Hacking Which flash cards / carts do you recomend buying? [Solution]

[Ssseth]

One thing that I think is extremely important that does not seem to come up a lot is support from the company. Updates that come out when needed to run new games. At the end of the day the most important thing to me is that I can play the entire library of NDS games, including new ones. I wish their was more discussion in all the reviews/thread I've read about which of these companies is best with updates and which ones most likely will continue to update their firmware in the future.

 

[Bootsum]

I'm sorry for that stupid question ... but why does the EDGE deserve this??

Same here. I don't fancy Edge although it's not a bad card.

Edge, as far as I know, is a simple card like DSTT. Both can satisfy basic needs without premium features. The price of Edge is not really cheap either (selling at US$23). It isn't cheap enough to justify the purchase. You should get Ezflash V Plus instead for that price.

1) ... So I want SCDS1 to support these features natively, without 3rd party homebrew.
Sorry my original question isn't clear. Actually what I ask is, what exactly the problems are when the support is not built-in (directly supported)? When your Supercard DS One can get along with slot-2 card well to provide those features, with the help of GBAExpLoader. This one, as far as I know, is a very good app.

As an example, Supercard DS One has built-in Moonshell so you can read images, text and videos so it has direct support to read images, text, videos. But I'm personally fine even if it doesn't built-in Moonshell. Well, the only problem is you have one extra step to do, that is you have to copy and paste Moonshell to install it. Well copy-and-paste is not a problem at all.

Here's another example. Supercard DS One support running multi-OS. However it doesn't officially or directly supported the provision of multi-OS environments. You only get one OS at factory defaults. If you want to use 3 OSes, you have to download the unofficial zip in the forum and install this one instead. This is not directly supported either but I have no problems using this one instead.

So why does this bother you much when Supercard DS One can provide the features with no problems whatsoever but the team just don't build in those features?

4) ?? what exactly are you talking about??
The font is hardcoded, and it cannot be changed by the user.
Many, many, many people complained about it, and there is no solution except a new firmware, which changes the default. (or makes it configurable)

Sorry, my bad. I must have been drunk when I read this point. LOL

Yes it's pretty silly that they pick a big font. Do they assume most players suffer from short-sightedness.

After all I don't fancy the idea of real-time guide, be it the CycloDS or Supercard way. Why? I still prefer the traditional way: simply bring the printed guide (or your laptop) with you when you are out. I read the guide from my PC when I'm home.

It's the best way to do. Why?
(A) No screen restriction. Too small to read a guide from a screen like NDS. I can read a full A4-sized paper if I print it out. Much much better.

(B) Keep switching is still not convenient, especially in some games which you have to read-play-read-play. I put the printed guide aside with my NDS. I can play and read at whatever times I like without switching (introducing delays). Much cooler.
(C ) I can edit that guide at ease. I can write extra notes, correct misinformation (not uncommon!), bookmark one part, highlight some points etc.
(D) I can quickly turn to the page to read. It's hard to do when I'm using NDS to read the guide. It introduces delays. It's slow.
(E) If you use a from the pocket PC or laptop, you can even do more things. Search the guide. Sort table (eg try to find out the est weapons, price/performance wise), do analysis and so on. NDS can never do it.


QUOTEWhat I meant with in-game menu is ONE menu, where you can select all functions.

An all-in-one menu is nice but don't forget it will introduces more steps and slow down the process. Imagine if you want to real-time save and load often, you want to access to the RTS menu as quick as possible. The extra clicks and presses introduced will become an annoyance for that user.

I'm okay to access different menu with different key combinations.

Anyway, an all-in-one menu is not a bad idea. But they shouldn't forget that they should provide key combinations for quick access to common commands.


QUOTE

PS: I know I can use YSMENU or TTMENU for not cut off cheats, but than I loose all the SCDS1 features. So they should "simply" implement those features, and than the SCDS1 would be absolutely heads up with the Cyclo, and above all the rest

I wish it could too. However it's an impossible task in this computing world. I believe Supercard team will agree with me. Each OS is going to have its own limitations. When you do Element A, you need forgo Element B. It can't be the best in every single aspect. CycloDS OS menu isn't perfect either. It has its weaknesses too. Each party has to deal with their own problems .

That's why I fancy multi-OS concept a lot.

There is no all-round weapon. You need switch weapons based on the enemies you face.
You killed Golem with a heavy sword.
You killed a flying object with an arrow.
You killed ninja with a light knife.
Use the right weapon at the right time and you will be able to do all you want.

