I am choosing between the two to upgrade from my R4DS (And add an EZ 3in1). I keep seeing reviews that weigh them back and forth on many complex criteria. I just drag roms onto the flash card and play them, no cheating, no homebrew, nothing fancy. I'm hoping to keep doing the same thing and add compatibility for newer games, SDHC, and GBA games as well. CycloDS is clearly a little bit more cash, but seems to be more highly esteemed. On another hand, from my understanding Acekard has an open source firmware which I would assume leads to more longevity compatibility wise with future games. I'm not an idiot when it comes to computers, but I am pretty lazy and have quite enjoyed the hassle free experience I've had with the R4 and want to keep it up. I would also perhaps be interested in playing NES or SNES emulated games as well, if this fact makes a difference between the two. Apologies for creating yet another "omgosh which flash cart do I buy thread",I promise I put in some effort to educate myself but am still unsure. Many thanks for the response as well as all the content here, it was lurking on the forums I originally learned about the R4DS etc and it has brought me many hours of satisfaction.
i have an ak2i and a cyclo, and i must say that the ak2i that i have is crap build quality compared to my cyclo. one of the members on the official forums has had his go through the washer and it worked still, mine has actually sat in the heat for months in the past in Tennessee,USA and it still works great. although i have a dsi now, if i could i would dump the ak2i for the cyclods 'i' in a heartbeat. but unfortunately it hasn't been officially "announced" but i think they will wait to get the exploit with the new zelda spirit tracks game "like they did with super mario 64 ds" to announce it ^_^; akaio is nice and free, but in my oppinion it's nowhere near cyclo standards but that's not to say that they dont do a good job, they do.. but Team Cyclops doesn't wait for others to release something "along with the source" like akaio does, they get the job done! homebrew wise, it's all the same pretty much, but only team cyclops "to my recollection" has been able to get the classic nes games to work with slot two solutions. really, it's up to you.. but if it where me, i would go with the cyclo ds.. or wait until February and see if they announce the "i", as soon as i got my dsi my dsl died on me, heh good timing i suppose.
I really enjoy my CycloDS. The build quality is awesome and I've had mine for a few years without any problem that hasn't been fixed by a firmware update. The updates are pretty frequent to combat new game protections. Team Cyclops readily listens to their community for problems from new games, etc. that they correct in the next firmware update. They also let users download and test "Beta" updates, in order to do so you just have to be a member of their forum. If you are looking to ever buy a DSi, then hold off on buying either one. AceKard does have a DSi-compatible card out but I'd wait a few months until Team Cyclops comes out with the CycloDSi because their DS cart has been top-notch.
