Hi, I'm pretty new to the world of Nintendo DS Flashcards, so forgive some of the ignorant questions below … I would mainly like to be able to add MAME and view movies on a Nintendo DS. I know I can do that with a SuperCard DSTwo and iPlayer and DSTwo-MAME: http://eng.supercard.sc/manual/dstwo/plugin.htm Questions: Is it possible to do this with other cards like the Acekard 2i or iSmartDS or R4i? If so, would I just load the DSTwo plugin's on the other flashcard, or would I need card-specific versions of the plug-ins? Would they run about as well on the other cards as the DSTwo? (I know the DSTwo has a separate CPU, but I don't know if the others do or not). Please advise performance and battery life on the DSTwo? i.e. I tried MAME4Droid on a Samsung SGP, and it was fine, but the DS is slower I think (even with the CPU on the DSTwo) (I'm looking at older games like PacMan, Galaga, etc - not things like Cruisin' USA). Battery life for the regular DS is supposed to be something like 8 hours plus. What could I expect using the DS Two? Minor question, but I know the DSTwo iPlayer supports DIVx, AVI, and FLV files (among others). I have some files that are MP4 or MPv. Do you know if the iPlayer supports these? (I can convert them if needed, but if it works as-is, so much the better. What are the pros and cons of the various brands/types of DS Flashcards? How do the cards install? i.e. I thought Supercard and the DSTwo used the GBA port on the DS and DS Lite, but it is supposed to work with DS, DS Lite, DSi, and DSiXL, and I didn't think the latter 2 had GBA ports. Basically, how does it work from a usage standpoint? - i.e. I assume I would typically copy my game cartridges to the flashcard and then I don't need to carry multiple game cartridges around with me. The DS then boots to the Flashcard OS and I run the games from there? Or does it come up normally and I select the Flashcard OS from a menu or something? If I want to play a standard game cartridge that is not loaded onto the SDHC memory card, can I just insert it and play or do I have to remove the flashcard before I can play standard game cartridges? Thanks in advance for the assistance!!!
Long questions and long answers. 1. At first, if you want to play GBA games, play MAME, DStwo is your choose. 2. Do not buy iplayer (my recommendation), if you buy this card for playing videos, just go for DSTwo or other cards such as acekard 2i or r4i gold 3ds. 3. If you only want to play DS games and playing dpg videos. Acekard 2i or R4i gold 3ds can do them great. 4. DStwo can play different formats videos, such as RMB. Dpg... AK2i and others can only play Dpg, so you need to convert other formats. 5. Different cards have different plugins and softwares, you can not use DStwos plugins on other cards. 6. If you only play videos and DS games, acekard 2i and r4i gold will run as well as DStwo. 7. Yeah, DStwo will short your consoles battery, everyone knows about it, but it wont effect a lot in my opinion. 8. DStwo is the best, but also most expensive, acekard 2i and r4i gold 3ds, r4i sdhc 3ds are good cards for playing DS games, no additional features. 9. DStwo can play gba games withou the slot-2, it can play on DS/DSi/3ds. other cards can play gba games with a Ez flash 3 in 1, but only work on DSL because of its slot-2. 10. Use the flashcart is very easy, when you receive it, just download the latest kernel fromt he official site, extract all them files and then put them in the root directory of your SD card, then put the SD cand flashcart in your console. Done If you live in USA, recommend you buy DStwo ot other cards from here: http://www.dsflashcart.com/supercard-dstwo-best-flashcard-for-ds-dsi-3ds-p-252.html Bought my acekard 2i from there, nice experience!
Thanks Shalome - I did have some follow-up questions: 1. Makes some of the other questions moot - I would like some GBA/SNES capability and I want MAME. (I take it there isn't really a MAME build for NDS, then - just for DStwo). 2. You misunderstood - I was referring to the iPlayer plugin for DStwo, which is free. I didn't know there was a card known as iPlayer. The question was whether that player supports .mp4 and .mpv files, but as I said, I can test and convert if needed. 7. I didn't know about it - but from what you are saying, I wouldn't go from 8+ hours to 1 hour or anything that extreme, correct? 10. I was thinking the flashcart went in the GBA port - does it just install like a standard DS game cartridge? Thanks again!!!
