Okay, may as well ask my $0.02 worth.
Currently got an HW44 Ak2i. I've been happy with it on my DS lite enough. Mostly annoyed that currently it seems I can't update this thing to then work on a 3DS.
This wouldn't be such an issue, if not for my DS lite once again showing various cracks particularly along the hinge. I got a BBY replacement plan on it, and invoking that, I could put its value toward a 3DS... but of course that would mean I couldn't go back. it would have to be either sticking with a DS lite or going up to that.
This leaves me as a quandary of what kind of card to get, in order to be compatible with what I have now, and still be able to use it in terms of plugging it into the 3DS if I upgrade to that. Looking at it now, I could either:
- just get another Acekard 2i, hopefully pre-flashed for 3DS... it's cheap, and I've already been happy with the AKAIO software and the like. It has good battery life, though not much in terms of hardware capability either.
- Supercard DSTwo. I dig that it has the extra silicon to support GBA emulation and better emulation than what is available for cards without (let's be honest, snemul and jenesis on their own just aren't that great). However, currently can't boot stuff in DSi mode either... but also seems likely to be able to update for that. And the battery life seems to be a problem with these... which is already a problem on a stock 3DS.
- CycloDS iEvo. Since it is confirmed to at least boot in DSi mode, to use the extra horsepower of the handheld(s). Though with it being the first, it might also come to be the 'worst', meaning a new standard of how to use it might come around and it not able to handle it that way. Games needing to be re-ripped to be "DSi-mode aware" is an inconvenience, but not terribly so either. No extra silicon also means that it's up to homebrew makers to update their emulators and apps to work with the extra DSi-mode features.
These are the options that I can see thus far. Unless someone else knows of some other possible solutions for me to go with.