 

[Bootsum]

One thing that I think is extremely important that does not seem to come up a lot is support from the company. Updates that come out when needed to run new games. At the end of the day the most important thing to me is that I can play the entire library of NDS games, including new ones. I wish their was more discussion in all the reviews/thread I've read about which of these companies is best with updates and which ones most likely will continue to update their firmware in the future.

It is a factor that is hard to evaluate. This is something only time can tell.
How can you know if one team will continually support its flash cart? Can we ask gods?

History is a good indicator. Supercard has a long history since they are one of the flash cart manufacturers. As far as I know, they are still supporting the "ancient" flash carts with updates. This is a really good sign.

CycloDS history is shorter than Supercard. Its history is mixed with the good's and bad's. The past team didn't earn much respects. In the beginning they stole the design of Supercard, selling fake cards / clones, poor supports. But things change when they launch CycloDS Evolution. Their support now, as I know, is amazing. They keep updating their products, similar to Supercard.

EzFlash has a pretty long history but I'm not sure how long. The support team shouldn't be bad.

Acekard seems to have the shortest history among them.

Here's my ranking about company support:
1. Supercard company
2. CycloDS
3. EzFlash company
4. Acekard

 

[Diablo1123]

There is no all-round weapon. You need switch weapons based on the enemies you face.
You killed Golem with a heavy sword.
You killed a flying object with an arrow.
You killed ninja with a light knife.
Use the right weapon at the right time and you will be able to do all you want.

I like that metaphor.

Once my new DSTTs get here, I might try to convince my friend to trade back maybe

Where's the EZFlash V+ beta firmware? Can't seem to find that.
The only problem is the EZFlash V+ doesn't use the same save file type as AceKard 2 or DSTT does it?

 

[Slowking]

There is no all-round weapon. You need switch weapons based on the enemies you face.
You killed Golem with a heavy sword.
You killed a flying object with an arrow.
You killed ninja with a light knife.
Use the right weapon at the right time and you will be able to do all you want.

Or I could just kill all of them with an Uzi. Would be a whole lot easier than with those ancient weapons.

I believe there can and there will be an ultimate OS. It's just not there yet. Will be interesting to see which team gets there first.

Btw. what I don't like about the supercard team is that they introduce new features often, but never perfect them. So you'll have a lot of features but all of them are pretty much half-assed: the gui, handling of problem games, RTG, etc.
From where I'm standing, to use the DSTTs menu to even be able to play some games (without freezing all the time) I really wouldn't have needed to buy a Supercard. I could have gotten an DSTT, since it's a lot cheaper.

 

[Ssseth]

After all I don't fancy the idea of real-time guide, be it the CycloDS or Supercard way. Why? I still prefer the traditional way: simply bring the printed guide (or your laptop) with you when you are out. I read the guide from my PC when I'm home.

It's the best way to do. Why?
(A) No screen restriction. Too small to read a guide from a screen like NDS. I can read a full A4-sized paper if I print it out. Much much better.

(B) Keep switching is still not convenient, especially in some games which you have to read-play-read-play. I put the printed guide aside with my NDS. I can play and read at whatever times I like without switching (introducing delays). Much cooler.
© I can edit that guide at ease. I can write extra notes, correct misinformation (not uncommon!), bookmark one part, highlight some points etc.
(D) I can quickly turn to the page to read. It's hard to do when I'm using NDS to read the guide. It introduces delays. It's slow.
(E) If you use a from the pocket PC or laptop, you can even do more things. Search the guide. Sort table (eg try to find out the est weapons, price/performance wise), do analysis and so on. NDS can never do it.

No offense intended. I realize you are just trying to help out, but your posts are really starting to remind me of a typical fanboy. Regarding this quoted part of your post, I don't care why using real time guide is not a good idea. That has absolutely nothing to do with the feature itself. If I buy a flashcart that lists a certain feature, I want that feature to work optimally. Period.


Anyway, besides being concerned about a laggy OS, I'm reading that there are "PSRAM" error issues with some of the latest batches. I'll be staying away from Supercard DS One flashcarts for now.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=107615
http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=106...t=0&start=0


Reading through this whole thread also made me steer away from this flashcart.

http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=104...t=0&start=0

 

[lurbi]

Well ... if the 3in1 is not directly supported, you have to allways use GBAExploader to load GBA roms, or to activate rumble, or patch the opera rom.

Using YSMENU to simply tap on a GBA ROM, and it loads by itself is VERY convenient.
Or activate rumble, and YSMENU will allways switch on rumble for that ROM.

It is simply more complicated, and takes longer to load GBAExploader.

