Hacking Yet another M3 Lite review

[EriCKY]

http://ds.qj.net/M3-Lite-Reviewed/pg/49/aid/64452

It's a really good product.

 

[dirtyweasel]

Thanks for the review.

 

[Tir]

M3 Lite doesn't seem that impressive to me, nothing much it has over SCL to justify the price, especially if it has Castlevania slowdown problems too (SCL wasn't choppy with Sandisk was it?). Only thing that would make me consider M3L is if it had better battery life.

Meh, I wish the G6 would come out in a 1GB version already so I could just get that, for its sexy interface, battery life and no problems with slowdown.

 

[roylazarovich]

M3 Lite doesn't seem that impressive to me, nothing much it has over SCL to justify the price

Well it does have better GBA support, which might not be a deal-breaker for most but it is for some (including me)

 

[CatScam]

I don’t get that review 9 out of 10? It’s the same M3 but in a smaller
case & now you have that annoying side loading SD. Same saving,
same no touch screen menus, same Castlevania test. What the hell
took so long, I was expecting a big difference! I’m still convinced
in 3 months they will come out with a version that has a front loading
SD slot.

 

[meangreenie]

9.9 out of 10... LOL; another fanboy review


Edit if I bought a brand new product that was supposed to be the 'bomb' and it stalled out on the castlevania vid I'd be pissed off, especially since the Sandisk mem card is fast enough to do the job. There must be a fix coming because that is just not right.

 

[dongle]

Your review is valuable because it does give us some objective information such as an idea of compatibility and the capabilities, but I'm not sure how to take the rating.

I mean, a 9.9 out of ten, to me anyway, would include open source drivers for data handling, touch screen interface, etc.

It seems like it does its job pretty well, and it satisfied what you were looking for in a flashcart, but I'd like a contextualization for that number. For example, 9.9 out of ten for a non-dev running homebrew and commercial ROMs, 9.9 out of 10 for a first time flashcart owner, 9.9 out of 10 compared to the previous generation or competitor's product, etc. Your rating is obviously valid to you, and it's useful to us, moreso if we know how you're coming to that conclusion.

Anyway, I do appreciate that you wrote a review. Could you test some of the troublesome GBA games to verify that they are still working well? Thanks.

 

[czw]

M3 will add fastboot 8x DMA in V27 firmware.
and solve problem in 0547.

If 8x DMA works,maybe we will not need hispeed microSD.

 

[Morning]

yah i rkn the score was a bit over the top =P

but yeh.. i'm beggining to think otherwise bout the m3 lite...
just it is a bit dissapointing to hear that the 1gb sandisk microSD causes slowdowns on castlevania intro....(its the mem card i have >.

 

[kobewan]

9.9 out of 10... LOL; another fanboy review


Edit if I bought a brand new product that was supposed to be the 'bomb' and it stalled out on the castlevania vid I'd be pissed off, especially since the Sandisk mem card is fast enough to do the job. There must be a fix coming because that is just not right.

The brand new product is not supposed to be 'the bomb'. I plan on buying it (but it maybe 8-12 months), but I don't expect any performance upgrade from the other M3 versions at all. The drawing point of the new version is its size, not its performance. Actually, its price is essentially the same as the other versions, highlighting this point.

However, I do agree that if the competition is able to enhance their products, they should do the same. The SCL is definitely starting to look like a good alternative for me (the GBA support is still the deal breaking), and I have ben recommending it to friends that aren't concerned with GBA support.

On a side note, why do people keep complaining about the side loader? It's different than the SCL so fanboys instantly start crying that it is worse. It's a matter of preference... and I think that most people looking for an M3L would prefer the side-loading. The entire point of buying an M3L is to allow your DSL to look just lke it originally did, and the microSD slot in the front would mess up the effect. The main argument against it is that it takes longer/is more annoying to access the microSD now as compared to front-loading --- but if you are using it for ROM backups, this really shouldn't be an issue. At the VERY MOST I take the miniSD card out twice a day (usually more like once a week), so it would only save me about a minute a day. Front-loading would be useful for homebrew developers, since they will need repeated accces, but I doubt any homebrew developers would buy an M3L in the first place since it has far worse homebrew support and is more expensive. The best device for homebrew is still the GBAMP for support and price, and that is what is usually used.

Also, thanks for the informative review

 

[maduin]

One con I had with the M3 Lite is the saving system. The games save AFTER you turn the DS off and AFTER you turn it back on. When you turn on your DS, you see the saving screen for about 3-5 seconds, and then go to the main M3 Menu.

if this is true fo DS games, that should automatically bump the the score down to an 8, as my supercard lite can save immediately without a reboot (for DS games). That just sounds like an unnecassary hassle to me.

 

[czw]

Use M3 Game Manager to enable Soft reset
press L+R+A+B+X in game to return M3 menu.

M3's soft reset support more games then SC.
In Chinese NDS forum have compared this.

 

[Da_maniaC]

Lets hope this is gonna work fine.

