First allow me to apologize in advance. I'm sure many of you guys get threads like these all the time. I assure you I read all I could before coming here. I was lucky to find this place so hopefully someone can help me out.

I have a roommate who has a Nintendo DS Lite with an R4 device that lets him play games from a MicroSD card. I thought that was pretty cool and it's prompted me to look into buying a DS. However after reading extensively on wikipedia and external links and through googling I am still at a bit of a loss of what to do. Here is what I do know:

I can't get a SLOT-1 device and play GBA games. But I can get a SLOT-2 device and play GBA games AND NDS games (if I buy an optional passkey). I've been looking at different sites that sell these sort of devices but I am at a loss as to what to get because there are so many different devices and brands. All I know is that I would like to play both NDS and GBA games especially for this summer and there isn't a single piece of hardware that allows me to both. I really don't want to screw this up so I'm asking for help on what I should get. I'm looking preferably in any device that would use a MicroSD card because I plan to buy that separate. I'm just hoping someone can point me to the right direction.
Thanks in advance.

Don't be sorry, as long as you took some time to look around, I'll be glad to help you.

Assuming you get a DS Lite...
You say you want to play NDS and GBA games, not just NDS. As you stated, you'll need a slot-2 device and a pass device. Here's a generic layout of what you need:
- Slot-2 memory card adapter (M3, SuperCard, CycloDS, etc.)
- memory card + memory card reader/writer
- Pass device (PassMe, NoPass, PassKey, etc.)

As for specifics, here's what I would suggest:
- M3 Perfect Lite (slot-2 device)
- 1GB or 2GB microSD card + microSD card reader/writer
- *Max Media Launcher (NoPass device)

* = If you have an Action Replay DS, there is no need to buy a pass device. Just update the ARDS's firmware to the latest, and it will have the ability to boot homebrew from a slot-2 device (just hold "select" as you turn on the DS).

So this is how things will work:
1. Use provided PC software to write GBA and/or NDS ROMs to the microSD card.
2. Put the microSD card into the M3.
3. Put the M3 into the GBA slot of the DS
3.5 (Optional) Put your pass device (Max Media Launcher, ARDS, etc.) in the DS card slot
4. Turn on the DS.
- If you DID put the pass device in the DS slot, the M3 will automatically boot into NDS mode, where you can run NDS ROMs but not GBA ROMs.
- If you DID NOT put the pass device in the DS slot, the DS will boot up normally and you will choose "Start GBA game" from the DS's main menu. The M3 will now load into GBA mode, where you will be able to run GBA ROMs but not NDS ROMs.

If you need anything else, feel free to ask!

Thanks a lot. The specifics is more of what I was looking for. I have to ask though, what is Action Replay DS? Is that like another pass key device (like Max Media Launcher)? It's the first time I see that mentioned. Also it seems that the M3 website is down. I've been trying since yesterday to check them out but to no avail. The only website I know of that seems pretty legit to me is modchipman.com when it comes to buying these sort of storage devices but they are out of stock on the M3 Perfect Lite. I've googled for the M3 Perfect Lite but there are just too many websites selling it and I'd rather know which sites are authorized and which ones aren't. Last thing I want is to buy a fake or gets scammed. The Supercard Lite is available though but I'm not sure if that would be compatible with the Max Media Launcher. Also where would I get the Max Media Launcher? Do the makers of Max Media Launcher have a website I can check out to see where they sell it? Or if you can recommend any sites that sell these devices I would appreciate that too.

Thanks again for clearing everything up for me.

EDIT: Btw why is it that the M3 Perfect Lite costs more than the Supercard Lite? There seems be a big difference in price when compared to ther products for the M3 Perfect Lite.

Action Replay is a cheating device, like GameShark or CodeBreaker. You can visit the website HERE, which is also the website of the Max Media Launcher.

As for a place to buy an M3, you can get one here: www.modmyds.com

Aaaaaand as for the price, I do believe it is because the M3 can play music, movies, and pictures without the use of third party homebrew (DSOrganize, Moonshell, LMP-ng, etc.).

Well I'm pretty close to making my purchase thanks to you. I'm just debating if extra multimedia capabilities are worth it considering it seems you can get homebrew on the SuperCard Lite that would give me those functions as well. Is it troublesome to get the third party homebrew on the SuperCard Lite

All in all it looks like with your recommendations I may end up spending $250 on the NDS. Or maybe a bit less if I get a SuperCard.

Thanks again for everything. Hopefully this thread also helps anyone who may be looking to do the same thing as I am.

I'm not sure how easy/hard it is to use a SuperCard (I've never owned one). If you are considering an SC, though, I might suggest looking into a CycloDS microSD. It is cheaper than a SuperCard, but has the same features as an M3.

Wow that's a price saver! I think I may definitely go with the CycloDS just for the price difference and features (same as M3).

Just wanted to update this. I bought the CycloDS and the Max Media Launcher. I just finished getting my DS Lite too. So I put in the game in the 2GB microSD card I bought.

I put in the new Pokemon games (Pearl and Diamond) on my microSD card and when I try to run them it starts loading and once it finishes loading the dual screens both go white blank. I can't really do anything but turn off the DS Lite. So I'm curious if I'm doing something wrong.

I have the Max Media Launcher and CycloDS in at the same time because otherwise I wouldn't be able to play the NDS games.

Any help is appreciated.

Did you patch them with the CycloDS Rom Patcher before you put them on your microSD card? If not, you can download the patcher (and some other tools) here: www.cyclopsds.com

Thanks. That did the trick.

Hey there again. Everything has been going good so far. I've been playing other games (I love the mind puzzle games) and so far they've been working good. However I've encountered some problems with my two Pokemon games (Pearl and Diamond). For whatever reason they are not saving progress. I'm not sure what's wrong because my other games save progress. Everything I save and try to reload I get the error message that the saved file has been corrupt or erased and I have to start all over. None of the other games do this. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Help? I still can't get my Pokemon Diamond and Pearl to save.

I guess first you should make sure you transferred both the patched ROM and the save file created with it to the CycloDS, not just the ROM. If both files are there, maybe Pokemon D/P uses a save format that is not supported by the CycloDS.