Noob Needs a Little Help Buying a Flash Card/Cart

[Private Biscuit]

All right, thanks mooney.

[iq_132]

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I've recently come into some funds and I'd like to get myself a flash card.

 

What I absolutely need are:

DS backup ability (I would hate to have to switch back and forth between my actual carts and a flash)

Save ability (proper saving, without patching of NDS games (and extraction of the save area of games I own).

GBA compatibility (good gba homebrew scene )

Expandable memory -- SD cards or something that I can swap in/out read/write

Affordable (I don't want to spend more than $50USD on just the cart, and don't want a SD card included [at a premium])

 

I suppose that I can get a single-slot solution for NDS and another card for GBA later.

 

Now that these single-slot solutions are more readily available, what cards are the best (according to my reqs)?

 

TIA!

 

*edit*

Thinking about this one:

http://www.divineo.com/cgi-bin/div-us/dd-ds-simply

[Mooney]

What I absolutely need are:

DS backup ability (I would hate to have to switch back and forth between my actual carts and a flash)

When you say backup "ability" do you mean the ability to play NDS ROMs or to dump your actual game carts? If you mean the ability to play NDS ROMs, just about every flashcard out there can do that, but some require more equipment than others (Slot-2 flashcard require a pass device to play NDS homebrew). If you want to be able to dump your own game carts, then you'd need a custom firmware called FW Nitro.

 

Save ability (proper saving, without patching of NDS games (and extraction of the save area of games I own).

The M3 Perfect (slot-2) can save your games without a patch (unless you want real time saving) and the software includes a tool to import/export saves from your ROMs. Slot-1 cards never require patching at all, and no software either, so I'm not sure if you could import/export saves. As for getting the saves off of your own games, you'll need an app called Rein.

 

GBA compatibility (good gba homebrew scene )

If you want GBA compatibility, you'll need a slot-2 device (and a pass device, for playing NDS stuff).

 

Expandable memory -- SD cards or something that I can swap in/out read/write

Just about every slot-1 and -2 device there is requires a memory card. The most commonly used are CF, SD, miniSD and microSD. Depending on which flashcard you choose you'll know which you need. There are a few cards that do not require a memory card, such as the DS-X, but they do not have very much built in storage.

 

Affordable (I don't want to spend more than $50USD on just the cart, and don't want a SD card included [at a premium])

For less than $50, your options would probably be a SuperCard or a CycloDS. The M3 is well over $50. If you want slot-1, the R4DS usually goes for around $45

 

I suppose that I can get a single-slot solution for NDS and another card for GBA later.

 

Now that these single-slot solutions are more readily available, what cards are the best (according to my reqs)?

Again, a slot-1 flashcard will not work with GBA stuff, so unless you don't really need that, I'd say go with slot-2. That said, the best slot-1 card out there is probably the R4DS (the M3 Simply is an exact clone of this).

 

I'll have a buyer's guide to NDS flashcards up soon, so you may want to take a look at that as well.

[iq_132]

Quotes are broken for me, apparently ^^

 

When you say backup "ability" do you mean the ability to play NDS ROMs or to dump your actual game carts? If you mean the ability to play NDS ROMs, just about every flashcard out there can do that, but some require more equipment than others (Slot-2 flashcard require a pass device to play NDS homebrew). If you want to be able to dump your own game carts, then you'd need a custom firmware called FW Nitro.

I know all flashcarts (for ds) have ds rom ability, I mean making backups of my legit carts. I honestly can live without this as I'm sure these roms are available somewhere.

 

The M3 Perfect (slot-2) can save your games without a patch (unless you want real time saving) and the software includes a tool to import/export saves from your ROMs. Slot-1 cards never require patching at all, and no software either, so I'm not sure if you could import/export saves. As for getting the saves off of your own games, you'll need an app called Rein.

I would really like a slot-1 device, and later a slot-2 one, thanks for that Rein link, I'll save that for sure.

 

If you want GBA compatibility, you'll need a slot-2 device (and a pass device, for playing NDS stuff).

I think I'll get a slot-2 later one :S

 

Expandable memory -- SD cards or something that I can swap in/out read/write.

Just about every slot-1 and -2 device there is requires a memory card. The most commonly used are CF, SD, miniSD and microSD. Depending on which flashcard you choose you'll know which you need. There are a few cards that do not require a memory card, such as the DS-X, but they do not have very much built in storage.

I think mini/microSD are the ones I'd rather use.

 

For less than $50, your options would probably be a SuperCard or a CycloDS. The M3 is well over $50. If you want slot-1, the R4DS usually goes for around $45

I really like the looks of the M3 Simply / R4DS, I think I may go with one of those (and get a slot 2 dev. later). They are both $44.99 on Divineo.

 

Again, a slot-1 flashcard will not work with GBA stuff, so unless you don't really need that, I'd say go with slot-2. That said, the best slot-1 card out there is probably the R4DS (the M3 Simply is an exact clone of this).

Are there any differences at all? Better company/support maybe for one?

 

I'll have a buyer's guide to NDS flashcards up soon, so you may want to take a look at that as well.

That'd be cool!

Fixed quote problem - R

Edited March 10, 2007 by Robert

[Mooney]

First off, buyer's guide is up: Buyer's Guide: NDS Flashcards

 

Now, the only difference between the R4 and the M3, I believe, is the label. As for customer support, R4 would probably be better, since the makers of the M3 clearly do not speak English very well.