:

http://www.cnmemory.de/micro_sd.htm

 

[rkenshin]

I don’t get that review 9 out of 10? It’s the same M3 but in a smaller
case & now you have that annoying side loading SD. Same saving,
same no touch screen menus, same Castlevania test. What the hell
took so long, I was expecting a big difference! I’m still convinced
in 3 months they will come out with a version that has a front loading
SD slot.

They're working on a Slot-1 solution now so that's what you'll see
in 3 months time instead..

And seems that G6 gets more love than the M3 given the big
difference between the two interfaces..

 

[czw]

http://www.gbalpha.com/gbamedia/bbs/dispbb...&ID=9313&page=1

From M3 offical test.
It seems V27 8xDMA just can up 1 score in Castlevania Test.
http://www.m3wiki.com/index.php?title=Media_Card

Because my poor engish,I can't transate full article.
I just write what it means in my words.

(V27 still under beta test)

 

[CatScam]

On a side note, why do people keep complaining about the side loader? It's different than
the SCL so fanboys instantly start crying that it is worse. It's a matter of preference... and I
think that most people looking for an M3L would prefer the side-loading. The entire point
of buying an M3L is to allow your DSL to look just lke it originally did, and the microSD
slot in the front would mess up the effect. The main argument against it is that it takes
longer/is more annoying to access the microSD now as compared to front-loading

True it’s all about preference, but remember the M3 was not only made for you.
When a new DS-lite user wants to look at all these 300 or so new games out there.
It’s not just yanking the M3 out once a week, but a hundred times in the first week.
And the M3 & all these copy carts are built like crap in China, & the more you rip
these units in & out of your lite the better the chance of cross threading, cracking
or blowing a fuse. I don’t know if you’re using your lite to pick up on chicks, but no
one really cares if it’s exactly like the dust cover, so long as it sits flush & you can
stick it in your pocket. And don’t start with the dust facture because there are hundreds
of users that have there units flashed & the DS slot is wide open with no problems. And
no the SD doesn’t fall out when dropped. Keep in mind I have an M3 & like it, I just don’t
like it when fanboys for some reason feel they need to cover up problems with units.
Everyone knows the SCL has problems with GBA & that sucks, but some care & some
don’t. But this unit is almost twice the price for what? a little better GBA performance?

 

[T-hug]

Nice review! I recieved mine today and its very nice indeed. Look out for the sc lite vs m3 lite review sometime this week

 

[ejx982]

I was very hardcore about getting the M3 Lite, so it would sit flush with my DS Lite, but I'm very hesitant about lack of performance. From what I what I understand, there isn't any slow downs in GBA games, but only FMV of NDS, specifically the Castlevania test. Right now, my M3 MiniSD + 2GB A-Data 50x Card gets a perfect 5/5 on Castlevania and runs everything perfect. I realized that only Sandisk makes an Ultra MicroSD card, which I'd have to get to allow to get excellent performance, but I'd take a step down in size, from 2GB to 1GB. They do sell 2GB Sandisk cards, but they aren't Ultra so I may take a big performance hit...

Right now it looks like I can:

(a) Go Sandisk Ultra 1GB MicroSD = Excellent Performance
(b) Go Sandisk 2GB MicroSD = Small drop in performance, but more spacious.

Then again with the release of firmware 27, maybe this will boost up.

ejx982

P.S. Has anyone else checked out the M3 Skins by Voltz? Those look very sweet. It makes the M3 look like an offical Nintendo Product.

 

[leoedin]

My take on the side loader:

I like it. The M3 isn't hard to remove, and I feel that a front loader would endanger my memory card too much. Have you guys complaining even seen a microSD card? I can't believe they're so bloody small!!

 

[kobewan]

True it’s all about preference, but remember the M3 was not only made for you.
Keep in mind I have an M3 & like it, I just don’t
like it when fanboys for some reason feel they need to cover up problems with units.
Everyone knows the SCL has problems with GBA & that sucks, but some care & some
don’t. But this unit is almost twice the price for what? a little better GBA performance?

I agree totally with that second sentence, which is why I posted my previous (an very long) post. I am exploring the SCL as my new card, if I can finish all the GBA games I want to play by then. Also, I didn't mention in the previous post (because it was too long), that it would be good if the M3 team could give a choice between front and side loading. However, I doubt that this is economically feasible since it would essentially require two seperate production lines. This means that they have to pick the model which they think is more likely to be chosen by the majority of their target, which is why I explained it in that way.

As for price, of course absolute flush is not that much better than SCL, but it is worth at least $5 to me. AND GBA support is easily worth $20, since I never owned a GBA and owuld be robbing myslef of at least 20+ absolute great titles, as well as 50+ good ones.

Those are my reasons for wanting an M3L. Other people might not have the same resaons apply to them, which is fine. Nobody is stopping them from buying what they feel is the more appropriate card, I just wish that people would stop spreading lies/exaggerated truths about the competition as it can confuse many people.