Emulators use software to allow hardware to run something that is designed to run on different hardware. A flashcart still uses the DS Hardware to run the DS games, so it's not an emulator. You can run emulators on your DS which allow the DS hardware to play other systems like Gameboy/GBC, Sega, SNES, NES, etc.
Since I don't have a DS I use Emulator. One thing for sure, it is easier to bypass the Anti-Piracy protection on some games, although it lack the feature of a real DS.
Thanks! I did not think that there was any difference between a flash cart and an emulator, and now I know. miros
Do Flashcarts support savestates? If not then that's one advantage emulators have that they can throw at a flashcart. The ability to simply Save/Load anywhere & not have to run for the game's pre-set Save point which may or may not be near enough for you to make it to save your progress or die before getting there
When an emulator is perfected, it's far more useful than a flash cart. That said, playing a downloaded game natively on the original console is much more appealing, at least to me... Of course, playing playstation on one's pc can also be better once you can be bothered to set it up right, since it can display improved graphics (once the emulator is improved enough, like epsxe). So easy to use vs power and functions I reckon (one day ds emulation could use cheats-or prehaps now even...)