1. Then you will just go for the DSTwo. 2. Sorry about the misunderstood, yeah, DStwo supports different formats, RMVB/AVI/FLV, and yeah, you can convert if you dont have any of them. 7. yeah, something like other flshcarts will let you play about 5 hours, but DSTwo will be 3.5 or 4, not that extreme. 8. No, the flashcart will be put in the slot-1 just like the standard DS game cartridge , not the GBA port (slot-2). when you receive the DStwo, you can just download the firmware from the official site and then put the firmware and your game roms in the SD card. then play. About the plug ins, also download them and put them in the correct path.
Thanks Shalome. (I can't post links legally) I did a bit of research on battery life: htt p://gbatemp.net/topic/237948-dstwo-battery-killer/page__st__15 Looks like you get about 80% of standard battery life (oddly really regardless of what you are actually doing/playing on it). I also found a competing product that I might prefer - the Dingo A320/A330 (around $80): htt p://gbatemp.net/topic/177084-dingoo-a320-unofficial-review/ Let me tell you what Im looking for: Basically, I want something to kill time when I am waiting for a sporting event to start, and/or waiting for a car repair, appointment, etc. Battery life is important as I wont have access to AC power most times. I can probably get by with 5 hours of battery life, but 7 or more would be ideal. As far as other features: I dont have a data plan, so wi-fi access is not a concern. Video playback of movies/tv shows is important. Emulation - (Mostly MAME, some GBA, some SNES) is important. Some type of solitaire game would be nice - although Im not sure how well that would work without a touchscreen or mouse. (Herg's Solitaire for the GBC looks fine to me). Some type of pinball support would be nice (Specifically, I really liked htt p://pinballarcade.com/ for the Samsung Galaxy Player, but I disliked the lack of a D-pad for MAME on it). FM Radio would be a plus, but not required. Bluetooth headset support would also be a plus, but not required. DS support would be a plus, but not really required as the games I would play tend to be Arcade Classics, which I get with MAME. MP3 support is not really required as I also have a Creative Zen Mosaic I can use for that. I like the Dingo A320 in that it is slightly smaller, could run Linux (Dingux), and seems to have a seven-hour battery life, and since the screen is a standard size (320x240), tends to do a better job with video scaling and running fairly large video files without downscaling them first. The only real drawbacks I see are lack of DS game support and lack of a touchscreen. My thoughts are - if we have a DS around, I might try that and consider the DSTwo. If I have to buy a used DS and a Supercard, Ill probably get the Dingoo instead. Thanks again!!! Update - Actually, I would most likely get the Dingoo A320E for $10 more - I think it's basically the same, but 3.2 vs. 2.8-inch screen, 400x240 vs. 320x240, and MicroSD vs. mini-SD (and 500MHz vs. 400Mhz processor). Actually - this produce REALLY intrigues me for $40 - htt p://dx.com/p/4-3-lcd-portable-game-console-media-player-w-built-in-games-camera-fm-tv-out-tf-4gb-black-108423?item=20 (But I'm leery of a review that says "MAME - Not tested" and "Product doesn't look like images"
Hey Tiger, yeah, after see your details, i also recommend you buy the Dingo. i don't have this console, but i do know sth about it. i am sure it can support MAME and many others, as far as i know, it currently supports FBA( including CPS1、CPS2、NEOGEO、MAME) MAME PS GBA SFC MD FC OPENBOR JAVA DOS GBC GB SMS WSC NGP SCUMMVM PC98 DCASTAWAY AMIGA. But as i said, i didn't test this console beofre, so i can not give you more details.if you need more info about it, i will try to check for you.
I didn't see that the Dingoo supported DOS - although with Linux there aren't going to be a lot of limitations. Question - any idea about the $40 DealXtreme one I posted a link to? I think I'm good other than that - will likely have more questions when I get something, but until then ...
