Review of TheSkrapsYard’s SD2Vita adapter for the PSVita

Aurora

I'm a girl that's liked technology from day 1. Mostly interested in the PSVita/PSP scene but I've always modded my stuff when it's possible, that is :) Contact me via DM at @KawaiiAuroraA on Twitter if you have any questions/concerns about my articles or if you have any article requests.

38 Responses

  1. First says:

    I am sorry but i have to say, my China (Aliexpress) Adapter is working better than the Srident Adapter which have much connecting issus. I think it is a broken connection, could be the post… because Srident dosn’t use a case or any protection. The cheap China Adapter was way better protected…

    • Dmaskell92 says:

      I also have no issues with mine, and mine is a 1mm thick heroangel sd2vita. I also got it from aliexpress.

    • Second says:

      Same wth me, have a couple of Strident ones, both are failing.

      I don’t get saying chinese ones have poor quality. Ali express works just like eBay. Pick a seller with a good rep and you’re good to go. By the same price Strident or the other charge, I can buy 8 or 9 from there. I just bought 4 just in case. And by the looks of it, it has a better quality conttrol than Strident’s, and they offer me warranty.

    • meysam25 says:

      me too

    • J says:

      Thank you so much. The proprietary Sony memory is utter BS. Just ordered this chip v2.0 right now for under $2
      http://s.aliexpress.com/7feqe6NV

  2. Setsu says:

    That no-click SD card slot is actually fairly common. Some recent examples include the Raspberry Pi 3, which switched from click to non-click, due to complaints that the click mechanism was fragile and tended to break.

  3. Icedcream says:

    If you got a few vitas laying around I suggest getting some boards fabricated and making your own. It’s a fun little project and if your pcbs come with test points you can use clear nail varnish to seal them up.

  4. Andrew says:

    I’d recommend you look at the XBERSTAR New Version Push to Eject SD2VITA PSVSD Micro SD Adapter for PS Vita Henkaku 3.60 (Black) on Amazon. It’s cheap and is about as sturdy. It was delivered all the way from Illinios.

  5. reymon says:

    thanks for the review
    i hope i get mine soon

  6. nebu_187 says:

    i pre-ordered 2 sd2vita plus from hackinformer i have a feeling these will be the best since they have plastic casings like the cartridge (hackinformer branded).

    • seanp2500 says:

      just got mine this morning and it is a legit nice build quality but i went with the 3g modem adapter i might use it to add some more space later

  7. elidibiz says:

    Biased article. Expected better from wololo than to jump into the hackinformer fearmongering. Nobody should be using this outdated design anymore.

    • wololo says:

      How the heck is this even remotely related to “fearmongering”? Please elaborate. Especially since you’re the one who seems to think the old design has a problem.
      As a matter of fact, I myself published an article where my opinion was opposite to that of Aurora’s: I think the cheap ones you can buy on Aliexpress are actually ok to use: http://wololo.net/2017/08/11/microsd-adapters-sd2vita-one-buy/
      So we don’t have a “site wide” fearmongering thing going on here, only reviewers’ personal opinions, which our bloggers are totally entitled to have!

      • elidibiz says:

        “I’d suggest you buy yourself another well-built adapter […] before the only adapters that you could find are cheap ones from China that have dubious quality control”. Chinese adapters are just as good, if not better, than Modsiah’s, Srident’s, TheSkrapsYard’s and definitely HI’s. Not to mention that, although unlikely, shorts caused by the lack of plastic shell are a very real possibility. Add to that the fact that, for the asking price, you can get either 5 pieces of a V2.0 adapter that actually pops in and out of your Vita or a V3.0 one that’s encased, and that’s what I meant by “fearmongering”. No disrespect wololo, been with you forever now, but Aurora here is severely misinformed or just biased.

        • wololo says:

          Hence the “I’d suggest” which is just her opinion, and not a clear recommendation from this entire website or myself, and is not related to the “fearmongering” you are talking about, which was trashing the entire former design, for a very dubious goal.

          Sorry if I came out as aggressive: I’m not denying the fact that Aurora has her opinion in her reviews, and you might disagree with those. What I am not liking is that you associate us to something that has nothing to do with me or the site (the fearmongering campaign with clear goals to sell a new design)

    • Armed_&_Overclocked says:

      I don’t think Aurora was fear mongering in any way.

      She is correct that the Chinese produced adapters, much like anything from China, can be very hit or miss and to the casual vita user they might not be able to discern the junk from the more quality products.

      That being said Aurora does appear to be biased, but its likely because she prefers to give her money to actual members of the scene and not outsiders looking to turn a profit. This is very similar to people who prefer to shop at small family owned stores instead of the big box chains such as walmart.

      • Nope says:

        And Srident is part of the szene? Never heard about him bevor and his reddit and twitter account was totaly new.

  8. supp says:

    I recommend SD2Vita version 3. same price or cheaper. the closest looking to an actual retail vita cart. easily available on ebay and aliexpress

  9. Knofbath says:

    This type of adapter is unfortunately obsolete, being of the hobbyist PCB-only design.

    Newer adapters are available of the hybrid-PCB(shaped like a game card and eject-able), and plastic shell variants.

    My plastic shell variant is still on order, slow boat from China most likely.

