Thinking of buying an Atari 2600 again (advise pls)

[+TwentySixHundred]

So i have been thinking of buying an 2600 again after regrettably selling my original few years ago. Due to lifestyle at the time and Stella suited my needs, i sold my 2600 JR i had from a kid and regret not having real hardware to play on. I mentioned to the missus the other day i was thinking about buying another one from Ebay. She admitted that she has been looking on Ebay in secret to buy one but didn't know what i would want (she only knows about Atari from my rambling on to her).

 

Luckily i had mentioned this to her and she hadn't gone and purchased one as she probably would have bought the wrong one. I am kind of wanting a JR again as i like the sleek design (personal preference). However i don't want PAL region as id rather NTSC and my TV supports both 50hz and 60hz. So this is a no-brainer i would have to look on the US Ebay site and pay for shipping.

 

The questions i have:

• What sort of shipping prices are fair to Australia?
• What prices are fair for a 2600 JR in the US? (they're actually quite pricey here now)
• Should i go a pre composite modded system or do it myself? (price wise)
• Harmony cart pricing with shipping to Australia?
• Is it safe and a good idea to use an converter for the PSU?
• Or should i just stick to Stella?

 

I am really wanting to test my homebrew on real hardware and miss not playing the classics with a real joystick and hardware.

 

Also if there is any Aussie's that have gone this route, any suggestions and advise would be much appreciated ?

 

[Mikebloke]

Depends how keen you are for original hardware, because my first suggestion tbh is to look at the retron 77. You can run original controllers with it, it uses Stella (update it for best results), you can use original carts (though there is a number of compatability issues) it can handle any region, has hdmi, and of course you can run any homebrew you or anyone else makes. 

[Mikebloke]

Oh and it's a USB power supply, so no worries there either. 

[Keatah]

I'm not a fan of the R77 because it's emulation on cheap hardware. And emulation is best experienced on mid/high range PC straight away. You can use Stelladapter to use original controllers on the PC. And Stella on PC lets you organize your ROMs natively on the hard disk. No messing around with transferring files to microSD cards.

 

I may suggest sticking with PC emulation for day-to-day playing. And get real hardware for sentimental and nostalgic value.

 

Besides there can be no denying it that emulation is the way of the future. Note that all new commercial presentations of classic games are in the form of software emulation. 
 

No company is remaking original consoles and definitely not the original chips. But emulation’s models of the chips are getting better and better with the passage of time. Not unlike fine wine.

Edited February 18, 2020 by Keatah

[+TwentySixHundred]

2 hours ago, Mikebloke said:

Depends how keen you are for original hardware, because my first suggestion tbh is to look at the retron 77. You can run original controllers with it, it uses Stella (update it for best results), you can use original carts (though there is a number of compatability issues) it can handle any region, has hdmi, and of course you can run any homebrew you or anyone else makes. 

I was thinking about the retron 77 at one stage although i really miss the 2600 JR i had with it's sleek design. It's just the fact i can play my homebrew on the real deal and not only test. However the feel of creating a game and actually fulfilling the dream i used to have of creating my own games on the system. It's more of a pride thing to actually play what i have created on the system i grew up with as a lad. Thanks for the recommendation though i will have a good think about it.

36 minutes ago, Keatah said:

I'm not a fan of the R77 because it's emulation on cheap hardware. And emulation is best experienced on mid/high range PC straight away. You can use Stelladapter to use original controllers on the PC. And Stella on PC lets you organize your ROMs natively on the hard disk. No messing around with transferring files to microSD cards.

 

I may suggest sticking with PC emulation for day-to-day playing. And get real hardware for sentimental and nostalgic value.

 

Besides there can be no denying it that emulation is the way of the future. Note that all new commercial presentations of classic games are in the form of software emulation. 
 

No company is remaking original consoles and definitely not the original chips. But emulation’s models of the chips are getting better and better with the passage of time. Not unlike fine wine.

