Hacking Slot2 decision (3in1,EZFlash4,Cyclods microsd)

[Chyper]

Hi there,

i want to buy a Slot2 Card. Currently i have a Slot1 Cyclods Evolution for the NDS stuff. But since I'm a big fan of many GBA Games, i need a Slot2 Card.

I narrowed my selection down to these 3 Cards:
CycloDS MicroSD (40 Eur)
EZ-Flash IV Lite (49 Eur)
EZ-Flash V 3in1 Expansion Pack (29 Eur)

Which one should i get?
Is the CycloDS MicroSD card any good? (I heard its a copy of the Supercard, but with better compatibility/stability).
The big disadvantage of the 3in1 is the fact, that you can only have 1 game on the card at a time.
About the EZ-Flash 4 Lite i read, that the card has the best compatibility of these 3 cards, is that right?

What do you think?

Thanks for your answers.
Chyper

 

[4saken]

Don't count on the CycloDS microSD having good GBA compatibility, unless the team manage to fix it using their slot 1 to slot 2 connection that they are promising.

You're right about the EZ4 Deluxe Lite having good compatibility though.

 

[FAST6191]

The cycloDS is a SC clone, avoid for GBA. SC GBA compatibility list: http://rothmans.joskeonline.com/supercardsite/ (other cards would be almost all green).

EZ 3 in 1, you store games on the DS slot cart and either write the to the RAM every time you want to play (rudolphs loader) or the NOR (slow but they stay there, also there is 32 Megabytes on the NOR (RAM is 16): roms over 128Mbit).

EZ4: same as 3 in 1 compatibility wise (they use the same software). Go for the EZ4 deluxe is you do as it has more RAM which makes playing GBA roms over 128mbit that much easier (other EZ4 models you have to burn to another section first).

You said you narrowed it down but I suppose I should mention the G6 and M3 as well, they both do GBA well but the G6 uses internal memory (making it a bit more expensive and limited space wise) and M3 is great but expensive.

 

[xcalibur]

I wonder... can you use rudolphs loader with the EZ4?
You say that they are the same, hardware wise

 

[FAST6191]

No but there was a "2 in 1" loader made by rudolph at the same time, the hardware is quite different but the software is very similar throughout (so much so that I could probably transplant the required sections and tidy up all the calls, jumps and the like between different clients/managers).

 

[Veho]

My vote goes to the EZFlash 4. One question, though. Is there a way to use it as the memory expansion to run the Opera browser from a Slot1 card?

 

[SkH]

Sorry, but I have to say: M3 PERFECT Lite! It's need microSD too (so it's expandable), drag-and-drop just like most Slot-1 (You just have to copy your .GBA files to the microSD!!), and it have perfect compatibility (that's what I heard). It have built-in RTC (Real Time Clock) fro example Pokemon, Harvest Moon. (There might be others, too!!) Saving fine too.

Oh, and you can use it for GBA Linkage, too!! IT'S A BIG ADVANTAGE!!!

So my vote goes to the M3 PERFECT Lite!!

BUT BEWARE!!!
BUY THE M3 PERFECT Lite!!! Because the other, cheaper version (the PROFESSIONAL) just have 8MB of RAM, and it's not enough for GBA games!!!

 

[xcalibur]

The EZF4 is better than the M3 perfect in terms of GBA compatibility

The M3 is full compatible with all GBA but some of them have glitches/slowdown. The RTC only affect Pokemon and you can patch it so the time does run(in game only, not when you switch it off)
paying twice as much for compatibility with one game more and a bunch of slowdowns in the others(not that bad) is not worth it

 

[Veho]

The M3 does have a built-in GBA Movie Player, though. Fine if you want to watch movies on a GBA, but sort of useless if you have a DS, and can run Moonshell and watch DPGs.

 

[FAST6191]

1) RTC patches exist, they allow in game time advancement (as opposed to when the game is on and when it is off). Not sure about harvest moon though, boktai was the only other real time clock game I know of.

