2 "mostly working" Coleocvisions, barter 1 for mod/repair on other

[tripletopper]

First of all, I'm not suggesting that an even deal. I know I have to pay SOME money. I'm just looking for a Colecovision repairman who would appreciate a partially-working coloevison as partial payment for repairing + Composite and/or S-Video modding the other.

 

First I know there's a Component Mod, prblem is one of my 2 CRTs AND my current video capture/record/stream card does not support 240pY/Cb/Cr The Hauppauge rocket, I believe converts to 480i and then captures/processes it. How DO I know, I tried to run a Genesis game Video into the component port and if it worked, it would have had a b/w picutre. But it saw no signal, so no. Same with 1 of my 2 TVs.

 

I also know there's a Collectorvision Phoenix which is an HDMI compatible CV with built in Super Game Module built in. The problem is I have a 3D montior which had good ping in 2012, but is considered poor ping for display today. a PS3DTV with 33 ms.

 

here are my 2 Colecovisions and their problems

 

CV1 plays wiht the right brightness, but sometimes has some "rainbow noise + monochrome". The other problem is that some of the characters look funny like Hit boxes are drawn in Front line where a bullet and a greneage look like 2 white lines. and the characters have borderlines, and sometime there are mirage characters that on the screen appear at one place, but in the game exist at different XY coordinates, and sometimes there's flicker between the 2 spots. And it occasionally spontaneously resets or crashes.

 

CV2 Appears to have the characters well drawn and defined, excpet the problem is that the screen look extremely dark, and the few non-black colors closer to dark grey than the saturated colors. And there's again some "rainbow noise + monochrome'

 

Also both have really loud audio hiss static that it's almost as loud as the intended sound effects/music.

 

Based on these things, which is the better candidate for payment, and which is better for the operating room?

 

Based on what I noticed, the Colecoviiosn, even though it was very powerful in it's time, and gorgeous standing still (whereas the Atari 5200 was gorgeous in motion, so the CV is a swimsuit model, and a 5200 was a Cheerleader. One looks better in poses, the other looks better in motion.),was so cheaply constructed that it can very easily get a glitch and it's cost-prohibitive to keep getting major CV repairs after Major CV repairs.

 

The secret to a good Astrocade life is "do not put it on a carpet". The secret to a good NES life is Blinking Light Win. I don't know what the secret to a good Original Coleocvision life is. i've heard so many things can go wrong that if you try to save it in one way, it's in danger another way.

 

Atari 2600 was like $700 inflation adjusted dollars when it came out. Colecovision was like $250 of days dollars, and nothing would get cheaper except Dremacast and Game Cube. Astrocade was like $2000 inflation adjusted dollars. Neo Geo Game territory.

 

If it weren't for possible Phoenix ping issues, in less than optimal LCDs, I would sell these to parts buyers and put it towards a Phoenix. I'm debating whether to buy a low-ping HDMI monitor that has everything except 3D.

 

So an analysis? Based on my description, how much would it cost to trade in 2 Colecos and get one working Coleco, preferably with a Composite and/or S-Video Mod? Vs how much as a "mostly working unit sale"?I assume that's the easiest way to get rid of RF Noise. That's both the audio noisiest and the video noisiest system of the whole NTST-RF-only era systems. Plus the only way you can play with RF on a new TV (assuming it has composite in) is a VCR with an NTSC tuner. By the Way, DVD Recorders may look cool with it's component out, but the ping will kill you. VCRs have no ping. (okay, a Microsecond) Plus it's the only way I'll be guaranteed low ping without buying a 3rd TV in addition to my CRT and my 3D TV.

 

And will the Colecovision need to be repaired over time anyway, or is this the final (assuming no one abuses it.) solution? The answer is probalby the first, so... what's the likelihood of Phoenix working with a CRT TV? Also what's the likelihood of someone making an external 3D processor which turns any regular 2D TV into a 3D TV, like the Sega Scope did back in the day? If eatiehr of those are likely, I'll gravitate towards the Phoenix

 

Also I MIGHT be interested in Super Action Controller repair. I got a quote of as standard joystick repair fee at videogame911.com for coleco controller repairs, but nothing in their message acknowledging that that's the price for repairing Colecovison buttons. I don't know if they're going to gouge me because they usually deal in PS4 and Xbox One controls. It's a $20 analysis fee per item, with the cost being $30 an item, with the first $20 paid for already by analysis fee going towards it. I got possibly 2-4 Super Action Controllers (depending on if my friend wants 2 fresh ones or not).

 

I think the only problems are that some fire buttons don't work sometimes, and one or 2 buttons among 4 controllers don't work at all. I believe the keypad, roller, and joystick work on all of them.

 

Then again I'm getting a fight stick made for a lot of systems, if the keypad and roller work, I could just Y adapter it and use the new fight stick for the stick and buttons, and use the working (minus fire buttons) Super Action as a sidecar ride-along for the keypad and roller.

