Grimakis

1997 - Gateway 2000 with a Pentium II processor. 256k of RAM

Numeric Keypad is pretty useful. I bought my Platinum for that feature alone.

Very Easy. I do it with my SDS-1101 from Lantronix. http://www.lantronix.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/UDS10-UDS100_UG.pdf Download the guide for your UDS-10 and look at around page 30, it explains which settings work for Modem Mode. Then I recommend creating a copy of Modem.MGR using ADTPro. In Modem.MGR, you can configure it to work with a Generic 2400 Baud modem. Then you need to configure the Lantronix as 2400 Baud. Then enable half-duplex mode in Modem.MGR which basically turns on Local Echo, so you can see what you are typing. Now the way you can connect to a BBS from here is simply typing ATDT xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:nnnn Where x represents the IP, and n represents the port. I would look for BBS that have Telnet web addresses and use your PC to find the IP address. I occasionally use: http://ping.eu/nslookup/ my favorite bbs is borderlinebbs.dyndns.org port:6400 At the time of my writing this, the IP is: 75.82.9.195 So in Modem.Mgr you would type ATDT 75.82.9.195:6400 The Lantronix should do the rest. Make sure you are hooked up with a Modem Cable, and your SSC is set up for Modem. If you have any other questions, you can PM me. ~George

Here's my thoughts: If you are going to run everything through composite to the Framemeister, it's not even close to worth it. If you are going to take advantage of the fact that your Dreamcast, SNES and Genesis output RGB natively, N64 can do S-Video, PS2/GCN can do Component, all of a sudden you have a seriously compelling reason to buy a Framemeister.

Mario Party 2 for the Classics, Mario Party 5 on GCN is my second favorite.

Mine was to get a working Apple //e, with a Z-80 card to run CP/M, 1MB of extra ram, 1.44MB 3.5" Floppy Drive, a mouse, and connect it to the internet. I'm half there. I've got the computer, the 1MB of RAM, and a lantronix it get it on BBSes. Still need that Z-80 card, mouse, and 3.5" drive.

If it were A) Cheap B) Had 1080p upscaled graphics over HDMI C) Compatible with all original peripherals and games D) Also played 7800 games. This I would buy.

Fine fine. I find it uncomfortable(for the wrists hovering in the air). Also, I was basing my comparison solely on function, not function per unit cost in 1982. EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention about the C64. While this isn't a fault of the machine itself, the 1541 Disk Drive is horrendous. Unfortunately, I haven't had the luxury of owning any of the newer models, so since my last 1541 failed, all I can do is load software off of my μIEC/SD.

Perhaps awful is a little extreme. However, I do often feel like I am fighting with the C64 keyboard when I am typing. Aside from being uncomfortable, I feel as if I always need to depress the keys fully, but none of them have any sort of satisfying click or anything. They just short of thud against the membrane at the bottom. Compared to Apple, it really doesn't come close. http://www.pcworld.com/article/139100/the_10_worst_pc_keyboards_of_all_time.html#slide2 PC World even ranked it as the 10th worst PC keyboard of all time.

I didn't manage to make it, but cool to see other locals on AA.

Sorry, but I disagree to an extent. The stock Apple II, with maybe 4k of RAM is pretty pathetic. However an Apple IIe with 64k RAM on the motherboard, an an 80-col card with an extra 64k RAM, and you aren't sucking any lemons. Compared to the Apple II line of computers, the C64 build quality is pretty awful. A cheap-o case, held together by 3 screws, and three plastic tabs you are almost guaranteed to snap off. No airflow, so chips run way hotter than they ought to. Cost saving is evident in the design. While they managed to push out a pretty sweet product for only $595, it really shows with the quality. Expanding the C64 consists of daisy chaining drives, cards, slot expanders and all sorts of peripherals. It's actually a shame, because the C64's full-screen editor, and SID chip make is a serious force. However, an awful keyboard, lack of serious 80-column option, and limited(difficult) expandability, prevent it from reaching the god status people always seem to give it. It's good for games and for sound, we all know that. However when it comes to productivity and general computing, it's not all that great.