The points you made is a big reason to why i sold the system in the first place. Im more then happy to play on Stella like i have been for over 15 years now. Infact im all for emulation in every way, it's just no matter how convenient, clutter free and compatible emulation is, there is one thing missing (the physical machine). It's a feeling especially with homebrew created by oneself im sure can't be replicated. To have the ability to insert my own game in the hardware and flick the switch only to see my game display on the screen i think will be a great feeling.

[Mikebloke]

It's going to be an age old question, emulation for ease or old tech for nostalgia. I have use for all, retron 77, real hardware (tend to just keep the 7800 out tbh) and just playing it on pc (both Stella and atari vault). 

 

The other barrier to original hardware is whether your tv is up for it. I'm avoiding a new tv because nobody has actually been able to tell me whether a wide variety of things I'd need (including NTSC and SECAM) would work on anything they sell me. A Retron 77 avoids all those issues. 

 

In terms of romcart, and if no price is an issue make sure it's a harmony encore. This ensures you can play things like the 2600 galaga game (now galagon I think?). A regular harmony doesn't play everything. If you can't afford or find an encore though, there is a great alternative in the uno romcart which is dirt cheap even generally for romcarts. There is hope for full compatability via software updates in the future but it plays everything original except pitfall 2 I believe. 

[Amstari]

I have purchased some NTSC consoles from the AtariAge Marketplace forums and had them sent to Australia. 

 

It was several years ago, I got a Jaguar and a 2600. I cant remember how much I paid but it was definitely less than eBay prices at the time.  

 

For the power supply you can get one from Jaycar that lets you select voltage and has interchangeable connections.

 

[shaky1963]

Greetings from Tassie

I tried emulation on pc and I got by on it, but I too missed playing on my original light sixer. So I now always play on my original on a crt tv. I modded it myself with parts from Jaycar. If I can do it you can, I did have to buy a new soldering iron. Picture is best on the crt but on the LED tv it is still OK. I guess it would be hard to get a ntsc crt tv here. Best thing I did was buy a Harmony Encore. Having my old friends around from when we played against each other from 40 years ago is the bees knees. I can’t advise on ntsc or us prices though.

[+TwentySixHundred]

11 hours ago, Mikebloke said:

It's going to be an age old question, emulation for ease or old tech for nostalgia. I have use for all, retron 77, real hardware (tend to just keep the 7800 out tbh) and just playing it on pc (both Stella and atari vault). 

 

The other barrier to original hardware is whether your tv is up for it. I'm avoiding a new tv because nobody has actually been able to tell me whether a wide variety of things I'd need (including NTSC and SECAM) would work on anything they sell me. A Retron 77 avoids all those issues. 

 

In terms of romcart, and if no price is an issue make sure it's a harmony encore. This ensures you can play things like the 2600 galaga game (now galagon I think?). A regular harmony doesn't play everything. If you can't afford or find an encore though, there is a great alternative in the uno romcart which is dirt cheap even generally for romcarts. There is hope for full compatability via software updates in the future but it plays everything original except pitfall 2 I believe. 

Well yeah mainly for the reasons i mentioned above and would much prefer NTSC over PAL for the better colour pallet and higher frequency. There is also the fact all my games i create are in NTSC format as it's my preferred and majority of the GP seems to be using NTSC.

 

My 9 year old LED TV is up for it, it can display 50hz or 60hz and has all the inputs you can imagine from composite, HDMI to VGA and so on. The TV also supports low latency called "game mode" and has settings for 4.3 aspect ratio. The reason i bought the TV was due to all the features it had and well Samsung make a good TV.

 

If i am to buy one the harmony encore is a must IMO as it will cater to all my needs. Im not interested in collecting all the games like i had previously. It's alot harder here in Aus to find many games like in other places like the US. Just want to load on Romhunters ROM pack and homebrews including my own.

9 hours ago, Amstari said:

I have purchased some NTSC consoles from the AtariAge Marketplace forums and had them sent to Australia. 