 

Some of it is just talking to myself hoping someone hears me, second guessing what I need.

Edited May 12, 2019 by tripletopper

[+digress]

holy wall of text batman!

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

You should start making retro gaming YouTube videos.............

Edited May 12, 2019 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[Vectorman]

I'll trade you an entire sheet of Wendy's coupons AND a Blockbuster Video gift certificate.

[Ikrananka]

Why do people insist on spreading this nonsense that the ColecoVision was "so cheaply constructed" because at 35 year old, and 25 to 30 years beyond the end of its design life, it can "very easily get a glitch"? Don't answer that - it was a rhetorical question.

[Yurkie]

Why do people insist on spreading this nonsense that the ColecoVision was "so cheaply constructed" because at 35 year old, and 25 to 30 years beyond the end of its design life, it can "very easily get a glitch"? Don't answer that - it was a rhetorical question.

Well said.

[ChildOfCv]

Do you use the same power supply on both of them? Because the described problems could potentially be a weak +12V input. Or a bad power switch which would have the same effect.

[tripletopper]

I noticed something. The second one with the dark screen, when I tok out the power plug, the safties were plugging the holes. So i"m surprised I got anything.

 

There are probably only a few systems which don’t make sense if you’re thinking long term. FIrst of all after the SNES most companies were not thinking beyond 5-8 years for a generation. And this was before digital media, so the The Saturn, the PS2, the Xbox Prime, The GameCube, the Wi, The Wii U, (suprisingly) the 360, the PS3 and the Switch I’ve had no problems where I had to send it into either warrantee or independnent post-life repair.

 

Now with digital downloads, they Build in their obsolecense. The Game Boy Advance SP had no replaceable battery, so once the batery died, ytou had a worthless machine> A t least the games weren’t dead because the Game Cube had the Game Boy Advance Player.

 

Then All the DSes had no replaceable battery. Also the Wii U and Switch have no replaceable battery in the screens. Once those batteries die, you have a dead system.

 

Even PS3 and PS4 batteries have no common replaceable standard.

 

At least Xbox IS smart enough to use AA batteries. What are the odds they’ll go out of stock without some sort of acceptable substitute. Like for example I can use C battery plastic shell adapter and put in AA batteries and power my Colecovision Driving controller. I don’t have to rely on rechargeable C batteries.

 

What will last longer as a standard? AA batteries, or the Switch Battery standard?

 

When I owned them in their Prime, I had problems with the NES with the "Monica Problem", Genesis+Sega CD on 2 CD games not working with a Genesis 1 with Aux port and a CD1, the SNES with color issues outputting B/W in Y/C mode (but not until WAY LATER) , the Dreamcast with the security code not being read well, the Playstation 1 with a joystick port broken for using an unauthorized multi memory card, and the Xbox One, which I bought refurbished, which had errors that showed up, even after resetting and reloading the system, but I paid $150 less for my Xbox One , and I upgraded to a One S for $120 and got a Kinect adapter for free so no big loss

 

Actually the Colecovision I owned as a kid worked well. By brother lent it to his friend without my permission who disappeared, so all the poo-pooing of the Colecovision is based on Thrift Store finds and "retro game store" purchases.

 

As for retro purchases, all of them have worked out.

 

I heard most of the horror stories can be avoided if you do just one thing that wasn’t know about back then. For the Astrocade, it was not putting the console on the Carpet. If you never did that, the Astrocade lasts forever. For the NES it was a design problem that is destined to fail that was partially fixed by Blinking Light Win.

 

What is the the one/few things you should either always do or never do and be sure you have a great CV?

 

As for cheap, cheap is not necessarily a bad thing. The Astrocade was its generation’s 3DO or Neo Geo, costing $2200 of today’s dollars, and that had problems if you put it on the carpet. So affordability and consturction quality do not necessarily correspond.

 

The main difference is that Atari and Intellivision have a historical link. Atari had the name "Atari" to trade on, whereas Keith Robinson was a One Man Intellivision Company after a certain point. The closet thing to that for Coleco is Adam’s House, and they had some notoriously bad business practices the later they got in years. The Coleco company died and no one took over for quite a while. Best Electronics was an Atari Repair Shop, Keith did INTV stuff.

 

I don’t think Colecovision had any independent intellectual property other than the System itself. I don’t think Coleco outright owned any game except Super Action Baseball, Soccer Football, and American Football. (there may be more, but I can’t think of them now.) Most were either arcade conversions or game tie-ins to outside IP. That’s why they had no historical link. No one wanted the rights to "just an old system" and that’s all.

Edited May 17, 2019 by tripletopper

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

[+phoenixdownita]

You made me laugh so hard ..... well played sir!

 

....

Ass for cheap, ...

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<sarcasm>fixed that for ya, you missed one s</sarcasm>