Are Best's prices on the 7800 a good deal?

[Algus]

I've been wanting to pick a 7800 up for awhile as a space saver and I'm really tempted to pull the trigger on a Best 7800 with the mods (composite + their OS mod) but I'm not to sure if it's a good deal. Seems like stock 7800s go for around $90-$100 on ePay with a stack of games (though almost always 2600 commons I already own).

 

Is $140 for a modded 7800 fairly reasonable or would I be better suited by hunting for a deal?

 

How is Jinks? If I go with Best it'll be my only 7800 game for awhile. Fortunately I've got my Harmony cart for 2600 games...

[nonner242]

No don't do Jinks...no no no no.

Some good games...

Tower Toppler.....very fun and very pretty.

Robotron

Scrapyard dog

Midnight mutants

Mario bros

Joust

Ikari warriors

Galaga

Asteroids

Food fight

Xevious

Dig dig

 

Just no jinks...prob the worst game on the system...hat trick is 100x more fun than it...

REALLY!

 

Price on the modded 7800 sounds ok i guess...been many years since i got mine. And i dont know what the going rate was. Also depends what mods you are gettin..a/v cable...svideo..both..cd drive?

[Algus]

Oh sorry, Best gets talked about on AA so much I forget not everyone has them memorized, so...this is the listing I am thinking of doing

 

Reconditioned Atari US CX7800 System Upgraded with the Atari Engineering 7800 Rev. 2 Composite Video Modification and Atari 7800 OS Upgrades below. Comes with CX7800 Console (All in like New condition), two New Non Atari brand PB or Pro-Stick Joysticks your choice (Click here to see pictures of the Joysticks) (Some Atari 7800 game cartridges require an Atari CX24 Joystick or CX78 Joypad for proper game operation), New Atari CX7800 Power Supply, New boxed Atari 7800 Jinks game with Owners Manual (see Atari 7800 Game listing below for more information on the Atari 7800 Jinks game), New 7800 System Owners Manual and comes with the same Atari 90 day Warranty as when they were first released! CX7800-RECVOS $139.95

 

Jinks is included with the unit which is why it would be the game I'd go with. Composite video mod is just standard red and yellow composite cable. The OS Upgrade is supposed to include Asteroids with the unit so if no cartridge is in the system, you get Asteroids. It also bypasses the load screen and boots 7800 games right away. Finally it is supposed to make many PAL games compatible with the system.

[+wood_jl]

I don't think the "skip BIOS" mod is worth it, on the 7800. The startup-screen is VERY SHORT, unlike some other systems, like the Colecovision. However, your money is well-applied towards an AV (or even better-yet, S-video) mod, and DEFINITELY some of Yurkie's awesome ball mods for the controllers. The 7800 controller is definitely deserving of its shortcomings, but the Yurkie ball mod is a considerable advancement. Get some new ones from Ebay and send them to him!

[Algus]

CV bios doesn't annoy me much and I don't really care about imports, so maybe I'll just do the AV mod as it is cheaper. I do love Asteroids but I assume the 7800 version isn't terribly expensive either.

 

Interesting that Yurkie does 7800 controllers too. I just had him fix my CV controllers and he did amazing work. I actually regret not having him mod the stick and just taking the clean/refurb.

 

Thanks guys

[gambler172]

Hi Guys

Bradley from Best is very thrustable.Maybe his prices are higher,bur you get excellent service and items in great conditions.

[Necron99]

Hi Guys

Bradley from Best is very thrustable

 

I'll take your word on that

Edited May 1, 2013 by Necron99

[Trebor]

I have purchased the Best Electronics fully refurbished/video mod 7800 system, as well as one purchased through Yurkie when he was doing 7800 system mods based on this:

 

http://longhornengin...mods/7800-ntsc/

 

The Yurkie installed Longhorn Engineering mod is much clearer with brighter colors than the Best Electronics one. Not that the Best Electronics system/deal is a slouch. The system I received from them was as good as new - immaculate (Including what looked like a new faceplate).

 

The video though, once opening the inside is a simple/basic composite mod with a few resistors and some solder (The AV cable is actually soldered to the motherboard). The Longhorn Engineering one is more sophisticated and it shows in the quality of the video.

 

Best Electronics video = Composite mod that outputs slightly better than RF-ish quality.

Longhorn Engineer video = Composite mod that looks near S-Video.

 

Again, the professionalism and immaculate condition of the system itself from Best Electronics is undisputable. The quality of the video is fair at best though when compared to the Longhorn.

 

That being stated, I do think Best price's (Especially in light of the quality of the system I received) is a very good deal. You get a (near) mint 7800 system with a warranty and (even if not the greatest, still) a composite mod.

[Algus]

Humm, I put my order in last night so hopefully Yurkie doesn't come in here and announce he has several for sale or will do the mod lol

 

Thanks for the side by side. I find R/F to be "good enough" with my setup since I use some shielded cables and the ever-popular Coax to Female Composite adapter I'm mainly interested in the composite mod right now as its easier to find accessories and stuff that support those jacks. Going with the modded unit means I can leave my ColecoVision and TG-16 hooked up at the same time without having to mess with my jankie EM#1 for 2600 games.

 

I've always heard great things about Best but I wasn't sure if the price was right. From what you guys are saying, it's definitely a good deal so that makes me worry less. I actually don't know to much about the 7800 but I figure if its a choice between a modded 2600 or a modded console that plays my current games and Asteroids with better graphics...well, I'll try the 7800. I really love the 8-bit consoles too (NES, SMS) so I'm looking forward to trying out the 7800.