Moonshell is a good app ... you can start it when needed.
Supercard is moving away from moonshell, and I think that is GREAT!
If you want to watch DPG movies, start up that sluggish beast, but not for a flashcart GUI.
PS:EZFlash V the other cart using moonshell is moving away from it too.

I want my in-game menu

Hotkeys for functions can be used too.
What harm can an additional in-game menu do??

 

[Bootsum]

Or I could just kill all of them with an Uzi. Would be a whole lot easier than with those ancient weapons. wink.gif
I believe there can and there will be an ultimate OS. It's just not there yet. Will be interesting to see which team gets there first.

At the time we have Uzi, we will want something more powerful.
When the OS becomes "perfect", people will desire more. The OS becomes imperfect again because people have generated new wants. When flash cart was first born on the globe, no one expect to have real-time save. Now we want real-time saves.
Human is greedy. We always want the best. So the road will never end.

 

[Bitbyte]

Built-in memory or not
If you appear to meet flash cards with built-in memory, I don't recommend built-in memory. Reasons are you have no choices on the brand/speed/size etc. of the memory. They are probably generic memory and is in poor quality. You can't upgrade the memory when you need it.

After all, I believe most flash cards with built-in memory are old techies. New trends dislike built-in memory too.

Kinda disagree there. I've always preferred built-in memory over replaceable storage. The main reason for this is the speed, with built-in memory (faster) you should never have any slowdown whatsoever. I know it's practically (and probably entirely) unnoticeable, but I always feel like there's still some very small slowdown in some games. Also, poor quality? My EZ-Flash II Powerstar that I got about 5 years ago is still kicking, and if it ever needs replacing, there are way cheaper solutions nowadays

 

[Bootsum]

No offense intended. I realize you are just trying to help out, but your posts are really starting to remind me of a typical fanboy. Regarding this quoted part of your post, I don't care why using real time guide is not a good idea. That has absolutely nothing to do with the feature itself. If I buy a flashcart that lists a certain feature, I want that feature to work optimally. Period.

Don't take it the wrong way. The argument is not to support Supercard DS One. I simply show how I rate
People always want the best of every part. However the world is imperfect so we need weigh different factors to make the better and wiser decision (which suits you the best).

Take real-time guide(RTG) as an example, it is a nice feature to have but this alone is not influential when I consider two competitive products. As I pointed out, this feature can be easily achieved by other means. You can use a piece of paper (for notes), or printed guides, or even your palm/PDA etc. Those (third-party) solution are much better than the current implementation of any flash card.

Let's say there are 2 nearly identical products. The only difference is Card A has RTG while B not. However Card A is more expensive than card B by US$5. I would go for Card B. I would only consider Card A if the price difference is subtle.

Of course different people have different value judgment. Perhaps you still value this feature highly after reading my arguments. If so, go for it and pick that card which suit you the best.

After all, I'm never a fanboy of any product. I'm only a fanboy of "the best valued product in the market".
When R4 was a good card I recommend it to everyone I know. It's no longer valid so I won't recommend it anymore. I don't have brand loyalty.

 

[Bootsum]

Updated the post to include "Special Updates: Supercard DS One PSRAM Error (Oct 2008)"
I did a little research on how widespread the problem is. Read it if you would like to.

 

[Bootsum]

Built-in memory or not
If you appear to meet flash cards with built-in memory, I don't recommend built-in memory. Reasons are you have no choices on the brand/speed/size etc. of the memory. They are probably generic memory and is in poor quality. You can't upgrade the memory when you need it.

After all, I believe most flash cards with built-in memory are old techies. New trends dislike built-in memory too.

Kinda disagree there. I've always preferred built-in memory over replaceable storage. The main reason for this is the speed, with built-in memory (faster) you should never have any slowdown whatsoever. I know it's practically (and probably entirely) unnoticeable, but I always feel like there's still some very small slowdown in some games. Also, poor quality? My EZ-Flash II Powerstar that I got about 5 years ago is still kicking, and if it ever needs replacing, there are way cheaper solutions nowadays

Well I believe at least this point doesn't hold nowadays. You can buy a fast MicroSDHC which can let you run any games in NDS. NDS hardware isn't fast enough to push your MicroSDHC to the limit. I can run Castlevania without any lag at all.
Even if you use slower MicroSD cards, it still run all games smoothly except a few.

About quality, of course it depends on the manufacturers. But since you can't check what MicroSD / MicroSDHC they use, it's possible (I don't say it's a must) they may scrimp on built-in memory (sometimes manufactures will scrimp on something that customers don't pay attention on, eg the quality of built-in memory, card reader). Most shouldn't use bad/faulty memory. So you should still run fine. But they may not use top-quality memory.

