PC Engine/Turbografx Beginner Tips

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown
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A black Duo that's been recapped will probably be more reliable than a Duo R/RX. The motherboard/components (capacitors aside) seem to be of slightly higher quality. Also, headphone jack if that kind of thing tickles your fancy.



Don't be that guy.

Is this True Gohan, Slightly higher quality how?

I've never had any issues with my Duo-R/RX. Games always read on the dime, no sound issues, nothing. Wish I could say the same about the regular Duo. I have one Duo that I call the Money Pit because I had so many issues with it.
 

GohanX

Horrible Goose
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When you have it open, it just seems like the motherboard is constructed of slightly higher materials.
 

RAZO

Mayor of Southtown
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When you have it open, it just seems like the motherboard is constructed of slightly higher materials.

Ohh ok. I have one that had so many issues outside of the Caps. Laser, bad solder joints, power issue. Got all these issues fixed and it's been running great for the last 2 years but boy ohh boy did it cost me. So Much Cooler and Sleeker looking than the Duo-R but this is not to say that the Duo-R is a ugly console.
 

nicksbrain

Cheng's Errand Boy
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Apr 28, 2014
Posts
111
Thanks for all the inpts again, I'll post some updates as soon as I have the console. Already got the TurboEverdrive and some spare parts.

And yeah, I already have nightmares about soldering those wires to the NEC chip, that's where I almost killed my CMVS before :rolleyes:
 

Sarumaru

Kabuki Klasher
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Apr 13, 2008
Posts
128
As far as systems go here a re a few things to consider with all of them;

PCE Briefcase setup (PCE+CDROM+IFU); You can generally find these units cheaper, but you will almost always have to replace the gear on the CD-Rom itself, a cheap fix that can be easily done. These rarely have issues with capacitors going out as they are of higher quality than those used in the standard PCE Duo, but sometimes they fail, it's just very rare.

PCE or Turbo Duo (black combo system); These are notorious for caps leaking and you will likely have to replace caps no matter what. The caps used in these are extremely cheap, if you find one of these systems in the wild that has not been serviced then chances are the caps are leaking all over the board.

Super CD-Rom2 system (Grey CD attachment for standalone consoles); These also suffer issues with cheap capacitors leaking as they appear to use similar parts to that of the Duo.

PCE Duo R/RX (fat white combo system); These rarely need to be recapped. I have had 3 altogether and not a single one had ever been recapped and have gone to new owners and afaik are still functioning. I would not mess with caps unless your sound is really off. You could always open them to see for yourself if they are leaking or not. This was very visible with one of my regular Duos and especially the so with the Super CD-Rom2 system I had.

I do shows and have had a couple of my systems serviced to show off our game and the guy I used does a good job at recaps and RGB mods. I had my SCD2 system RGB modded and I use a SCART cable with it direct to whatever upscaler, but can still do composite out of the same port if need be to connect to some old TV's. Here's his FB page: https://www.facebook.com/pcenuggets

He had s site I think but I can't seem to get to it. Just throwin' it out there in case you don't want to do the tedious work of soldering and wiring yourself. Hope that helps!
 

HeavyMachineGoob

My poontang misses Lenn Yang's wang
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The one downside of the Briefcase setup (CDROM2+IFU) is it not only requires a system card to function (plain CD-ROM2 games), but it needs a System Card 3.0 in order to play Super CD-ROM2 games. It does look really cool though.
 

Sarumaru

Kabuki Klasher
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This is true. You can often find a Super CD System Card for sub 30 bucks loose, and they do look cool like you said ^^
 

Gamemaster

,
20 Year Member
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Whats a good price on a turbo grafix 16 in mint to new condition ( with box and instructions )?
Is it worth getting ? I thought with the super SD System 3 i dont even need to do any mods to it.
 

Gamemaster

,
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Mate, i can get new old stock on PAL TG16 thats why i ask. Dont know if there is much interest in this system, but i could get more than one for other ppl if the price is ok.
 

[OCEAN]

Sakura's Bank Manager
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Posts
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Mate, i can get new old stock on PAL TG16 thats why i ask. Dont know if there is much interest in this system, but i could get more than one for other ppl if the price is ok.

Better stay away from PAL systems if you want to use the SD System 3 on them. AFAIK it will work, but with issues due to the 50Hz change.
 
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