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.
* 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.