M3 vs. R4

**parkermauney** · June 6th, 2007, 22:49

I've been on the psp scene for quite a while, but am looking at a homebrew/b**kup solution for my ds. (Got it yesterday). I've decided on either the R4 or M3, which look exactly the same. Are there any differences between the two? And on the FAQ, it said I would still need a passcard, but it's pretty outdated. Do I?

**DanTheManMS** · June 6th, 2007, 23:11

There are several different products that carry the name "M3". There are the slot-2 M3 Perfect and M3 Pro products, but I believe what you are looking at is the slot-1 M3 Simply.

The R4 and M3 Simply are indeed identical. In fact, with the first batches of each, you could convert between R4 and M3 Simply by simply soldering or desoldering a few pads on the PCB. That has been fixed with later batches, but the point remains that they are the same.

The R4 is the original product, which the M3 Team buys and rebrands as the M3 Simply. This means that R4 updates come out sooner than M3 Simply ones. Also, the R4 is usually cheaper than the M3 Simply, but not always.

If you're looking for a good seller, I'd recommend RealHotStuff. Their prices are fairly competitive, and they have cheap shipping within the US, and you usually receive your package in about 3 days even with the standard USPS shipping.

Nearly all slot-1 devices have built-in passcard capability, so you don't need to worry about that. The only one that doesn't is the DSLINK (not to be confused with the DSLinker).

**parkermauney** · June 6th, 2007, 23:56

Alright, thanks man! I'm kind of a n00b at this stuff.

Just got to find 70$ and I'm getting a M3 Simply.

**XioN980** · June 7th, 2007, 00:20

$70!!!!

for just the simply!!

How bout mine for $48 with postage!!

Price could be higher depending on postage but pm me for details, 70 bucks indeed

**spik3yb0i** · June 7th, 2007, 18:24

get the M3

**Quay Cur** · June 8th, 2007, 03:55

take a look over here:

http://www.dealextreme.com/products.dx/category.604

DealExtreme has some of the best prices I've seen anywhere. I just picked up the R4/1GB Kingston combo for $47 including postage. I've read that they can take a week or two to get it to you, though, as it comes from China.

Oh, microSD cards made in Japan seem to have the best compatibility so far. DealExtreme has Japanese Kingston cards.

GBAtemp has some great reviews of the R4 and M3DSS among many others:

http://www.gbatemp.net/index.php?dynamic=8