I suppose. All that really means is that your VCR is better at handling RF than your TV You're still limited by the initial RF signal. S-Video will be clear as day compared to stock output.

It's more than just "pass through". Having an AV mod totally removes the modulation and demodulation aspect. Whether you hook RF directly to the TV(demodulation by TV) or to a VCR(demodulation by VCR), you are subject to the same low quality caused by the modulation process. The only benefit of using a VCR to demodulate, is if you want to feed the signal to a device that can't tune analog TV signals. I use a VCR to demodulate to S-Video so my upscaler can handle it. However, an S-Video mod would look 10x better.

$50-80

Here's the point. Say you have an old game like Pitfall. People want to play Pitfall. The rights to Pitfall have some value. In a world where piracy is impossible, people would have to buy an original copy, or a rerelease. This is where the value of the Pitfall copyright comes from. In a world where every potential consumer has pirated Pitfall, no one will need to buy a Pitfall re-release. So using a little limits math. As number of people who pirate Pitfall approaches infinity, the value of Pitfall copyright approaches zero. You can call it BS, but it makes sense.

If you want to be technical, intellectual property is capitalized on a company's balance sheet based on the idea it has some value and in the future can generate them revenue. By pirating an old game, if it's done on a large enough scale, it will devalue the IP. Companies' won't rerelease old games because few people will buy them due to large availability due to piracy, So yes, this is a little unrelated to my comment above, but piracy still has an effect of the same type as stealing. Stolen goods get written off the companies books, and old IP get's written down as it loses value. Same thing. Decreasing the value of the owner. As far as no caring about the secondary market. Piracy is really about not wanting to pay for something which you are legally obligated to.

I mean, I think that's a pretty short-sighted comment. I buy carts to play, not only to collect. Regardless, people can commit piracy for whatever financial reason they want. Not wanting to line the pockets of yard-salers is in effect no different to robbing a department store because you don't want to "line the pockets" of the Macy's shareholders.

It's still bad, because it decreases the demand for the actual product. Because of the first sale doctrine, people that own the games hold a transferable license. By pirating games that are no longer published and sold, you are still negatively impacting the secondary market.

I'm fairly certain you can't transfer digital licenses or sell the accounts. From the Nintendo Services Agreement "Your Network Account is personal to you. You may not transfer, assign, or sell your Network Account to others." So essentially, if you buy or sell an account, and the game licenses associated with it, the account can / should be terminated. I think think both parties are at fault, as this type of transaction violates the TOS to begin with.

The only old computer I have is a C64 Breadbin. All I can say is that it is probably the opposite of ergonomically designed. When you type on it, your wrists are basically suspended in the air. I guess it was too much to ask for someone to have actually tried using it before they finalized the design.

I'm not 100% about saving files in uIEC and SD2IEC. I was pretty sure that you can. You certainly can save files to disk images that reside on the SD card. IE, you create a blank disk image on the computer, and now when you mount it, you can save to that disk image, as if it were a real floppy. Yes there are incompatibilities. Some games require the original 1541 drive or better emulation. However, they are available already modified to work for the most part.

I can recommend the uIEC/SD from RETRO innovations. The cool thing about it, is you can use either a microUSB cable to provide the power, OR the tape port. What solution were you looking at where it wouldn't be written to? the uIEC/SD basically allows you to have floppy disc images that you can switch between. You can create a blank disk image, and it is more than capable of writing to that.

The newer Framemeister firmwarw has a Sync-Time option. If you put it on 10 or 100 instead of 3, it ublocks the Framerate, but games that drop sync still work. Try Joust(after you die and it cycles the tittle sceen) and try The Empire Strike Back(after you destroy and AT-AT)

Can you adjust the sync level?

Fantastic.