Would you do this deal?

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03-01-2012, 01:36 PM
eddiespruce

Quote:

Originally Posted by ELabit

Honestly, TG16s are almost useless and your money is better spent on a PCE duo. I think a base TG16 is way overpriced and should be worth about $25.

I agree. I'd save up a get a Duo-R, which is what I did. It's a great, reliable system, and you can play both Hucards and CD's out of the box. It also has the Super System Card 3.0 built in, which is definitely a plus.

If you get the TG-16, and want the CD addon for it, you'd be lucky to get a working one, and they're very prone to having a chipped gear, which very few have been able to replace, so I would go with a Duo-R, as the original Duo would more than likely need a full cap replacement, but the Duo-R came out later, and has more reliable capacitors.
03-01-2012, 01:37 PM
TheSonicRetard

Quote:

Originally Posted by ELabit

Honestly, TG16s are almost useless and your money is better spent on a PCE duo. I think a base TG16 is way overpriced and should be worth about $25.

If you can get a TG-16 for $25 or less, it's worth picking up. I have a JP PC Engine Duo and a US TG-16. The US TG-16 is worth picking up for US Hu-Card compatibility, as a converter would cost way more than a US TG-16 anyways.
03-01-2012, 01:37 PM
TrekkiesUnite118

I get it for that one, but for the TG-16 they could have integrated it into the system, since they jumbo sized it anyways. That's party of why I think the TG-16 didn't do so well in the US. If they kept the case small it would make sense for those things, but with how big they made it it felt like you were being nickle and dimed for features that came standard in other consoles (Composite out/AV Out, 2 Player capability, etc.)
03-01-2012, 02:14 PM
TheSonicRetard

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrekkiesUnite118

I get it for that one, but for the TG-16 they could have integrated it into the system, since they jumbo sized it anyways. That's party of why I think the TG-16 didn't do so well in the US. If they kept the case small it would make sense for those things, but with how big they made it it felt like you were being nickle and dimed for features that came standard in other consoles (Composite out/AV Out, 2 Player capability, etc.)

It was a focus group decision. According to studies at the time, people felt like electronics weren't high quality unless they were big. The tiny PC Engine would have been perceived as weak. Additionally, the US' FCC regulations required more RF shielding than the standard PC Engine provided. It's funny, ever opened up a TG-16? It's a lot of empty space.

Damn market research. The original PC Engine looks awesome.
03-01-2012, 02:14 PM
Guntz

The US TG-16 is a nice option if you can AV and Region mod it. It beats having to import a pricey PC-Engine for sure. Everyone says the CD format is where the best games are, but that's not true. There's nice games on Hucard as well, but US cards are more expensive than JP ones in most cases...

In my experience, both the AV mod and region mod are quite easy (especially with BlueBMW's switch PCB). All you need to know is soldering and the theory of the region switch and you're good to go.

http://www.cgquarterly.com/articles/...g16_pinout.png

V = Video
G = Ground/common
L = Audio Left
R = Audio Right

You can either take the signals from the outside of the EXT port, or you can pull the signals from inside the system and add RCA jacks to the shell. You can use that pinout to determine where the signals are inside, it's really quite simple once you see it.

If anyone wants I can explain the region switch too. Until I found BlueBMW's guide, information was very scarce, but I figured it out anyways.

I can't praise Blue enough, that guy is an asset to the PC-Engine community. :D

@TheSonicRetard:

Along with the lack of a power LED, more than one controller port and no composite stereo output, the absolute cheapest thing about the TG16 is the RF shielding is soldered to the mainboard! You can't get much more cheap than that. I've never found a home console that's done that before... Everything else has the shielding screwed down. WTF! Seriously, that is just depressing and a huge pain in the ass to detach.
03-01-2012, 05:59 PM
xelement5x

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSonicRetard

Damn market research. The original PC Engine looks awesome.

Repped for truth.

PC Engine 4 EVA! :cool:
03-01-2012, 08:02 PM
tz101

Yes!

I trusted the guy and now have a fully functioning TG-16. The RF is a little wonky. If it wiggles out of place, the picture turns black and white, but is fine in the correct position. Maybe some solder is lose on the main board. I do think I will mod this for composite though, as it looks relatively simple.

I am excited to get into collecting for this system as I love space shooters. Only thing I have noticed is that the games get kind of pricey for some.
03-01-2012, 08:09 PM
sheath

It really is an excellent system, and I envy you. I wish I had a modded TG16 + CD here instead of my modded DUO/R, but once I was done with my DUO fiasco I had little choice. I much prefer the look of the TG16 to the DUO/R, but it is growing on me.
03-01-2012, 08:27 PM
Guntz

Quote:

Originally Posted by tz101

Yes!

I trusted the guy and now have a fully functioning TG-16. The RF is a little wonky. If it wiggles out of place, the picture turns black and white, but is fine in the correct position. Maybe some solder is lose on the main board. I do think I will mod this for composite though, as it looks relatively simple.

I am excited to get into collecting for this system as I love space shooters. Only thing I have noticed is that the games get kind of pricey for some.

The RF modulator is it's own separate box. If there's a cold solder joint in the RF circuit, it'll be in the RF modulator.

If you need further help with the composite mod, just ask. Quite a few of us have done it before. :)

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