last time i got a shitty card (r4igold) that did not work with 1.4.4 and the website had updates from years ago and the update links were expired.

anyways i want to get an R4i gold but actually want one that is updated to work with the latest updates and is the most popular.

http://www.r4ids.cn/?
http://www.r4i-gold.com?
http://www.r4igold.net/?

there are so many which one should i get are they all by the same person or what?

EDIT: misspelling

They're all cheap Chinese clones of the original R4. Well, they're not even clones, they have more functions than the "original" R4. The company that manufactured the original R4 disappeared some time ago, you won't find any original R4's. (And they don't work on DSi/3DS).

I don't know of any of these but they usually have bad updates and support. For example I have one called "R4 SDHC". It never got updates, and the website for it has disappeared some time ago. The card itself works quite well, but I can't play many newer games.

On the other hand, I know there are some R4i's that support an alternate firmware called "Wood R4", which receives many updates and game patches and works quite well. Google it or something.

Or you could get something that's not an R4i, there are many, like the Supercards

Thanks.
well I might get a supercard they seem cheaper in the long run.
this website seems safe enough
http://shoptemp.net/products/Supercard-DSTWO.html
I have heard rumours that R4 saves are not compatible with the Supercard and you will have to start a new game on every rom. do you know if this is true?

I don't think that's true.
And if the formats are really different there's probably a converter or something. I have the R4SDHC and a DSTWO and both use the same format. Raw 512kb .SAV files. Your R4 probably does, too.

thanks