What's the best handheld?

[WoD]

OK...

I would go for the lite (I have the old one and its fab, but the lite is fabber).

I've charged mine on the continent, so all you need is an adaptor if you get the UK version.

It will come with a stylus (plus spare) and a wrist strap that includes a thumb stylus (for certain games).

If you have a wireless router then the wi-fi 'should' be simple to set-up...the DS does most everything for you.  If you don't then a USB dongle is available for a couple of tenners (I think).

[ukdane]

An adpator, or can I switch cables?

Ther Lite seems to be the thing to go for- I've read some more reviews now.

I have Wi-fi in the house.
Does it have a USB port?
How are people using emulators on it?
How do you save your progress- (ie memory cards)?

[Banners]

The DS Lite doesn't come with a wrist strap, just the two stylusses. Or should that be stylii?

Am enjoying mine although the wi-fi connection for Mazzer Kart is erractic at my end, even after I thought I had the settings on the router sussed.

This is my second by the way - the first had two 'stuck' red pixels, one on each screen. Gamestation changed it no problem which was quite cool as such problems are accepted on most laptop screens.

Just finished "Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow", so am thinking what to get next. And my current Brain Age is 23, though I did get it to 21 a few days ago...

M@

[Banners]

:: I have Wi-fi in the house.
The appropriate games (I only have one) will include config menu. It's all pretty simple if you get lucky, though your router is not guaranteed to work.

:: Does it have a USB port?
Nope.

:: How are people using emulators on it?
Dunno.

:: How do you save your progress- (ie memory cards)?
The carts have built-in memory.

Just get one already! Surely the enthusiasm for the DS on here compared to hardly and PSP posts says it all? I played a PSP once. I was bored.

M@

[The Amstor Computer]

To answer:

-- No USB port

-- Emulation is a little bit more than I can explain, but this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uy28iIn6Lc&mode=related&search=">link should give you some idea of what's involved in preparing your DS Lite to run homebrew and emulators. It's a little more than I'd be prepared to do to my system at the moment, but I'm precious about these things :-)

-- No need for memory cards. Each DS game comes on a small card & save games are written to this. There's normally a limit of 3 or so saves per card, but that's typically more than enough for a gamer, or even a couple of gamers sharing the DS

As for future handhelds, I wouldn't expect a revision or successor to the DS Lite for at least a couple of years. There was a time when it may have been quickly superceded by the next-gen Game Boy, but it's been such a success for Nintendo that I think they'll be supporting it for a good while yet. IIRC the Game Boy Advance launched in 2000/2001 and is still going, and I expect the DS to have the same longevity so it'll probably still be around come 2009.

The PSP is quite possibly going to see at least one revision in its life span - possibly cosmetic, with perhaps a few hardware tweaks - but there are no indications that that will be any time soon. I'd expect it to have a reasonable lifespan as well, but it seems to be in a slightly less strong position than the DS at the moment. I'd still expect it to have another couple of years in it, though.

[IndigoPrime]

:: How are people using emulators on it?

By using a flash card, which is a writeable GBA-sized cart. Depending on the model, you either write to it via a USB linker from your PC (supplied) or you use SD media (or something similar), which slots into the cart.

If you're running GBA homebrew, it's just a case of dumping the ROMs to the cart, booting the DS into GBA mode and then running your selection from the cart's menu. If you're running emulators, you often have to "inject" ROMs into the emulator, to compile a GBA ROM (a process that takes seconds and you only need do it once).

DS emulation is mildly more complex. You have to "fool" the DS into thinking a cart's active, whereupon it then reads DS ROMs from the GBA port's flash cart. Whereas this used to be scary as hell (including flashing the firmware), these days it's just a case of sticking a nopass cart into your DS slot and a flash cart with DS ROMs into the GBA port.

Click the link below for an example.

Link: http://invisionfree.com/forums/worldofstuart/index.php?showtopic=3811&st=0" target="_blank">An example

[Wils]

Any recommedations for flash carts? I know this is jumping the gun a bit seeing as I've not even got a Micro yet. :)

I've had a bit of a play with Goomba, trying it with VisualboyAdvance. It *is* a bit good, isn't it?

[IndigoPrime]

Goomba is absolutely fab. In fact, I don't play any of my GB mono carts any more?I use Goomba instead. (And if you've a DS or micro, you've got naff-all choice anyway.)

In terms of carts, I have an EZ-F III, which is one of the best for GBAs. Do not order them from the UK, unless you want to get seriously ripped off. Instead, try overseas retailers such as:
http://www.winsunx.com/
http://www.hopebuy.com/
http://kicktrading.ca/

For GBA stuff, steer clear of the SuperCard, because it has major slowdown issues. The G6 Lite has been getting good reviews -- see the link below.

Link: http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=34239" target="_blank">G6 review

[ukdane]

Necro.
I got a DS-Lite the other day, (for my son)
also got Brain Training, Lego: Star Wars II, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team (which came bundled).

I can see from Brain Training, that I can download more Suduko, but it doesn't seem to work- I've certainly not set it up to go through my wireless router- how/where/when, do I do that?
(The router works for my PS2)

Any ideas?

[WoD]

google for compatibility.  I've had no issues getting the DS to log in to either of the wireless routers I've had.  The PSP didn't like my old one though.

[ukdane]

My Router should work. (it's listed on the official site)
It appears, that the problem is that Brain Training can't find it.

[WoD]

I'll try mine and let you know how I get on...I didn't know you could DL more stuff...