Did some more digging: This looks like the $40 unit - htt p://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XAJ4GKcKJiM Looks similar, but no speakers on the front, so as the review said, it doesn't match the pictures. I'm probably going with either the A320 or the Supercard instead, though - support base, availability of silicone jackets, replacement batteries, replacement shells, etc. If you wouldn't mind digging up one more thing for me: The A320 has robust support (updated firmware, updated unofficial firmware, Dingux, overclocking, etc.). The A320e has some better features. I would rather go with the A320e, but not if it lacks custom firmware support, Dingux support, etc. htt p://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://coccijoe.blogspot.com/2012/01/dingoo-a320e-test.html&ei=dNjMT82ZOYH22gW-4tHOCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CFAQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://coccijoe.blogspot.com/2012/01/dingoo-a320e-test.html%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimvns (Translated from French) htt p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e50nPEmYdM (See comments) From what I can gather: * A320e is apparently running some variant of Dingus out of the box - but it will not allow or support adding MAME to it (unless a later firmware update fixed it). * There does appear to be support on Dingoonity.org for custom firmware flashes and installation of Normal Dingux. * There appears to be some ill-feeling in the community b/c it looks like Dingoo took a bunch of the community developed mods for the A320 and incorporated them into the A380 and A320e. (Off-topic but it seems ironic that a community can be happy with a product copying and ripping-off the Gameboy/PSP/SNES/NES/DS and then get upset when the same company steals THEIR code, but I guess its a matter of perspective. (And that was over-simplified). * My initial impression is that most things that the A320 can do (not sure about overclocking) can be done on the A320e - but there is not the level of support or the "Idiot's Guide" format that there is for A320 users. I would appreciate verification of this, however ... Thanks!
htt p://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddingux%2Bon%2BA320e%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimvns&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=fr&u=http://coccijoe.blogspot.fr/2012/05/tutoriel-installer-dingux-et-le-dual.html&usg=ALkJrhhlobyaMZD03PV3hq12ux9X2CCFoQ#more This sounds a bit scary to me. IF you successfully get it to dual-boot, you have to use Linux to load your emulators to the microSD card. I could do that (Puppy Linux or something similar on a CD, maybe, but I'd prefer something simpler). (Maybe the A320 works the same way, though ...
The DealXtreme one is the original version, isn't it, because i have checked the A320, A320e and A380, doesn't look like that.
Errrm, you would know more than I would, but I don't think so. The DealXtreme one is just listed as K-801 and says "Double Rocker PSP" on the box. There is some history here: htt p://coccijoe.blogspot.fr/2012/02/historique-des-consoles-dingoo.html Looks like the Dingoo Digital A320 was first, the Dingoo Technology A330 was next (I've seen Dingoo Digital claiming that was a fake), the GeMei A330 was next, the Dingoo Technology A880 was next, and the A320e is essentially an A880 without wireless or accelerometer. My main question at this point is how successfully you can load MAME on the 320e - either natively or under Dingux. (I think the dealextreme is some other generic clone, but the 1 review said it was supposed to work fairly well. No support base that I can see if it doesn't, though). Thanks agian!
Check here more details about A320 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingoo and http://www.techradar.com/reviews/ga...cro-game-station-624388/review#articleContent i also did some research on the interent, and most of them said it can play MAME, and looks like can play about 85% of the games.
Thanks, but I'm pretty sold on the A320. My question now is on the A320e - it's newer, a bit easier to find, has a slightly larger screen, and better video playback support and micro vs. mini SD card support, but a less active user base. My main question is whether there is anything that the A320 would be able to do that the A320e can't. (I doubt it, but I wouldn't want to buy one and be wrong ...) Thanks again!!!
Yeah, the A320e is the latest version has a larger screen, take a look at the official site: http://www.dingoo.hk/en_product.asp?id=24&flagid=1 there is no reason that the newer version is worse than the previous, so dont worry about it. And another, my main concern is there are so many clones in the market, be careful about them.
