The Easiest CD Drive to fix?

[farankoshan]

I just thought to throw this question out there to anyone who might be in the market for a PCE/TG16 Super CD player, and would want to know what he/she is getting into.
Given that all of these are nearly over 20 years old already, and finding parts for some units may at times be harder from unit to unit, I wanted to know which units would be the easier unit to fix & maintain in the long run?

(Since there was no region-locking for CD units, I guess all drives are fair game for this question)

PC Engine CD-Rom2
PC Engine DUO
PC Engine DUO-R
PC Engine DUO-RX
Super CD-ROM2 Unit
TurboGrafx-CD (US)
TurboDuo (US)
Pioneer LaserActive + PACN10

Maybe ranking these might help, too!
Please feel free to throw in other considerations, like rarity of certain units which might deserve consideration in the decision.

Thanks!

[BlueBMW]

For someone just looking to play games, this his how I'd rank the reliability / serviceability of the systems....

PC Engine Duo-R/RX - easily the most reliable systems compared to the others at this time

Super CDROM2 - Just now starting to exibit capacitor issues, but by in large still reliable

PC Engine Duo - more readily available than a US system, but capacitors MUST be changed to ensure long term reliability

Turbo Duo - Just like the PC Engine Duo, the capacitors MUST be changed to ensure long life

Pioneer LaserActive + PAC-N1/N10 - Also subject to capacitor issues, though it is not a difficult swap to do.  Laseractives themselves are somewhat fragile, and also have laser issues occasionally.

Turbo Grafx CD / PC Engine CDROM2 - Known gear issues are a problem, capacitors are a problem, lasers are a problem, plus system cards are expensive.  For a gamer, avoid these if possible!


Just my 2 cents   (ok maybe 8 cents)

[farankoshan]

I love this forum and how helpful everybody is with their obsessively helpful tips.