Re:The C64 Mini Computer
by biggieshellz on Friday September 29, 2017 @01:25PM
(#15367209)
They were definitely built to a price, though, and they have a lot of reliability issues now:
* The (epoxy-potted, non-serviceable) power supply fails (and the resulting voltage increase takes out the 4164 DRAM chips). * The PLA is not heatsinked, runs hot, and fails. * The MOS replacements for standard 74xx logic chips are notoriously unreliable.
You're better off finding a used one that's been tested with a TV -- "powers on" is not enough.
In addition, the Goodwill ones (at least in the USA) are NTSC, whereas a lot of the later European games were PAL-only. If you want to play those games, you end up having to find a cracked, NTSC-fixed version of them.
(Note that Goodwill recently updated its web site and apparently kicked many of the regional organizations out, so supply has been lower lately. Hopefully when the regionals get up to speed the supply will increase again.)