Best flashcart now and in the future

Altor · May 09, 2006, 03:55:36 PM

I've got a flashed NDS that I'm very happy with, and a Supercard CF (which I'm also very happy with

)

I'm planning on giving the DS I have now, with supercard, to my nephew in a few months when the Lite reaches NA. When I get my lite, I'll be flashing it and getting another flash cart thing, but I'd like a few unbiased opinions as to what the best one out there is. Price isn't an issue. I'm not really "in the know" too much, so if there's a new one coming out in the near months (maybe more compact versions of the existing ones that'll look better in a DSLite, etc), I'd appreciate any info on those too.

The only criteria is compatibility. My one and only complaint with the Supercard CF is that 1) it doesn't run Advance Wars 2 (GBA) and it runs Metroid Fusion/Zero Mission pretty slowly, even with the preloader thing and all options turned off in the patcher.

Thanks

DeVS · May 09, 2006, 03:59:41 PM

Well if you want just GBA compatability then M3 kills Supercard. If you want a FAST OS then Supercard Kills M3. DS compatability is even.

Altor · May 10, 2006, 09:49:17 AM

So, how about more compact versions of the above? Anyone know if anything like that is planned? If Romman came out with a Supercard with faster memory (to fix slowdowns in Fusion and similar stuff) and was small enough to fit in a DS-L, I'd gladly pay another $50 or whatever the increased manufacturing cost would be.

DeVS · May 10, 2006, 10:23:26 AM

Right now the Supercard Mini and the M3 Mini are the smallest. Ninja has said there coming out with a flashcart that will go in the DS slot but I woulnd't hold my breath for that one. Personaly I would go with Supercard Mini.

Rob_Threat · May 11, 2006, 05:22:53 PM

Don't forget about EZFlash IV... it's a miniSD GBA sized cart too.

Cory1492 posted a first impressions mini-review here:

http://www.sosuke.com/ezflash/viewtopic.php?t=713&start=135

Looks like a might be another contender soon. It's a bit cheaper than M3. A half-height microSD EZFlash IV Lite is supposed to be out very soon, but not even early prototype photos have been shown. I wouldn't hold my breath.

Altor · May 13, 2006, 10:17:24 AM

From what I've seen, SD card support is pretty mediocre, and miniSD probably moreso I'd guess. I'd rather stick with a CF device since it's what I know.

And isn't ez-flash pretty much... crap?

m2pt5 · May 13, 2006, 12:19:08 PM

Quote from: "Altor"From what I've seen, SD card support is pretty mediocre, and miniSD probably moreso I'd guess.

Actually, it's not. Many of the "big-name" homebrews support SD (ScummVMDS, DSOrganize, Moonshell, Draw3, Rain) and partial support is in chishm's FAT library. (The only reason we don't have full support yet is that chishm doesn't have a Supercard/M3 SD.)

As for miniSD, software that works on SD also works on miniSD.

socket · May 13, 2006, 12:50:31 PM

If that's the only reason SD support is bad, I'll throw in some cash for a SC SD for him.... anyone else?

bitblt · May 13, 2006, 04:09:26 PM

Quote from: "socket"If that's the only reason SD support is bad, I'll throw in some cash for a SC SD for him.... anyone else?

Me too.

(Actually, if someone would just explain to me the problem with the FAT drivers maybe I could have a look. I've never written low level code for CF/SD but I understand ARM assembly. I think the ARM code is the only thing holding cory1492 back from fixing it himself? I just don't understand the SD problem. If ScummVM supports SD why doesn't all homebrew?)

Rob_Threat · May 17, 2006, 07:23:55 PM

Quote from: "Altor"...And isn't ez-flash pretty much... crap?

Compared to what? SuperCard? SuperCard is the lowest quality flash device currently on the market.

It just happens to be great for DS uses.

Jinnai · June 01, 2006, 12:27:48 AM

Quote from: "Rob_Threat"
Quote from: "Altor"...And isn't ez-flash pretty much... crap?

Compared to what? SuperCard? SuperCard is the lowest quality flash device currently on the market.

It just happens to be great for DS uses.

Compared to M3 its still not as good.

Rob_Threat · June 02, 2006, 04:31:20 AM

Quote from: "Jinnai"Compared to M3 its still not as good.

For DS games only SC is slightly better (needs fewer updates & has a much better save system). SC's only weakness is the high power draw.

For DS w/GBA games M3 is clearly #1. M3 also has the best GBA media player.

EZFlash IV has the best build quality of the "new" miniSD carts, but is still lagging on the software side (updates every few days).

All three work well with MoonShell, so there's a pretty level field for multimedia uses on DS.

I'd get all three if you can. If you only want one for everything... I hate to say it... M3 miniSD. I hate myself now.

Jinnai · June 02, 2006, 01:39:13 PM

Quote from: "Rob_Threat"
Quote from: "Jinnai"Compared to M3 its still not as good.

For DS games only SC is slightly better (needs fewer updates & has a much better save system). SC's only weakness is the high power draw.

For DS w/GBA games M3 is clearly #1. M3 also has the best GBA media player.

EZFlash IV has the best build quality of the "new" miniSD carts, but is still lagging on the software side (updates every few days).

All three work well with MoonShell, so there's a pretty level field for multimedia uses on DS.

I'd get all three if you can. If you only want one for everything... I hate to say it... M3 miniSD. I hate myself now.

the M3 is the best overall still, but EZ4 has come a way. Supercard is still th best if you don't care about GBA roms.