anyone take apart a gbc?

[Tr3vor]

after (what was it?) 12 years of owning the seethrough purple gameboy color, i have always wondered where the brains are. i have looked through all the seeable spots and see no chips. the only close to a chip i see is the mini green board at the bottom left.

 

so im wondering if anyone took one apart and is willing to show me some pics of the inside.

 

thanks

[shadow460]

I've opened two of them. The main CPU is sandwiched between the screen and the cartridge. I think it's on the bottom side of the PCB under the Rf shield, but I could be mistaken. Don't ask me where the memory is--I don't know.

 

To be honest, the Color Game Boy is not a system that I'd open on a whim. I dropped the board from mine about two inches onto the counter and it knocked out one of the two main power fuses located near the battery compartment.

[STICH666]

Yeah the internals of all gameboys are very fragile. If you're just curious, I would recommend getting one that's already broken.

[shadow460]

Oh, but the externals aren't fragile. You could do some serious blunt force damage with any Game Boy. I think the brick could even be used as a deadly weapon.

 

The brick isn't too bad to work with, though, just as long as you don't jack with the screen and you remember how all the little circuit boards fit back in.

 

IMO the easiest portable to open is the Game Gear. Seven screws and it opens like a book. When you're done, just close the book. The Lynx I isn't too bad but it can be a little tough getting everything to line up just right.

Second easiest, and I know some folks will disagree, is the phat PSP. There's a ton of stuff in there and making simple mistakes will cause weird stuff to happen, but if you remember where you took each item from you'll be fine. The hardest part is getting the drive door off. It took me an hour to figure out how to do it without prying on it.

 

Conversely the most difficult repairs I've done are probably in the PS1. You have to have the power on while calibrating the laser. On a 1000 series unit that means reaching over live AC power lines. One slip and ZOT!