Expert Review
by
PharaohsVizier
on Tue Oct 13, 2009 5:17 pm
Complete review available at dsdatabase.org
- Introduction –
The
EZ Flash V is among the oldest of slot 1 flash carts, and the EZ Flash
Vi is simply the DSi version of the original cartridge. With
waves of
new flash carts coming into the market every few months, you have to
wonder, how does such an old flash cart survive against the new
competition?
The EZ Flash Vi is just the latest version of a cart that is
almost 3 years old.
I
understand that the EZ Flash Vi is not the most popular of carts, and
perhaps the biggest disadvantage of the cart is the fact that not a
whole lot of people outside of China use it. But let me make
this
clear, the EZ Flash Vi is a cart that is highly underestimated, and
there are definitely some solid reasons the EZ Flash V series has been
around for so long. Don’t stop reading this review simply
because
someone just suggested the AceKard 2i or something else, the EZ Flash
Vi is well worth your consideration.
The
EZ Flash V has always had tough competition, there was the DSX, then
the R4, and now we have the AceKard 2i and the M3i Zero. It is an
uphill battle for the EZ Flash team.
Let’s begin by
introducing the team behind the cart; the EZ Flash team.
Their GBA
flash carts have been the best since their very first release, and even
today, the EZ Flash 3 in 1 Expansion Pack and EZ Flash IV are the most
highly recommended GBA solutions for the DS and DS Lite. The
fact that
the team has been around this long means that the chance they’ll
abandon the EZ Flash V is slim. After all, they are still
supporting
the original EZ Flash V as well as the new DSi version. I
think the EZ
Flash Vi should be just as popular as their GBA products and any of the
current slot 1 carts.
- Design –
The EZ
Flash Vi comes in the compact packaging or the regular
package. The
compact packaging includes simply the cart in a plastic blister pack
with a rather bland looking yellow and black backing. The
plastic
blister pack is good I suppose, it protects the cart well and came in
great condition. The cart doesn’t slip or shift around, but
there are
no freebies.
Standard cheap packaging, doesn't look all too appealing, but
it serves the job.
On
the other hand for a dollar or two more, you can get the regular
package which is a far better bargain in my opinion. You get
a MicroSD
reader, a thumb stylus, an extendable stylus and the EZ Flash Vi
cartridge. From the past, the bundled accessories for the EZ
Flash
products were a hit and miss. The last time I bought an EZ
Flash V, it
came with this green MicroSD reader that felt really flimsy.
But no
worries here, the accessories for this bundle are actual useful and of
decent quality.
The box may not be as sturdy as the blister pack, but it
comes with freebies.
The
MicroSD reader is probably the most useful of the bunch. It
is a metal
reader, notably the one that came with the first version of the R4
carts. It is actually a really durable reader, one of the
best. The
fact that it has a metal casing is already encouraging, but I know from
past experience that these are fairly long lasting. It is
fast,
rugged, and I thought it was miles ahead of the one bundled with the
original run of the EZ Flash Vi. But as with all MicroSD
readers
supplied with flash carts, it is probably better to buy one locally
eventually because these are Chinese products that are likely to fail
sooner or later.
This reader is actually pretty good. Everyone else is moving
towards the cheap stuff.
The
thumb stylus is a hunk of plastic with a stretchy band and a
tip. I’m
not particularly fond of thumb styli, apparently they are meant for
less intense games where you sort of flick once or twice. You
don’t
really know where to keep it since it doesn’t attach to the
DS. And it
is only suited for games that don’t need buttons since you obviously
lose the use of your thumb. I have no complaints regarding
the thumb
stylus the EZ Flash team supplied, it is good, and I know that most
people would never go out and actually buy one, so having it as a bonus
is a nice eye-opener.
It's free, so I can't complain.
The
stylus supplied is meant for the DS Lite, which is odd since the EZ
Flash Vi is slowly being marketed more and more as a DSi
solution. I
received several of these styli, and they are just another
stylus. I
don’t really like how they have a flat circle piece at the end, but
again, it’s a good freebie, a solid stylus, extendable, and metal.
There used to be a logo on the flat circle piece, but not on
these ones.
Lastly
we have the EZ Flash Vi itself. If I were to compliment one
thing
about the EZ Flash V in the older reviews, it would have been the
cart’s durability. It really stood out from the competition
because
the cart is just really solid. I know I say this a lot for
other flash
carts, but the EZ Flash Vi doesn’t flex at all. You can push
it,
squeeze it all over, and the plastic doesn’t bend or flex or give way
at all. I usually say the cart is sturdy with a little flex
because it
matches that of the original Nintendo DS cartridges. But let
me tell
you the EZ Flash Vi is the most solid. I also happen to
notice the
texture; the back is sort of nice grainy feel, while the front and
sides is sort of glossy. I quite like the overall feel of the
cart, it
just doesn’t feel cheap.
The cart is just really strong, and every single version of
the EZ Flash V has been like this.
The
side loading MicroSD slot of the EZ Flash Vi has also
improved. I
thought it might be interesting to say that the original EZ Flash V was
the first slot 1 cartridge to have a side loading slot, and it was
spring-less. They foresaw, ages ago, the issue and the fears
of
putting in a spring, which is why the spring is not present in this run
either. In the past, the EZ Flash V carts and most
spring-less flash
carts had these slots that were extremely tight. It would
take weeks
of usage before they loosen. The EZ Flash Vi is reasonably
loose right
off the bat, so getting the MicroSD in and out is not an issue at
all.
It is a good improvement since you could spend a day tearing at the old
EZ Flash V carts trying to get the MicroSD card out for the first time.
You don't have to wait for the slot to loosen anymore, the
MicroSD cards slide in and out easily now.
The
front of the EZ Flash Vi has chips sticking out. It is
probably the
most significant protrusion I’ve seen recently, and it would get in the
way if it wasn’t for the extremely thick and glossy sticker.
The
sticker sort of smoothes things out, so the cart doesn’t really tug or
get caught against the edges, but it still feels a little
thick. The
real issue is the design on the sticker. I think the yellow
and black
design just doesn’t work, they often try to cram too many things in
there, but this time they sort of put too little. The sticker
from the
first run of the EZ Flash Vi was far superior in my opinion.
.
.
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read the complete review at dsdatabase.org
