This thread is meant to be a comprehensive resource into finding and buying LSDJ cartridges.
First thing's first, sign up for PayPal.
The fact is, LSDJ cartridges are not available anymore, so you must purchase a blank Gameboy flash cart and have LSDJ flashed to it. The first step in doing this is to BUY LSDJ. LSDJ is donationware and you can gain access to the ROM images of every LSDJ version and its manual by giving a very small donation ($2 USD) to Johan, the developer of LSDJ. You can do so here. When you purchase a blank flash cart you must present some kind of evidence to the seller that you have purchased the LSDJ license, usually a screenshot of your PayPal account stating you transferred $2 to Johan Kolinski or something along those lines.
Now that you have purchased the license to own LSDJ you have two options: Use the ROM in your favorite gameboy emulator (I suggest BGB for Windows or KiGB for Linux or OS X) or purchase a flash cart with LSDJ flashed to it so you can use it in a real Gameboy. The advantage to emulation is that you can use it on just about any platform and you can do more with it without fear of the Gameboy's processor being too weak to handle it (which isn't really an issue unless you use tables or the vibrato command a LOT). The advantage to having a flash cart is that you can use it on your actual Gameboy and the sound quality is much better than any emulator available.
The 32M Smart Card is the oldest of the still used flash carts. These have the advantage of being the cheapest of the lot, but they are at a disadvantage in many other ways. One con is that these cartridges require something called a Transferer II in order to backup your save file or change the ROM that is flashed to it. The 32M Smart card is available for around $35 (plus shipping and the $2 for LSDJ) and the Transferer is about $45-$50. The Transferer is not required, but you run the risk of losing your save file should your battery die and not being up to date on the latest version of LSDJ. Another issue with the Transferer is that it requires a parallel port on your computer. A lot of more recent computers no long have these ports so it's a real pain. The final issue is the battery. A lot of 32M cards have the original batteries in them and are way past their life expectancy. These batteries continuously power the SRAM on the cart in order to hold the saved data. When these batteries die, you will lose all your saved data and will need to replace the battery. While it is fairly simple to do, you must have a little soldering experience. There is also the EMS cart which is basically the same thing and the same price as the 32M Smart Cards, but only available in bulk (and under the table).
The BleepBloop carts are manufactured Jose Torres. These carts are slightly more expensive than the 32M Smart Cards (about $40) and still require transferers to back up your saves, but what makes these carts great is the transferer does NOT require a parallel port. The BleepBloop transferer(which have yet to be released) plugs right into your USB port. Also, since these carts are newly manufactured they have much newer batteries which will last longer. The battery is held in place with small clips which allow for easy, solderless replacement. The issue is price with the programmer alone costing $55. There is a lot of controversy going on with these cartridges and the use of the design posted by Reiner Ziegler. Jose is in the process of changing it, but cartridges still ship with the same hardware design, firmware and software, so be wary if that bothers you.
The SmartBoy 32M cart is the newest to appear on the scene. These cartridges are 32M in size, and are programmable with the included USB Transfer Device. This bundle is based off the design posted by Reiner Ziegler. This cartridge may be used on all Gameboy consoles which support the original Game Boy cartridges. The quality is top notch on these and the price is wonderful: for $49 you get a cartridge with the USB programmer (which is compatible with BleepBloop products and GameBoy Pocket Camera, among other stuff). Everything else is just about identical to the BleepBloop cartridges.
The USB cart is manufactured by Jose Torres. These carts do not require a transferer, but are much more expensive ($75). The USB carts have the transferer built right into it, so t you just plug it into your computer and transfer your save or ROM using the included software (available for Windows and Linux with an OS X version coming shortly). These carts also have the same battery design as the BleepBloop carts. The cons are the price and the lack of software for OS X. Also, these are available in short runs since it takes time to manufacture them and the demand for them is HUGE. I believe most shipments have been delayed until early 2010, though I may be mistaken. Also, keep in mind the issues with the BleepBloop carts still apply here as well.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ableeplife/3207685441/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ableeplife/3207685433/
The EMS USB 64M Smart Card is the latest from EMS (creators of the original Smart Card). This cartridge is effectively the same as the USB Cart with two glaring differences: Prices and storage capacity. The EMS USB cart costs $40 with all the features of the USB cart (including things like the easily swappable battery) and the EMS cart has 64 MB of storage space as opposed to the 16 MB available on the USB carts. The EMS carts also have support for multiple ROMs held on them at once. Unfortunately, the software is only available in 32-bit Windows flavors. Again, same basic design as the USB Cart, BleepBloop cart and SmartBoy, but this one changes quite a few things making it the most unique of the bunch.
There are several dealers of these carts around:
http://kitsch.bigcartel.com/ - Kitsch has the BleepBloop carts, USB Carts 32M Smart Cards, Transferer IIs, 64M USB Carts and SmartBoys. His prices are fair and he is a fantastic person to deal with. I have dealt with him a lot and he is really great. He also offers a multitude of other hardware, mods, parts, etc.
http://nonelectronics.com/catalog/index … mp;cPath=2 -Nonfinite has just about everything you can think of. 32M Smart Cards, Transferer IIs, BleepBloop carts, USB carts and even Gameboy cartridge replacement batteries. Nonfinite has a multitude of other products and services available. I have not, personally, dealt with him, but I've heard good things.
http://www.consolegoods.co.uk/ - Rob Webb has a multitude of different consoles, tools and backup devices including the 32M Smart card and Transferer II. Rob Webb is UK based.
http://gameboydev.org/ - This is Jose's page for the USB carts. You can also email him at: jose.torres [AT] 8bc [DOT] org
http://www.hkems.com/m_main.htm - HK EMS has Transferer IIs and EMS carts available, but the carts are only available in bulk. You have to email them to inquire about it.
http://www.djtransformer.com/ye%20olde% … hoppe.html - Transformer is also located in the UK and has some of the best prices around. He also offers a lot of other goods and services.
If you have any other questions about purchasing LSDJ, please post them here instead of creating a whole new thread about it.
If I missed anything or any sellers, let me know and I will edit this post.
Just FYI, NEVER EVER go to abitbent.com. They are horrible people charging way too much for everything. They're even charging for FREE programs like MuddyGB. It's a load of dingo's kidneys.
Last edited by Beware (Jan 25, 2010 11:03 pm)