 

It was several years ago, I got a Jaguar and a 2600. I cant remember how much I paid but it was definitely less than eBay prices at the time.  

 

For the power supply you can get one from Jaycar that lets you select voltage and has interchangeable connections.

 

I am thinking this is probably the most reliable source for a quality system. Price is the key here and im guessing there is probably some already composite modded ready to go. Also i think you're correct about the PSU as someone had mentioned in a PM that no matter the system the output is DC anyway so there is no issue using a 50hz supply ?

8 hours ago, shaky1963 said:

Greetings from Tassie

I tried emulation on pc and I got by on it, but I too missed playing on my original light sixer. So I now always play on my original on a crt tv. I modded it myself with parts from Jaycar. If I can do it you can, I did have to buy a new soldering iron. Picture is best on the crt but on the LED tv it is still OK. I guess it would be hard to get a ntsc crt tv here. Best thing I did was buy a Harmony Encore. Having my old friends around from when we played against each other from 40 years ago is the bees knees. I can’t advise on ntsc or us prices though.

Yeah im thinking the Harmony Encore is a must otherwise there is no real point. As for modding im sure i would have no issues, im actually half decent with electrical repairs and have some knowledge in the field. Just weighing up whether it's worth me doing myself or buy it already done.

 

I agree with trying to find an NTSC CRT is pretty hard in the country, however my LED TV is up for the job. I am happy with that and is one reason why im kinda wanting the 2600 JR again. It will sit well in the living room with it's sleek black design next to the modern style TV IMO ?

[Swami]

On 2/18/2020 at 3:41 AM, TwentySixHundred said:

So i have been thinking of buying an 2600 again after regrettably selling my original few years ago. Due to lifestyle at the time and Stella suited my needs, i sold my 2600 JR i had from a kid and regret not having real hardware to play on. I mentioned to the missus the other day i was thinking about buying another one from Ebay. She admitted that she has been looking on Ebay in secret to buy one but didn't know what i would want (she only knows about Atari from my rambling on to her).

 

Luckily i had mentioned this to her and she hadn't gone and purchased one as she probably would have bought the wrong one. I am kind of wanting a JR again as i like the sleek design (personal preference). However i don't want PAL region as id rather NTSC and my TV supports both 50hz and 60hz. So this is a no-brainer i would have to look on the US Ebay site and pay for shipping.

 

The questions i have:

• What sort of shipping prices are fair to Australia?
• What prices are fair for a 2600 JR in the US? (they're actually quite pricey here now)
• Should i go a pre composite modded system or do it myself? (price wise)
• Harmony cart pricing with shipping to Australia?
• Is it safe and a good idea to use an converter for the PSU?
• Or should i just stick to Stella?

 

I am really wanting to test my homebrew on real hardware and miss not playing the classics with a real joystick and hardware.

 

Also if there is any Aussie's that have gone this route, any suggestions and advise would be much appreciated ?

 

You have the advantage in getting the jr in that you can find a composite modded one very cheap. Just expect to get pounded on shipping from the USA these days. 

[+save2600]

I recently packaged up, weighed and got an estimate to ship a 7800 (no power supply) w/ a handful of games to Australia via USPS... least expensive cost of shipping was about $60. Needless to say, that deal didn't go through.  

[+McCallister]

I actually sent a jr to Australia a few months ago and the shipping came to about $23.00. That was the barebones lowest I could find to ship it over; took about 10 days.

[+TwentySixHundred]

10 hours ago, McCallister said:

I actually sent a jr to Australia a few months ago and the shipping came to about $23.00. That was the barebones lowest I could find to ship it over; took about 10 days.

$23 is a good deal and id be happy to pay, especially for the distance it's traveling. I guess it's just a bunch of factors that can tip the scales in either direction. Also 10 days i think is reasonable, it can take that for items from China to Australia even when there is shipments everyday. I might have to check out the market place and add everything i want together and see if the cost is reasonable ?