Telegames Personal Arcade AKA Dina 2-in-1

[VicViper]

Does any one have any experience with one of these? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegames_Personal_Arcade I've kind of wanted one for a while. I would like to get into Colecovision, but I HATE the controllers, and Sega SG-1000 carts are pretty obscure, witch is right up my alley. But these things aren't that cheap, so I'm hesitant to drop 200 bucks on a system that might be piece of junk. Albeit a nifty piece of junk.

[ApolloBoy]

I had one for a while and actually cared about it enough to AV mod it and add heat sinks to the VDP. It's pretty cheaply made and it has overheating issues mainly because the VDP lacks any kind of heat sink. I think I paid $94 for mine brand new from Atari2600.com so $200 is an awful price for one. I mainly see it as a cheap alternative to the Sega SG-1000 that just happens to play ColecoVision games, as it's much stronger at playing the former's games than the latter. You can't use any ColecoVision expansions or controllers with the DINA so that really hampers it as a CV replacement. The controllers are also pretty nasty but you can substitute them with SMS controllers.

 

Also, the RF is tuned to channel 13 (!) and is pretty crap so I highly suggest getting it AV modded.

Edited December 2, 2012 by ApolloBoy

[VicViper]

I had one for a while and actually cared about it enough to AV mod it and add heat sinks to the VDP. It's pretty cheaply made and it has overheating issues mainly because the VDP lacks any kind of heat sink. I think I paid $94 for mine brand new from Atari2600.com so $200 is an awful price for one. I mainly see it as a cheap alternative to the Sega SG-1000 that just happens to play ColecoVision games, as it's much stronger at playing the former's games than the latter. You can't use any ColecoVision expansions or controllers with the DINA so that really hampers it as a CV replacement. The controllers are also pretty nasty but you can substitute them with SMS controllers.

 

Also, the RF is tuned to channel 13 (!) and is pretty crap so I highly suggest getting it AV modded.

Thank you, I really needed to be talked down from jumping off that cliff . I think I'll hold off. Still hate those coleco controllers though. Guess I'll stick it out with 7800 and 800XL.

[ApolloBoy]

Still hate those coleco controllers though. Guess I'll stick it out with 7800 and 800XL.

The CV is a great console, I wouldn't count it out because of the controllers. There's plenty of titles you won't find on either the 7800 or A8 and Yurkie over here does a great job of refurbishing CV controllers. I tried one of his at CGE 2K10 and could hardly believe it was still the same controller.

[BassGuitari]

I have a DINA and I really like it. Rather, I would if it worked right. I think the power supply has a bad voltage regulator.

 

The Channel 13 thing is strange to Westerners, but it was the standard channel used in Taiwanese systems (the DINA was originally a Taiwanese system that got licensed to Telegames), and possibly in other Asian countries, too. I did try to tune the RF Modulator to Channel 3 for convenience's sake and accidentally broke it. I wanted to do an AV mod at some point anyway, but now I pretty much HAVE to do it since it's stuck somewhere between Channels 6 and 7 now. Of course, the power supply situation makes it a moot point.

 

I like the controllers. The cord sticking out of side is a little weird, but I don't think it gets in the way too badly. It could be an issue if you have bigger hands though. They feel a little on the flimsy side, but they perform well.

 

The built-in game, Meteoric Shower, is surprisingly good. If DINAs didn't cost so damn much, this game alone could be worth the purchase if you're into Galaga-type games. Even in the event of a dead DINA console, the ROM chip for the game could probably be salvaged and swapped into a spare Donkey Kong cart or something to play on a Colecovision.

 

The console is among my favorites, aesthetically speaking. It looks slick as hell. But it's made from cheap, brittle plastic. Definitely not a system you'd want to accidentally drop.

 

As far as Colecovision games go, there is the issue that games requiring use of the keypad may be difficult to play (if not impossible) due to a single keypad being mounted on the system. And there is no keypad for player 2. As was mentioned above, special controllers and expansions don't work on it. But the tradeoff to that is that you get SG1000 compatibility instead. So...silver lining. (Of course, good luck getting SG1000 games in this country.)

 

Strangely, if my DINA worked, it would be my preferred method of playing Colecovision games. But that's probably because, even more strangely, I was familiar with the DINA before I'd even seen a Colecovision.

[lucifershalo]

it is crap quality

i could buy one here for 35 euros ($50) but decided not to

[ApolloBoy]

One other issue with the DINA that I forgot to mention is that it seems to be largely incompatible with some homebrews including a lot of Pixelboy's stuff. This might be rectified by replacing the BIOS but I have no idea if the DINA BIOS is compatible with the CV's.

 

I wanted to do an AV mod at some point anyway, but now I pretty much HAVE to do it since it's stuck somewhere between Channels 6 and 7 now.

 

The AV mod is very simple to do, just cut pin 36 on the VDP, add a 470 ohm resistor going from pin 36 to ground, and then have your output wire going from pin 36 itself. Audio can be tapped straight from the SN76489.

Edited December 4, 2012 by ApolloBoy