After all, even if you are so concerned about speed, I still recommend you going for replaceable path. Reasons:
(1) You can always pick the best of the best: You can pick the best quality MicroSDHC. Rarely a manufacturer will use top-quality memory as their (you know, a manufacturer hardly use the best of the best memory for you, but as a customer, you can always buy the fastest memory available on the globe
(2) Built-in memory will be outdated eventually. Even if your built-in memory was really the top of the top quality and slightly faster 3 years ago, it can't be nowadays. We have MicroSDHC which is much faster than the old generation. 3 years later we have something even faster.
(3) Doubts about the speed advantages of "built-in": I wonder if it makes any difference alone simply the memory is built-in or replaceable. It may be only psychological (well maybe not, but I just simply point out the possibility. You be the judge). Even if, how big is the difference. If you can't feel the difference (eg 0.01 second), it isn't worth it.
(4) Loss of flexibility. For such a trivial speed advantage (if any), you lose flexibility. One major disadvantage is you can't upgrade the capacity. What's more convenient? You can switch playing any 100 games, listen hundreds of music, read ebooks, watch videos on your single big memory card; or you are forced to keep swapping contents when you are back home since you are still using the old 1GB built-in memory.

Sidenote: If you use Supercard DS One, make sure you run the speed test and let the program set it for the first time of usage. It set a very low speed by default. So make sure you change it.

 

[manaphy4ever]

at this time now my old R4 its Dead Right now Because There will not update anymore so i decide to buy a N-Player The new flashcart its really nice flashcart and cheep from ishopvideogame it's cost:$23.95


so after one week i will get creditcard and then i will buy it

 

[Ssseth]

First post needs to be updated about AceKard2. It says it's just a few dollars cheaper than Supercard DS One, but that is no longer the case. It can be had for $12.99 shipped at Deal Extreme.

 

[Bootsum]

The price is attractive as an entry-level flash cart. This is a good candidate if you think the premium is of no use to you (after reading my explanations about the possible and potential uses of some premium features).

How do you guys think about the build quality of Acekard2?

I hear Acekard2 build quality so-so, and is prone to breaking. There is a forum which reports a defective batch:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.d...threadid.106239

I picked Supercard DS One so I didn't research Acekard2.
Glad someone can shed some light on the build quality of Acekard2, hopefully backed by some evidence/facts (not just pure guess).

Thanks.

 

[Slowking]

The price is attractive as an entry-level flash cart. This is a good candidate if you think the premium is of no use to you (after reading my explanations about the possible and potential uses of some premium features).

How do you guys think about the build quality of Acekard2?

I hear Acekard2 build quality so-so, and is prone to breaking. There is a forum which reports a defective batch:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.d...threadid.106239

I picked Supercard DS One so I didn't research Acekard2.
Glad someone can shed some light on the build quality of Acekard2, hopefully backed by some evidence/facts (not just pure guess).

Thanks.

The bad Acekard problem was soooooo long ago in Flashkard-time. They fixed it a few months ago and just recently they changed their whole hardware design, in which the exchanged the Actel with a custom IC and I haven't heard anything bad about it. So yeah, those problems are ancient history.

 

[Bootsum]

The price is attractive as an entry-level flash cart. This is a good candidate if you think the premium is of no use to you (after reading my explanations about the possible and potential uses of some premium features).

How do you guys think about the build quality of Acekard2?

I hear Acekard2 build quality so-so, and is prone to breaking. There is a forum which reports a defective batch:
http://www.dealextreme.com/forums/Forums.d...threadid.106239

I picked Supercard DS One so I didn't research Acekard2.
Glad someone can shed some light on the build quality of Acekard2, hopefully backed by some evidence/facts (not just pure guess).

Thanks.

The bad Acekard problem was soooooo long ago in Flashkard-time. They fixed it a few months ago and just recently they changed their whole hardware design, in which the exchanged the Actel with a custom IC and I haven't heard anything bad about it. So yeah, those problems are ancient history.

It isn't sooooooooo long ago since I heard about it in May-June 2008. It is just a few months ago.
The defective batch, as an example, was reported in that timeframe.
If they have fixed it the problem is gone for a few months only. It can't be said as "ancient", in which I expect it to be much longer (like in terms of years).
I do hope it is in decent/good build quality so I can confidently recommend them to my friends as a cheap alternative.

 

[Tormendo]

The best card for you is the best vcard what you think^^