The R4DS And The R4i SDHC Cards - What's The Difference?

Why write an article comparing 2 very similar cards? This article is being written because they is just so much confusion surrounding the R4 DS Card and the R4i SDHC Cards and which Nintendo hand held systems they will work on. It's actually a lot easier to pick the right on then you would think, and that's why I wrote this piece. I wasted a lot of time reading and researching, trying to find out what's what, and which card I should buy. I wish I had an easy to follow guide back when I was buying my card.

The question you're probably asking is what exactly is this r4 ds card that everyone keeps talking about. One way to think of the r4 ds is to compare it to a memory card adapter. While it is true that it is a memory card adapter, it's a very unique one. It looks just like a regular DS game card, and lets you plug a micro SD card in to it, where you can store and then load games, movies, apps, and more. For those of you who may not know what the R4 DS Card is, or what an NDS or Console flash card is, it has been around for some time - with similar cards for older game systems like the Gameboy Advance, Gamboy color, Super NES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Virtually every game system has had these homebrew type cards. The biggest difference though is that cards like the R4 DS use relatively cheap micro SD flash memory and you can replace the cards or add more memory by running to your local electronics store, instead of relying on the memory that would normlaly be built in.

A quick search in google will bring up numerous sites selling the r4 cards, but the trick is to make sure you are getting a real, genuine, authentic card - and not a knock off. Theses cards are great - but the clones are horrible. The clone or knock offs can be tempting - they're cheap - but you do get what you pay for, and if game compatibility is something you value then stay away from them because the games just don't work. Because of the popularity of the r4 ds cards a lot of other companies started coming out with their own versions of the r4, but they don't have all of the features nor will they work exactly as you would expect them to work.

Some of your are probably wondering just what kinds of games you can actually play on your Nintendo DS with the R4 DS. Well, pretty much anything and everything. The freeware games and apps work perfectly too. Entire web sites and forum sites are devoted to the free ds homebrew games. Developers themselves also have their own sites where they release these free games to anyone with an R4 DS.

The real power of the R4 DS comes out though when we stop thinking of our Nintendo DS or DSi as just a games system. Don't worry, this is the best part because the R4 DS will have you doing a whole lot of things that have nothing to do with video games on your nintendo ds. Of course you're be able to play all of your games. The games are there to be sure, but you'll also be able to enjoy movies and videos, ebooks, digital photos and even use your Nintendo DS and DSI as an MP3 player. With all of these things built in - it's no wonder people call the r4 the ultimate multimedia adapter.

The R4 DS and R4
AT this point though, you are probably wondering just what the difference is between the r4 ds and the r4i cards, right?

The R4i SDHC card is essentially the same as an R4DS. All of the same features remain as they were for the NIntendo DS, except now you can enjoy all of the same features on the Nintendo DSi system. you'll be up and running in no time. And the R4i SDHC is compatible in every single way with the Nintendo DS as well as the DS Lite, so it works on all the systems, not just the Nintendo DSi. You'll be able to watch the same movies, read the same eBooks, and take your Mp3 music with you too