Hacking R4 or EZV -- Hard decision - Please give advice

[khameleon]

Hello, I am looking to buy a slot 1 card, I have come down to R4 vs. EZV but I don't know which to choose. I will probably buy 2 of whichever, one for me and one for my GF, so I want to get the best.

I have read reviews for both and both seem to have great compatability, can play online WFC, and seem to be good for homebrew as well. EZV got a 8.5 and R4 got a 9.0 -- still too close to choose without more info.

What should I buy? R4 or EZV ???

Now, which do you think is better? How do you feel about the following things:

1. Spring-loaded micro slot. I hear the spring on the R4 can break and then you are stuck with a broken R4? The EZV has no spring, but the slot is on the side and not on the top, so it is a pain to always have to take out the whole thing to take out the memory card.

2. Firmware - which firmware has better support, more updates and is easier to use? The user interface which is better?

3. Homebrew/emulators - After reading the reviews it seems both are good here. But, does one have any big advantage over the other for homebrew games and emulators?

4. Price - I can get either one for about $35 from winsunx so the price doesn't matter to me.

5. Durability - Well, EZV looks like it has something sticking out under the sticker correct? R4 is built great, but the spring loader might break? Which do you think will hold up without breaking for longer?

Last thing, I see many posts where the R4 USB reader actually destroyed many customers memory cards, is the reader still doing this?

Ok, please answer my questions above and give your opinion, what should I buy?

 

[darksavior]

from reading the gbatemp review of the ez5, it sounds like a pain to work with. Patching a rom with the hybrid tool if it runs too slow?
R4 all the way. I throw in the roms on the microsd, and play. Nothing to it. I like the simplicity

Some answers to your R4 questions:
I have two R4's, one which ive had for a month. Spring works fine.

R4 Firmware support has been constant and all they've added was features like ebook, soft reset. Nothing about compatibility because it runs every game out of the box.

Homebrew is slowly being updated to work with R4's and other slot1's with dldi.

I think the cart design of the ez5 is inefficient, the chip is just covered by a sticker...R4 is exactly like a real cart

Finally, about the card reader: I have one of the original readers (transparent blue) and my problems were the occasional freezing of explorer or the whole pc. The R4 i got on friday has a new transparent black reader. No freezes so far, but overall speed transfer is slow. I suggest buying a card reader. Doesn't really matter in speed in your case because ez5 doesn't even come with a reader.

It's also nice the R4 comes with a case that holds 2 carts.

 

[plasticmonkeys]

I would go with an R4 since the EzflashV seems to have extra option that makes its a bit less easy to work with.
Just like darksavior, just throw some roms in and play, its that simple. The only thing is that the GUI is a bit dull and simple but sure does it job.
Just purchased 4 chinese R4's and was lucky to get the first batch with the recent goodies from WINSUNX, so good luck if you want to convert your chinese to english R4's. Don't know if they will give you the new one or not.

1. The spring-loaded micro slot seems perfectly fine with my R4's, I recently purchased 4 R4's so far two seem fined since I been testing only two so far, and the other two were in good shape when I opened the box and tested it out.

2. The firmware, I don't know but R4 does get frequent firmware updates, but ez-flashV I think you just need to update the ROM list or something I'm not sure.

3. Homebrew as darksavior is being worked on

4. the price, well if you are as cheap as me, I went ahead and purchased chinese r4 which was another 5 dollars less....which i dont recommend now since they revised the 3rd batch with no tin pad for language conversion unless you feel really lucky

5. The R4 itself seems pretty solid, I would also guess that the EzflashV would be too but just has a chip sticking slightly out.

I have the new USB trasnflash reader(the tiny one) and it does occassionally have problems or its just transfer pretty slowly. So I would just purchase a decent card reader which aren't that expensive.

 

[khameleon]

Thanks for your info. I think I will go with R4 then. If I do, I will order the english versions just to be safe.

I just saw the supercard one review when I got home and it got an 8.5, so now theres 3 good ones I guess, but R4 still has the highest score 9.0 and seems like the easiest to use, so I will go with them.

Well, anyone else that wants to chip in with more info, go ahead, maybe more people want to know more about each opne and which is the best, Thanks again.

 

[Opium]

1. Spring-loaded micro slot- I haven't heard of many cases where the spring on the R4's microSD slot breaks. I'd certainly want a spring-loaded slot on the EZ-V. However it's not a major concern or problem. Being side loaded is great for the two reasons I said in my review, it makes the EZ-V look like an official game card and you have no chance of losing your microSD card as it's not exposed.

2. Firmware - R4 trumps the EZ-V at the moment. It has soft reset and the EZ-V doesn't. The EZTeam seems to be busy fixing bugs at the moment not introducing new features. The R4 team seem to have everything under control and are releasing new firmware updates often.

3. Homebrew/emulators - At the moment I prefer the homebrew support on the EZ-V. One prime example is Warcraft Tower Defense. It works fine on the EZ-V and Supercard DS One but not the R4 or M3 Simply. I'd see the EZ-V as more of a homebrew friendly card than the R4 but that's just me.

4. Price - Both about the same although the R4 comes with a microSD reader. If you already have one though then it's a non-issue.

5. Durability - The label on my EZ-V is actually starting to rub off slightly because of the chip poking through. It's a very sturdy card, it doesn't rattle or anything but that chip is a bit annoying.

 

[SkuiD87]

Keep in mind though that with the R4DS there are quite a few users that have had issues with the Supplied MicroSD reader (corrupting the MicroSD card etc).