    • andoryuu3 says:

      Not obsolete actually. (but nobody needed another review on the same gadorach/xyz design; clearly, it works)

      The major flaw with these newer adapters is the PCB is still the gadorach/xyz design, which was not designed with a case in mind. Hence why Gadorach is producing a new, redesigned PCB that *requires* (and includes) a case (called SD2VITA PLUS). Chinese manufacturers are lazy: I guarantee you none of them have revised the gadorach/xyz PCB for use with a case.

      I have a few of the Chinese adapters with the eject mechanism and they are junk simply because they are all thicker than 1.2mm. Anything thicker than that and you run the risk of permanently bending the connector pins inside your Vita too far in, and could run into connectivity issues with official game cartridges.

      Yifan Lu says it best when he says that the gadorach/xyz designs are PROTOTYPE quality products at best. They are far from polished products.

      • Named says:

        Do you know of any Japanese made SD2Vita instead of those cheap bad Chinese made?

        • andoryuu3 says:

          I don’t unfortunately. I only know of the one that Gadorach is partnering with Hackinformer to make (SD2VITA PLUS), and that’s going to be the safest one once it’s released. If you don’t like the price, just wait until the Chinese clone the SD2VITA PLUS. They are bound to clone it for sure.

  10. ROD says:

    I’m gonna be that guy and ask why there is no microSD adapter for non-hacked Vitas (100x and 200x).
    According to RichDevX “it’s simple to do” and yet no one’s come up with it for us.
    I hope it’s just a matter of time.

    • pez2k says:

      These adapters go in the gamecard slot, so they need custom software to mount the gamecard as a memory card. There are no adapters for the memory card slot.

  11. Dmaskell92 says:

    Aurora, now that you have a thin PCB why not try to make a DIY case with a old credit/gift card?

    https://gbatemp.net/threads/sd2vita-diy-cover-vita-spring-load-working.479691/

    I made one and it’s way better than this poster, I was thinking about starting a post on /talk to see what people make. It clicks like an actual game cart so removal is easy as pie.

  12. Mark says:

    It’s not as easy as just throwing your used SD into a spare Vita that’s ready to go though, right? id.dat can screw some things up as I understand it.

  13. andoryuu3 says:

    0.8mm is wayyyy too thin for SD2VITA IMHO… 1.2mm fits perfect (though requires tweezers to remove), and 1.0mm fits snug (can actually be accidentally removed when using the microSD slot’s eject function)…..

    Based on my experience, it sounds like 0.8mm would be like a hotdog in a hallway. Yep, no thanks.

  14. Aleksmelic says:

    I feel sorry for the designers, they’ve obviously invested some money into this – but this design is obsolete, now that we have plastic cased designs available. The people who still stock of their obsolete designs will obviously try as hard as they can to justify your purchase of them – but everyone is better off with the plastic cased adapters.

    Either grab one off aliexpress or wait for more credible ones, but no one should be buying these bare designs anymore.

    • grrr says:

      Stop mis-informing people, there is no offical report that the cased designs are better, they are thicker and could do more damage. There is nothing wrong with the old design. They work perfectly and if they break then the person is a *** for not being careful.

      • elidibiz says:

        As far as the few available reports go, the cased adapters use the same mold as retail cartridges, sans the top. So no risk of shorts, more resilient, perfect fit, etc.
        There are lots of things wrong with the original design. Even the 2.0s from China are better (except for smiley).

        • andoryuu3 says:

          Same mold or not, if they’re using the same PCB as the original prototype design (highly likely), then there IS a risk of the card being too thick. If you don’t believe me, lay the cased adapter flat on the table next to a retail cartridge. You will notice the pins on the cased adapter are significantly higher than the retail cartridge because the actual PCB is thicker.

          Sorry, but I personally do not want to run the risk of permanently bending my game card slot’s pins in too far (and having connectivity issues with retail cartridges).

      • lol says:

        This information is coming straight from the horses mouth. Anyone who advises otherwise is just trying to sell off their old stock.
        https://www.reddit.com/r/vitahacks/comments/70wwlz/vita_memory_card_adapter_sd2vitapsvsdetc_buysell/

  15. woohoo says:

    I bought a chinese one off ebay and thankfully it has a spring clip for putting in the micro sd card.
    So i have put in the sd2vita adapater into my vita and taped it in, this way i can just slide the micro sd card in and out without removing the adapter, So painless 😀

  16. Suzette says:

    Nicеly, I am surprised yߋu all ledt thе very extra best one for me.?

    Daddy stated with a tеasing smile. ?It?s thqt hе sent Jesus to die ffor us and give
    us life endlessly and ever and that due to that we will be a family in heaven for tens of millions of yeаrs.

    That?s pretty good isnt it?

  17. I do trust all of the concepts you’ve introduced on your post.
    They’re really convincing and can certainly work.
    Nonetheless, the posts are very brief for newbies. May you please prolong them a little from
    subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

  18. togel top says:

    Very rapidly this web page will be famous among all blogging
    and site-building users, due to it’s nice posts

  19. Normally I don’t learn post on blogs, however I wish to say that this write-up very compelled me to try and do so!
    Your writing taste has been surprised me. Thank you, very great post.