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Neo Geo CDZ or CD


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I really liked my CD when cart-based Neo Geo stuff was still extremely pricey, but these days is there really any point to it? The load times on mine are 'cigarette break' slow. While some early games load once and never again, later games even load in between rounds during fighting games. Then there's the matter of a lot of the best Neo Geo games never making it to CD. No Metal Slug 3, Mark of the Wolves, Shock Troopers, etc.

 

The CDZ is somewhat faster at loading, but surely the CDZ should be totally out of consideration on basis of price--I see only two on ebay. The least expensive of those is $850, and that money would cover a pretty exotic AES or MVS setup.

 

The only positive I can think of the NGCD systems is that you can download the games and burn them to disc. Might as well just emulate then though, because at least you'll skip out of the longest loading screens I've seen on consoles.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ArAUzvRGg

Edited by Reaperman
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I really liked my CD when cart-based Neo Geo stuff was still extremely pricey, but these days is there really any point to it? The load times on mine are 'cigarette break' slow. While some early games load once and never again, later games even load in between rounds during fighting games. Then there's the matter of a lot of the best Neo Geo games never making it to CD. No Metal Slug 3, Mark of the Wolves, Shock Troopers, etc.

 

The CDZ is somewhat faster at loading, but surely the CDZ should be totally out of consideration on basis of price--I see only two on ebay. The least expensive of those is $850, and that money would cover a pretty exotic AES or MVS setup.

 

The only positive I can think of the NGCD systems is that you can download the games and burn them to disc. Might as well just emulate then though, because at least you'll skip out of the longest loading screens I've seen on consoles.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64ArAUzvRGg

 

I have actually found a Neo Geo CDZ on ebay for 210 or best offer plus 65 shipping.

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CDZ systems list between $200 and $300, usually from Japanese sellers. They will usually end up selling between that range and no more, unless perhaps it's a "BRAND NEW" unit--naturally that will sell for a lot more. Shipping from Japan though, where they are most-likely to pop up, will be between $60 and $100. There should actually be a handful on there right now, as I was looking for them a few days ago.

 

The regular top-loader CD systems will go considerably cheaper. There are Japanese-only front-loaders that look a little more sophisticated, but the sellers overseas generally ask for a lot of money on those, more than the top-loaders at least.

 

One of the regular CD systems will be fine for most gaming purposes on this platform. A lot of early games load entirely into memory, so there won't be any load sequences after the initial long load period (every game at least has this). There are a lot of action games, shooters, and arcade-sports titles that work great on the standard Neo CD. When you get to the later releases (Pulstar, for instance), and fighting games, the load times are certainly horrendous. A CDZ will make this far less painful. I recommend staying away from fighting games altogether, unless you are playing the original Fatal Fury or Double Dragon (their loading isn't bad at all; there may be a couple of other early ones that fall in that category).

 

Here is a video review of the CDZ. Go to the 4:00 point to see a side-by-side comparison in load times between a regular CD unit and the CDZ system. There really is a considerable difference:

 

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CDZ systems list between $200 and $300, usually from Japanese sellers. They will usually end up selling between that range and no more, unless perhaps it's a "BRAND NEW" unit--naturally that will sell for a lot more. Shipping from Japan though, where they are most-likely to pop up, will be between $60 and $100. There should actually be a handful on there right now, as I was looking for them a few days ago.

 

The regular top-loader CD systems will go considerably cheaper. There are Japanese-only front-loaders that look a little more sophisticated, but the sellers overseas generally ask for a lot of money on those, more than the top-loaders at least.

 

One of the regular CD systems will be fine for most gaming purposes on this platform. A lot of early games load entirely into memory, so there won't be any load sequences after the initial long load period (every game at least has this). There are a lot of action games, shooters, and arcade-sports titles that work great on the standard Neo CD. When you get to the later releases (Pulstar, for instance), and fighting games, the load times are certainly horrendous. A CDZ will make this far less painful. I recommend staying away from fighting games altogether, unless you are playing the original Fatal Fury or Double Dragon (their loading isn't bad at all; there may be a couple of other early ones that fall in that category).

 

Here is a video review of the CDZ. Go to the 4:00 point to see a side-by-side comparison in load times between a regular CD unit and the CDZ system. There really is a considerable difference:

 

 

Thanks, just wondering I have heard that the CDZ is known to sometimes have over heating problems, does that happen often and is it enough to damage the system. I want something reliable.

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Eh.. I don't know. The front-loaders also supposedly have issues, but again, I'm not sure speaking out of personal experience--I've only owned the top-loader. From what I have seen of the CDZ though, that would be the preferable model. It is more expensive though.

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How long does the shipping from Japan take on these things and can it be trusted? I have long wanted to get an AES and even looked into the CD units, but like others I keep finding them in Japan and wondering. So, does anyone have first hand experience on the time and safety of shipping from Japan? What about customs?

