPU physically in the cart like a DSONE, but the menu is pretty and functional like WoodR4.

And the R4 clones... They work, but they're not a great experience compared to the DSONE and AceKard 2. A clone like the r4isdhc.com is okay since it has a real-time cheat menu similar to the DSONE (although not the same experience) and has WoodR4 (albeit a very outdated version). The only problem with the r4isdhc.com R4 clones, is the time bomb. The flashcart will stop working after a certain date due to the kernel. This can be bypassed however, by using YSMenu.

I won't mention the R4i Gold 3DS Plus because they're not available on the market to buy.

tl;dr Buy a DSONE. If you can't, buy an AceKard 2. If you can't.... buy an R4i SDHC Gold Pro (r4isdhc.com version). If you really can't... I don't know what else to tell you.
Minor correction.

DSOne (or more commonly back in the day SC ONE, yes people made many scone jokes) has no onboard CPU in the sense that most think of it when talking about DS cards*. That is the DSTwo with the onboard CPU that does all the fancy emulation and extra features, though the SC one still is very compatible and has some nice/example grade features for most things.

Both are rare as anything these days (nobody knows why they stopped making the DSTwo as there was still loads of demand), though we did see some clones of the DSone/scone https://gbatemp.net/threads/dsone-clones-appear-to-be-available-for-purchase.586226/ appear a little while back, quality can be dubious though.

*technically everything will have some measure of onboard CPU/programmable chip that functions as such, and in some cases while it might not give massive power for emulation it might speed up DLDI (that was a claim to fame of the EZ5i line) or something similar for extra features that baseline might find harder. When people talk about CPUs in flash carts for the DS they tend to mean the iplayer, ismart MM/iSMM or DSTwo, and most just want the DSTwo. Some particular jokers might speak of the DSX but we tend to shun those.
 
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