MaxRD Inside Series Ep 1 COLECOVISION

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxaoJ8suW0A

 

Something new again, this time the idea is to give a different perspective of our precious classic consoles and computers. I had to take apart my Colecovision for some serious cleaning and thought "You know, it's cool seeing the insides of these systems, I wonder if anyone else might like to see this?" and so here is the "Pilot" episode of MaximumRD's Inside Series. I am far from a technical or electronics wiz, I can build a PC, clean the systems and that is about it. Still, I intend to take apart various parts of my collection and share my findings with you all. I may be incorrect in some of the details I mention so please feel free to comment, correct me on any details, give any advice etc. Comment, rate, subscribe and let me know what you think of this idea. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS or comments on how you would like me to do future episodes let me know, who knows? I will see what I can do.

[Pixelboy]

Something new again, this time the idea is to give a different perspective of our precious classic consoles and computers. I had to take apart my Colecovision for some serious cleaning and thought "You know, it's cool seeing the insides of these systems, I wonder if anyone else might like to see this?" and so here is the "Pilot" episode of MaximumRD's Inside Series. I am far from a technical or electronics wiz, I can build a PC, clean the systems and that is about it. Still, I intend to take apart various parts of my collection and share my findings with you all. I may be incorrect in some of the details I mention so please feel free to comment, correct me on any details, give any advice etc. Comment, rate, subscribe and let me know what you think of this idea. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS or comments on how you would like me to do future episodes let me know, who knows? I will see what I can do.

Wonderful video! There are a few things that I can say about it, which should be useful for your future videos in this series:

 

1) Before making such a video, you should find someone who can precisely and correctly identify each chip on the board for you. Watching you "guessing" each chip was rather funny, but ultimately not very useful for your viewers. So there should be some research done beforehand. I think your viewers would appreciate such research, especially those who are not electronic experts.

 

2) In relation to comment #1 above, while you're doing your research to identify each microchip, it would be nice if you could specify how hard it is to find replacements for these chips, and perhaps also what kind of problems can arise when these chips (or other components) become defective. This would be especially useful for ColecoVision owners, as the hardware is notoriously problem-prone, but the information can be useful for any console or computer you decide to do similar videos about.

 

3) Putting your video recorder in close-up mode and going over each chip is a neat idea, but it's still sometimes hard to read the labels on the chips. One idea would be to use text pop-ups (like you did to add the note about doubledown) to show the exact label text, so even if the video isn't clear, the viewer can still take exact notes, if he needs to.

 

I'm no expert myself, but I think the group of chips at the upper right corner are RAM chips for the video memory (16K) and by proximity, I'd say the chip with the heat sink is the video processor chip. Don't take my word for it, however.

 

Anyhow, one request I'd like to make is for a video that would show the inside of the Expansion Module #2 (a.k.a. the steering wheel controller) and the Roller Controller as well.

 

Overall, I think this "Inside series" is a great idea! Nice job!

[+5-11under]

What Pixelboy said, and...

 

You don't need (or want) to take the front cover off to open the ColecoVision. Just take the screws out of the bottom, and weasel open the two halves. The first one might take a couple of minutes, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[+5-11under]

Also, those controllers need to go somewhere - might as well store them "in" the system.

5-11under

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Also, those controllers need to go somewhere - might as well store them "in" the system.

5-11under

 

Oh I agree, I just find it interesting this design idea has changed, I realize it was no different than Intellivision or 5200 but I prefer the later concept of smaller consoles with no controller storage built in.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

What Pixelboy said, and...

 

You don't need (or want) to take the front cover off to open the ColecoVision. Just take the screws out of the bottom, and weasel open the two halves. The first one might take a couple of minutes, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

 

Noted, I am still learning. Fortunately the label went right back in place and sticks just fine, those colecovision labels may in fact be the sturdiest part of the console lol!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

@ Pixelboy...............

 

Great reply and thanks, your comments are noted and literally saved for reference. THANKS!

Yeah, I kind of wanted to test the waters with the idea before putting so much into it but response has been very positive so I will definitely consider your suggestions for future installments, heck I may do a updated "Directors cut" on this one implementing at least some of your ideas.............