EZ Flash V Plus First Impressions

Hi everybody,

I’m sorry I’ve been neglecting this blog for a while, I will try to post more things up here more often. Anyways, this morning, I went through a lot of trouble with DHL to get ahold of my package, apparently it had been delivered multiple times to my house, even though I got no notice, no notifications, absolutely nothing.

I really prefer it if teams stop sending me carts through DHL, packages get crushed like crazy. It took me 5 minutes or so to just remove the plastic tray from the box.

My first impression was, at least the box design is nice. The quality isn’t surprisingly good or anything, but at least they got rid of the blue and white rays that made the New Years Edition EZ Flash V box look super cheesy.

So what was in the box?

-extendable stylus
-MicroSD reader
-thumb stylus
-EZ Flash V
-EZ Flash 3 in 1 Expansion Pack

I am very happy with the value of this package. This should cost about $35-$40. With it you get a flash cart, and some pretty decent accessories. Compared to the New Years Edition EZ Flash V, you get an extra EZ Flash 3 in 1 for the same price (although you can buy a cheaper bundle without the EZ Flash 3 in 1, but why would you?)

I’m sad that the screen cleaner with the huge EZ Flash logo on it is gone though. I used it briefly, and it was a nice and handy tool to have, and it probably didn’t cost 10 cents to make. I guess trading it in for a MicroSD reader seems reasonable, and people do like their styluses.

Getting the MicroSD card out of the reader is almost impossible during the first few times of use. I was ready to snap the reader in half. But after 3-4 times, it because looser, and is definitely a joy to use now.

Talking about styluses, I just wanted to throw a few pictures. I felt that the thumb stylus felt a bit cheap, but the extendable stylus seems to be pretty decent (although the logo annoys me).

So let’s look closely at the difference between the EZ Flash V, and the EZ Flash V Plus. As announced, the only difference is supposed to be the extra SDHC support on the EZ Flash V Plus. However, just looking at the two carts, differences immediately pop out.

The EZ Flash V Plus is the cart to the left on both pictures.

First, let me say that the moment I got the EZ Flash V Plus, I immediately noticed that the chips were feeling a whole lot less significant. They didn’t bulge out as much. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be true. The EZ Flash V Plus seems to use a thicker sticker, masking the chips that are sticking out really well when you try to take a picture of it, or just feel it. As a result, the EZ Flash V Plus seems to be quite thick inside the DS slot-1. It doesn’t push in and out as easily as a real cartridge, or most of its competitors. Even so, there didn’t seem to be a whole lot of problems, I didn’t feel a bad scraping, or having an issue where it got stuck, etc. It just felt a LITTLE harder to push in. On the other hand this is a marked improvement from the EZ Flash V, it would have this odd sensation of scraping, almost as if everytime you used it, a little bit of the sticker felt like it was wearing away.

The EZ Flash V Plus is a side loaded slot 1 flash cart, it is the only one to do so. Having a side-loaded MicroSD slot means that from the outside, your EZ Flash V Plus will look just like a real game cartridge. One note, the original EZ Flash V’s slot was so tight it was really hard to get the MicroSD card out until heavy usage. It seems they loosened it up a bit because it slides out fairly easily compared to before. I would still recommend sliding it in and out several times just to smooth things out, after that, I found the MicroSD slot at the point where I am quite happy, it is loose enough to get it out quickly and easily, and the same time, it holds onto the memory card quite firmly.

Or does it? I felt that as close as it was to the original, it wasn’t perfect. The top was a bit too glossy, the color was a little off. If you looked at it with no comparison, you probably won’t know the difference. But then if you are to compare, then there is a very SLIGHT difference.

Now the most important part is, how does the EZ Flash V Plus compare to all the other carts on the market?

I think the huge advantage that the EZ Flash V Plus has over the other carts is that it has been out for a long time. It seems to have survived wave after wave of new carts, it is simple in design, and fully functional. The EZ Team have proven themselves over and over as a team that will support their cart to the bitter end. Honestly though, the EZ Flash V was starting to die out, as it lacked a lot of features, but lately the EZ Team has put out new BETAs, finally getting out some much needed fixes, some much needed features.

As I have only had the cart for a day, I haven’t done too many extensive tests yet, actually I haven’t done any at all. I’ve just been playing casual games that I enjoy playing, fiddling with some settings, looking through their support forums, etc. So basically, how I feel is that the cart is quite fast, it holds up well, and from their support forums, it seems that there has never really been a major problem with games. Compatibility has always and probably will always be 100%. Even in terms of lag, the EZ Flash V Plus, with its hybrid mode, is able to tolerate slower MicroSD cards a lot better than other flash carts.

Having used the EZ Flash V a long time ago, I am very happy to see that many of the features of the cart have sped up, the menu seems nicer, and they replaced that god awful orange skin they had a while back.

Although the menu doesn’t look brilliant, it is very functional and efficient at what is being done. Heck, with a decent skin over it, it does look brilliant. I am happy to say that the EZ Flash V Plus’s firmware is just as fast and functional as any other cart on the market if not better.

The other huge advantage of the EZ Flash V Plus is that it supports the EZ Flash 3 in 1 natively. However, from what has been done, I am not at all impressed. You still need to patch roms, there doesn’t seem to be a button to load games onto PSRAM, and overall it just seems fairly…. substandard. I had the AceKard 2 for a while, with Bliss’s custom OS, and that is true native support. I’d like to see EZ team put in that kind of integration, FOR THEIR OWN product. The source code for Rudolph’s application is readily available, it can’t be all that hard to implement. One advantage the EZ Flash V Plus does have is that the GBA-NDS connection is much better supported. There are no need for outside patches for the problematic games such as Pokemon.

At the moment, I am happy with how the EZ Flash V has developed. It is such an old cart, but the way it functions, it can still compete. The EZ team has certainly treated their customers well by supporting the EZ Flash V line all the way to the end.

I have to say that as a budget cart, the EZ Flash V performs well. I was a little bit disappointed with the total lack of features, but considering the price, this is a pretty decent deal. It certainly runs game well, better than the ever popular DS Top Toy, and there is less lag than probably any cart out. The side loading MicroSD slot is a unique idea, and some people may absolutely love that. I also think that it is important to note that many people purchase the EZ Flash 3 in 1 sooner or later during their DS phases, and the best combo is the EZ Flash V Plus and the EZ Flash 3 in 1, especially at the extremely low price.

Anyways, this is definitely not the final word, there will be a DSDatabase.org full review soon, so keep your eyes open. I hope you enjoyed reading my initial thoughts, although upon proof-reading I do go off topic a little. XD