[Trebor]

Humm, I put my order in last night so hopefully Yurkie doesn't come in here and announce he has several for sale or will do the mod lol

 

Thanks for the side by side. I find R/F to be "good enough" with my setup since I use some shielded cables and the ever-popular Coax to Female Composite adapter I'm mainly interested in the composite mod right now as its easier to find accessories and stuff that support those jacks. Going with the modded unit means I can leave my ColecoVision and TG-16 hooked up at the same time without having to mess with my jankie EM#1 for 2600 games.

 

I've always heard great things about Best but I wasn't sure if the price was right. From what you guys are saying, it's definitely a good deal so that makes me worry less. I actually don't know to much about the 7800 but I figure if its a choice between a modded 2600 or a modded console that plays my current games and Asteroids with better graphics...well, I'll try the 7800. I really love the 8-bit consoles too (NES, SMS) so I'm looking forward to trying out the 7800.

 

Yurkie stopped doing 7800 system mods, but still does his controller mod, which I highly recommend.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/198160-ball-knob-mod-for-7800-proline-controllers-15-march-2013/

 

If ever interested (And recommended) this guy for video mods:

 

http://electronicsentimentalities.com/InstallationServices.html

 

It includes the Longhorn video mod plus the TIA 9 switch which further cleans up the picture for 7800 games (It removes any interference from the TIA video chip). You have to supply/send your console in though, I don't believe he sells modded consoles anymore, just performs the service.

[Algus]

I have purchased the Best Electronics fully refurbished/video mod 7800 system, as well as one purchased through Yurkie when he was doing 7800 system mods based on this:

 

http://longhornengin...mods/7800-ntsc/

 

The Yurkie installed Longhorn Engineering mod is much clearer with brighter colors than the Best Electronics one. Not that the Best Electronics system/deal is a slouch. The system I received from them was as good as new - immaculate (Including what looked like a new faceplate).

 

The video though, once opening the inside is a simple/basic composite mod with a few resistors and some solder (The AV cable is actually soldered to the motherboard). The Longhorn Engineering one is more sophisticated and it shows in the quality of the video.

 

Best Electronics video = Composite mod that outputs slightly better than RF-ish quality.

Longhorn Engineer video = Composite mod that looks near S-Video.

 

Again, the professionalism and immaculate condition of the system itself from Best Electronics is undisputable. The quality of the video is fair at best though when compared to the Longhorn.

 

That being stated, I do think Best price's (Especially in light of the quality of the system I received) is a very good deal. You get a (near) mint 7800 system with a warranty and (even if not the greatest, still) a composite mod.

 

Well Trebor I got my unit today and I believe you are right. I wrote an unboxing on my blog but the short version is that the composite mod is not the best as greens don't look quite right. I can't say enough good things about the condition of the hardware or the service I got from Best though. I'm actually really glad I ordered from them.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. In the end I did order the more expensive unit, which was probably money I could have saved, but I figured if I was going to go, I might as well go all out.

[Trebor]

...greens don't look quite right.

 

That may be more of a (true) pot adjustment issue. On the motherboard the top pot (Closest to the cart slot) controls the 7800 and the one below it controls the 2600. Adjusting it will make the green "greener" or "bluer", depending on how much, and in which direction you turn it. It obviously impacts other colors too, so you may want to ensure you have a few games on hand as reference points.

 

It is VERY sensitive. Slightest turn will cause significant alternations.

 

EDIT: Read your blog...Yes, indeed sounds like a pot adjustment issue for the 2600 games. Green looking blue is something adjusting the pot will/can fix. Again, for the 2600 it is the bottom/second one towards the center of the motherboard. The 7800 pot adjustment is closer to the top, above the other one, by the cartridge slot.

Edited May 7, 2013 by Trebor

[mellis]

I wrote an unboxing on my blog

 

Nice write-up, Algus. Best has been my choice for Atari parts since the early 1990s.

[Algus]

Hmm. I might crack it open over the weekend and give it a peak then. If it's something I can fix with a minor adjustment, I ought to be able to handle it myself. Thanks for the info.

 

Edit: Playing the demo of Princess Rescue this morning and can really see it. Both the pipes and koopas are blue

 

 

I'll def have to look into fixing it over the weekend.

[Algus]

I think I might crack the case on the weekend. I fiddled with my TV's settings and was able to get a really sharp image. Problem is I had to set my G color temp to highest and fiddle with brightness/contrast.

 

When I turned my Wii on, it looked awful. Unfortunately my TV doesn't support multiple color profiles so this is going to be a temporary solution at best.

 

Does anyone have any diagrams or anything for doing this pot adjustment? The most complex hardware thing I've done is realign the laser in my PS2 lol

[Trebor]

Problem is I had to set my G color temp to highest

 

The green/blue issue is not a tint adjustment as handled on a television. TV tint control adjusts red and green. If everything looked too red/brown and green was 'missing', or vice-versa, if everything looked too green-yellow and red was 'missing', your TV tint would help. The pot adjustment inside the 7800 works differently. It handles the green/blue "shifting".

 

Commando for the 7800 is a good cart to test and see how it exactly effects the green-blue shift. Besides the games you mentioned, a good test candidate for the 2600 would be Frogger or/and Pitfall!

[Algus]

I actually don't have issues with the 7800 mode at all. It was on my TV's default settings that 2600 games didn't look right. Like I said, I was able to adjust for a real nice picture but then it made things that weren't my 7800 running a 2600 game look nuts.

 

I'll pop in Pitfall when I get home and reset my TV's video settings, see what I get.