Got a Philips CD-I 490... Is this thing PAL?

[Yoder]

Hey guys,

 

I picked up a (bare) CD-I 490 today to play with. It seems to work, but I think it may be PAL!

 

Three clues (in the order I discovered them)

 

1. Where the AC power cable goes in on the back it's labeled "Mains" We don't call it that in the states :-)

2. This site http://www.philipscdi.com/players.htm indicates that the CDI-910 was the first to be released in the US, and I'm guessing the 490 is an older system (that was released in Europe).

3. I realized that it's made in Belgium (odd)

4. When I hook it up, the screen rolls!!!

 

We have a lot of European transplants here in Tampa. Maybe this thing was imported all the way here?

 

So... If it'a PAL is there any 60 Hz hack? Or are there any Europeans who want this thing to take back to the homeland :-)

 

Cool thing is that the console is very small and the CD drive opens/closes perfectly!

 

Thanks for your help!

[Seob]

This is a mini cd-i player intended to fit the 26 cm mini towers back in the days.

I live in the Netherlands near an airforce base where us soldiers are based. Here i come by a lot of us electronics, taken here by us soldiers. So your guess that european people are taking things there could very well be. I would guess that philips released the cd-i players in the us under the magnavox brand.

I think the cd-i 490 is a late model cd-i player that came out near the end of the life cycle.

Most media is region free, only a few titles have some trouble. So it could very well be that your unit is a pal version. There are units that have a pal/ntsc switch, but unfortunately not the 490.

[Yoder]

This is a mini cd-i player intended to fit the 26 cm mini towers back in the days.

I live in the Netherlands near an airforce base where us soldiers are based. Here i come by a lot of us electronics, taken here by us soldiers. So your guess that european people are taking things there could very well be. I would guess that philips released the cd-i players in the us under the magnavox brand.

I think the cd-i 490 is a late model cd-i player that came out near the end of the life cycle.

Most media is region free, only a few titles have some trouble. So it could very well be that your unit is a pal version. There are units that have a pal/ntsc switch, but unfortunately not the 490.

 

Thanks so much! This is helpful! I guess I have to unload this thing :-( I think most of them here were Magnavoxes...the 910 apparently was released here, though. I haven't actually seen one of these things since the early 90s when they were selling them as new.

 

I just found a post from a guy in the UK wanting one (on the CD-I forums). Maybe I'll join and solicit him :-) It's fairly light so shipping may not be terrible...we'll see.

 

Thanks!

[Seob]

Look at the numbers behind the type identification. It should look like this cdi 490/17 for us market.

4.6 What does the /00, /20, etc. after the type-indication mean?

Philips uses its version indication method for two reasons: to indicate the region for which a specific product is intented, and to indicate a revision change. The version is indicated behind a slash after the initial type number, eg. CDI 670/00. It is printed on the type number indication at the back or bottom of a device. You can never tell which version a device is by looking at the type numer which is printed on the front, since these do not include the version number. The numbers below 20 indicate the region for which a device was adapted. Mostly, changes consist of a different voltage or TV broadcast system, but they might include more regional changes. The most important regions used are /00 for Europe mainland, /05 for the UK, /11 for Japan and /17 for the US.

 

Numbers above 19 indicate versions. Usually 20 is added for each follow-up version, eg. /20, /40 and /60. Differences may for example consist of the usage of a different PCB, usually there are no big changes that are important to the customer. The region code number is added to the version number, resulting in a unique number that describes the region code and the revision change. For example /37 means a /20 version adapted for the American market (bacause the US indication 17 was added).

[Yoder]

Look at the numbers behind the type identification. It should look like this cdi 490/17 for us market.

 

Cool, not sure where that info is from but that's interesting. Well, I remember looking at it and wondering why it said 490/00 (thinking it was a dual part number or something). So it definitely looks like it's a PAL. I've actually seen other PAL things here recently, too. I know that anything that says DVB is a European satellite system.

 

Thanks for the info :-)

[Seob]

It's from this site: http://www.icdia.co.uk/faq/cdifaq4.html