2) At veho yeah, if the homebrew stuff does not cut it for you then cory1492 made a patch:
http://ezflash.sosuke.com/viewtopic.php?t=5139&start=0

 

[Chyper]

thanks for your answers.
I think i go for the EZFlash 4 lite :-)

 

[cory1492]

thanks for your answers.
I think i go for the EZFlash 4 lite :-)

Good choice

I replaced my EZ4 miniSD version with the EZ4 lite deluxe when it came along, but was never disappointed with the original version.

 

[Chyper]

hmm...i got one other question :-)

i saw that the normal EZ Flash 4 Lite has the following memory onboard
- 128Mbit PSRAM
- 256Mbit NORflash
- 32MBit Loader
- 8 Mbit for saves

The newer EZ Flash 4 Lite Deluxe has:
# 256Mb PSRAM (32 Mbytes)
# 384Mb NorFLASH (48Mbytes)
# 32Mb Loader (4 Mbytes)
# 8Mb saver SRAM (1Mbyte)

Which GBA games do need the amount of memory of the deluxe card?

 

[4saken]

A new one O_O

That's news to me

What is the price difference? The first one has support for all games (up to 32MB, which is the current largest amount)

 

[KidIce]

The EZFlash 4 lite is the first generation of EZ4 lites and has been replaced by the Deluxe and Compact models. Despite the fact that it no longer made it is still a very competent product and uses the same firmware as it's successors. It's better then the the Compact (mostly useless for GBA) and most users won't find it any worse then the Deluxe.

Almost all GBA releases are 128 Mb or less. 256 Mb GBA ROM's are extremely rare, the bulk of those being Japanese only or compilations (eg 2 Games in 1 - Sonic Battle + ChuChu Rocket! (EU)). Sting likes to make original 256 Mb games (Riviera, Yggdra Union) in English versions, but almost no one else does.

Oh wait! Most of those GBA video carts by Majesco are 256Mb aren't they?

Anyway... I wouldn't let the 256 Mb vs 128 Mb of PSRAM effect which cart you choose. They both can run 256 GBA games anyway, and that's the largest GBA ROM you will EVER find (it's a limitation of the GBA slot). 256 Mb games are rare enough that even though you have to burn them to NOR on the EZ4 lite (non-deluxe/compact) that it's hard to imagine anyone having a problem w/ that. I mean I burned Riviera to NOR anyway on my deluxe as it took too long to copy to PSRAM.

If the EZ4 Lite is significantly cheaper then the Deluxe, it may be worth your while. Most places I've looked however it's not. It's a lot harder to get the microSD out of a Lite then a Deluxe. The EZ4 Lite Deluxe looks almost exactly like like your DS lite's dust cover, the old EZ4 lite sticks out just short of a millimeter and doesn't have the extra flange that for the DS lite that GBA games lack... Thats about it really. Uhmm, I guess if any developer decided to take advantage of the 256 Mb of RAM in the Deluxe then you wouldn't have enough of it w/ a Lite, but no one seems to have bothered thus far.

 

[Chyper]

Thanks KidIce for your detailed answer. So the Deluxe Edition isn't a must have.
I live in Germany and I've only found a single shop which has the EZ Flash 4 lite (non deluxe edition). Therefore i don't have much of a choice than to get the normal version. I hope the handling of the microsd cards isn't that bad :-)

Or maybe someone has a recommendation for a Shop which ships to Germany and has the EZ Flash 4 lite Deluxe for a decent price? :-)
I think always that it's better to buy hardware at a domestic shop, because of possible warranty issues in the future.

 

[Veho]

I'd recommend Bamboogaming. Expect a price of around 30 Euro, with shipping included (I don't know about customs, depends on your local customs regulations). You get the card with a white and a black case (or you can order a pink one instead of the black one, no extra cost), and a USB microSD card reader. The downside: you don't get the original packaging, you get it in a padded envelope, and you don't get a software CD, you have to download it yourself.

I've done a lot of comparison shopping before I bought the EZF4, and this is the best offer.

 

[Chyper]

wow, 32Eur with shipping for the deluxe edition...sounds good. The dealer is reliable?

 

[ssoccerh]

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1020

g6 lite for 45 us dollars

its chinese but easy to use

 

[xcalibur]

But is the GBA compatibility anything like the EZ4's?