XG Linker Review

Thanks to GBAx for the review. Buy Yours from Divineo China

GBAx.com review of the 256M XG USB Linker for GBA 5/01/03
Manufacturer: XGFlash
Release date: 01/12/02
Review updated 19/01/03

OK, the much publisised XG linker (or should that be EZ rip off, i'm not going to get into that.) well firstly to my suprise it comes with a floppy disk (remember those?) and my laptop does not have a floppy drive so i had to download the software, no big deal. Secondly on their website they have a picture of the Smart Wallet - its not compatable.

Cart in linker - Amazingly small!

XGFlash (believed to be the people behind this) are certainly trying to make themselves the daddys of the linker scene here, this is the smallest, fastest and the longest battery life cart and linker combination in the world. It also has the best bundled software i've seen. The carts themselves vary in colour the same as GBA's themselves do, but we don't seem have have any pink ones :) its all plug and play, and installs in seconds. No problems there.

As i've said the software is fantastic, you can treat the cart just like a drive, that is add and remove as you wish, you don't have to re-write the cart every time, meaning the XG cart is more advanced than any other cart as it would seem to support dynamic writing. The bundled GBA OS, while not pogoshell, is great. The excellent littlewriter fully supports the XG, which is excellent news as until now there was no USB/littlewriter solution. Writing speed is excellent, the XG not only writes a card faster than any other linker but also boasts the best battery time for its cartidges (based on a GBA with fresh AA batteries) an impressive 12 hours play compared to around 8 hours on a bung or visoly cart.

Thats it.. Disk, cart and linker.

Now onto the bizarre claims the XGflash blurb has, i'm not sure if its just a case of bad translations but here they are:

Can see the MOVIE on the XGFlash, change your GBA to a VCD - ...It Can't.

Can play the MP3 on the XGFlash, change your GBA to a MP3 machine - Erm... no it can't.

Can see the PHOTO on the XGFlash, change your GBA to a photo explorer - Erm... maybe if you wrote the software yourself it could...

Can......Infinity possible with the XGFlash! ...... - Riiiiiight apart from that isn't true.

OK, so I think they got carried away there, or its just very bad translations of something else. None of this really matters because as soon as you see and use the XG you will instantly know one thing, this is the best linker kit on the market. Simple as that. I already love this thing, it is now my linker of choice. And its also the cheapest linker you can buy today! I cannot recommend this enough. You will love it.