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Both the CD and CDZ are great ways to play games from the Neo Geo library at home. Sure, the load times can be high, but you save on the cost of games (plus it can play backups). You also don't need to have crazy amount of storage space to keep the games, like you do for the AES and MVS systems.

 

If you go with a CDZ, just be careful as they are prone to failure. I have a system with a dead ROM drive in my basement at the moment. My AES is happy about that though, since it hadn't been played since I got the CDZ.

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How long does the shipping from Japan take on these things and can it be trusted? I have long wanted to get an AES and even looked into the CD units, but like others I keep finding them in Japan and wondering. So, does anyone have first hand experience on the time and safety of shipping from Japan? What about customs?

I got my original AES from Japan, shipping did take a week or two but it arrived fine and did not seem to have problems with customs. That was a couple of years back though, things might have changed.

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That is the seller I bought my AES off of I believe, he currently has a CD unit boxed for sale for 135 plus 85 shipping or a CDZ for 210 plus 65 shipping or best offer. Here are the adds, what is the lowest you guys think a seller would take for the CD and CDZ. Thanks for your time.

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 2207867501651?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=220786750165&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]

 

eBay Auction -- Item Number: 3005661268601?ff3=2&pub=5574883395&toolid=10001&campid=5336500554&customid=&item=300566126860&mpt=[CACHEBUSTER]

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From my experience, Hit-Japan isn't very generous with offers. They may give you a $5 discount, that's about it. You could always try something low and see if they accept. If not, then buy it for the listing price. Neither price seems too terrible. The boxed regular CD unit looks like a solid deal. Both the box and instructions look nice. Shame there's only one controller (systems generally come packed with two), but still, not bad.

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From my experience, Hit-Japan isn't very generous with offers. They may give you a $5 discount, that's about it. You could always try something low and see if they accept. If not, then buy it for the listing price. Neither price seems too terrible. The boxed regular CD unit looks like a solid deal. Both the box and instructions look nice. Shame there's only one controller (systems generally come packed with two), but still, not bad.

just wondering what type of step down converters do you guys use for your Japanese systems, these are two I am looking at. The 100W one and the 200W.

 

http://www.voltage-converter-transformers.com/japanese-up-down-transformer.html#vt200j-japaneseup/downtransformer

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From my experience, Hit-Japan isn't very generous with offers. They may give you a $5 discount, that's about it. You could always try something low and see if they accept. If not, then buy it for the listing price. Neither price seems too terrible. The boxed regular CD unit looks like a solid deal. Both the box and instructions look nice. Shame there's only one controller (systems generally come packed with two), but still, not bad.

just wondering what type of step down converters do you guys use for your Japanese systems, these are two I am looking at. The 100W one and the 200W.

 

http://www.voltage-converter-transformers.com/japanese-up-down-transformer.html#vt200j-japaneseup/downtransformer

 

Japan uses the same power as North America. Are you planning to use the system in a country with 220/240V power?

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Yes, Japan uses NTSC just like the US. So the video is fine.

 

Japan uses 100V/60Hz power, the US uses 120V/60Hz power. This actually turns out not to be a problem. AC adaptors can handle the 20% difference in input voltage just fine.

Thanks the reason I asked about a step down converter is because one listing of a Japanse system I was looking at mentioned that it might help reduce wear on the system and a person might need one if living in the USA.

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Interesting, I didn't know the voltages were different.. I've used several Japanese systems over the years and never had any problems, so I assumed they were the same. Does anyone know if using Japanese hardware here in the 'States will wear out or cause damage to the system over time?

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I have a regular top-loading CD unit here on the bench. It won't load games, but I don't have any originals, just burned CDR. I know I've had one of these in the past that loaded CDR, but maybe I am misremembering, so this one may or may not have a bad laser. It loads single-load games from CDR sometimes, but only with a good bit of fiddling. I may just not have the kind of CDR media that it likes.

 

I have a couple extra "new" import lasers for it, but they are a pain to swap. Do you want a fix-er-upper for about 1/2 what they go for from Japan? :)

Edited by R.Cade
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I have a regular top-loading CD unit here on the bench. It won't load games, but I don't have any originals, just burned CDR. I know I've had one of these in the past that loaded CDR, but maybe I am misremembering, so this one may or may not have a bad laser. It loads single-load games from CDR sometimes, but only with a good bit of fiddling. I may just not have the kind of CDR media that it likes.

 

I have a couple extra "new" import lasers for it, but they are a pain to swap. Do you want a fix-er-upper for about 1/2 what they go for from Japan? :)

no thanks, not that good with electronic repairs, but thanks for the offer.

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Don't think the power difference is to much of a problem. It maybe that a powerbrick wears out sooner. In europe we have different voltages as well. I used my gamegear 220v adapter in england where they have 240v without any problem. And now because of unifications in europe, the power output in our country has gone up from 220v to 230v. Not having any problems with any system yet.

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