The guys at R4 have shipped several different readers, some of which work and others that will just destroy your card. You're probably better off just buying a new reader altogether but if you wanna see if your one will work visit the following post. Some guys have posted pics of some working/non-working readers.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=430...ndpost&p=551981

Hope this helps...

 

[yee]

I have an EZ5, and I have no regrets.

 

[khameleon]

Keep in mind though that with the R4DS there are quite a few users that have had issues with the Supplied MicroSD reader (corrupting the MicroSD card etc).

The guys at R4 have shipped several different readers, some of which work and others that will just destroy your card. You're probably better off just buying a new reader altogether but if you wanna see if your one will work visit the following post. Some guys have posted pics of some working/non-working readers.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=430...ndpost&p=551981

Hope this helps...

Yea, if I buy the R4 I probably will not even try the reader that comes with it as its not worth the risk, I'll use the one I have here or if it doesn't fit, I'll get one at tigerdirect near my house or at newegg online.

This is one thing I don't like is R4 sent out defective readers that cost customers alot of money when it destroyed their memory cards. Sure, it is a "free" extra in the package, but that seems very crappy that they sent such a defective thing out like that. It brings down the overall product, so they should leave it out since its not working right and only caused trouble for the most part.

It will be $90 including shipping to USA for 2 R4s[English Version] from winsunx, I think this is the best deal around right?

 

[mikeosoft]

hey lindsay brohan, i just wanted to throw my two cents in:

i am new to the ds scene, having just purchased my black ds lite 3 weeks ago. i went with the EZ5 because i wanted to be different.

i couldn't be any happier. i grabbed a 12 dollar kingston micro flash from newegg ( here http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.ph...errerid=125031), and i was in heaven. homebrew is never a prollem, for games i just drag and drop into the microsd root folder. this card is great. no regrets with the EZ5 my brotha from anotha mutha.

hope that helps -dubs

 

[khameleon]

I ordered 2 X R4DS TF Adapter [English Version] just now at Winsunx and it was $87.91 with shipping.

I think both R4 and EZV both seem great, but I went with this as it seems to have more people supporting it and with positive reviews.

Well, I will let you guys know how it performs once I get it, Thanks!

 

[mugenk]

since i test both... and also the ninjapass X9.

i would advice you the R4DS. really easy to use and i never had problem with it. and the spring slot didn't broke yet

i test the EZV, and it was difficult to understand how to you since there is only the cart in the box, nothing else, so i didn't know how to make it work. then i go on EZV team website, i found the kernel i could easily upgrade it, but the shell i couldn't download it because the link was broken, so i must i find it on the sosuke's website for support.

then when everything was set, i try some games... and no one works at all o_o... because i didn't set the speed, and i didn't know how to find the way to set it... so i push any button until i find out... it was L+R. then i use the recommend speed for my micro SD (a sandisk)

then now games works. i try castlevania portrait of ruin. and it did like my previous ninjapass X9, the game crash if i push the button start.

i try mario hoops, the games works, but sometimes there are some part of the game slow down (after choosing characters, the sound slow down)

i didn't try hybrid rom.

R4 is a really fine solution

 

[corbs132]

I think the spring stories are a rare amount of people, the card readers are a real problem though (for the r4). Honestly, get an r4. I got one and couldn't be happier with it. (homebrew isn't too great, but with dldi anything canwork on it that is made from then on, and some older things are being updated with it.)

 

[championboxer]

yup... was torn between a R4 and EZV at first...
but in the end.. gone with a R4.....

: )
go for it...

 

[khameleon]

Well, here is an update.

I purchased: 2 X R4DS TF Adapter [English Version] = $87.91 with shipping @ Winsunx

I completed the purchase on 2/3/07 @ the website with Paypal

The package was sent out 2/4/07 from China

The packaged arrived here in Miami today 2/6/07 (pretty fast!)

Now I am waiting on 2 Kingston 1GB microSD from newegg. They were only $12.99 each

I will let you know how these R4s work once I get the SD cards on Thursday.

 

[Tanas]

This is the R4 card reader that you want, I've had 3 of these and have no problems whatsoever with any of them.

 

[khameleon]

This is the R4 card reader that you want, I've had 3 of these and have no problems whatsoever with any of them.

I looked in the boxes quickly this morning before I left and I saw that I got the black ones with both my R4s.

I'm still not sure I will ever use them though, maybe I will sell them or something, are sure that all the black ones work without causing any errors or damage to the micro cards?

 

[PGGBoy]

This is the R4 card reader that you want, I've had 3 of these and have no problems whatsoever with any of them.


I looked in the boxes quickly this morning before I left and I saw that I got the black ones with both my R4s.

I'm still not sure I will ever use them though, maybe I will sell them or something, are sure that all the black ones work without causing any errors or damage to the micro cards?

I got my R4, one R4 DS+ Sandisk microSD TransFlash(1G), work fine so far. I read the review(http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=41279), seems the compatibility of R4 is good, so i decided to buy the R4

 

[Vincent Vega]

EZ Team has announced the Triple Pack.
For now, I think EZ-Flash V is the most promising choice.

 

[darksavior]

i've been using that black card reader for a while. no probs yet.
the blue one i got problems the same day i got it

 

[adgloride]

The card reader Tanas posted a pic of is the one my neighbour got when he got his R4 last week. The one I got was the blue one, it worked but it looks cheap. The one my neighbour got looked really good quality. I would choose the R4 over the EZV.

Main reason being the firmwares easy to update and its only a matter of putting the microsd in the card reader and dragging the roms over. Thats unless you want to trim the roms first which is easy with the R4 program.