Wanted: PC Engine Duo - preferably RGB modded - FOUND

[DejahThoris]

Hello all!
     I'm looking to purchase a PC Engine Duo, any of the 3 models is fine by me.  I would prefer that it's RGB modded with a SCART cable (Euro pinout) as I have been running a PVM with Sony PVM DB25 -> Euro SCART adapter and that would make it plug and play for me.  If I need to buy a stocker and make my own cable I will, but if at all possible I'd like to just buy one already RGB modded.  I had considered buying one from DoujinDance on eBay after hearing good things about his work, but the international shipping kills me, and the worry of it possibly getting lost have sent me on a quest to find one domestically if at all possible.

[turboswimbz]

talk to Kieth Courage.  He always has a few extras, at a decent price.

[grimm]

If not, there is a doujindance DOU-R one on ebay right now. You will have a hard time finding such value for the price anywhere else.. No yellowing (thouroughly cleaned), strengthened soldering, replaced laser, region and rgb mod for $210 + shipping.

[DejahThoris]

talk to Kieth Courage.  He always has a few extras, at a decent price.

Thanks for the advice, I've shot him a PM.

If not, there is a doujindance DOU-R one on ebay right now. You will have a hard time finding such value for the price anywhere else.. No yellowing (thouroughly cleaned), strengthened soldering, replaced laser, region and rgb mod for $210 + shipping.

It's not so much the price that concerns me nearly as much as the international shipping.  I'm bummed that I missed the DoujinDance Duo that was on eBay recently here in the states for the same $210...

[Frank_fjs]

I'm bummed that I missed the DoujinDance Duo that was on eBay recently here in the states for the same $210...

Me too. Makes it hard to buy a loose Duo-R from him when a boxed Duo sells for the same price.

The one that DoujinDance has available now looks great, but with shipping it's close to $300 for me, and that doesn't represent good value for money for a loose Duo-R. If I ever sold it I'd never make that money back, people here just won't pay that much for a loose console.

I don't particularly care for the region mod, nor the fact that he cleans them, and the RGB mod isn't that expensive for me to have done. My friend has one of his units and it does tick along nicely, and the RGB is great, but his didn't come that clean and the HuCard slot was filthy and struggled to read games, so he doesn't clean them that well.

I'm kicking myself for not grabbing one off him when they were cheap, he used to do boxed systems for $190 and sometimes included free shipping. I never anticipated them rising in price so much in such a small amount of time.

[DejahThoris]

I'm bummed that I missed the DoujinDance Duo that was on eBay recently here in the states for the same $210...

Me too. Makes it hard to buy a loose Duo-R from him when a boxed Duo sells for the same price.

The one that DoujinDance has available now looks great, but with shipping it's close to $300 for me, and that doesn't represent good value for money for a loose Duo-R. If I ever sold it I'd never make that money back, people here just won't pay that much for a loose console.

I don't particularly care for the region mod, nor the fact that he cleans them, and the RGB mod isn't that expensive for me to have done. My friend has one of his units and it does tick along nicely, and the RGB is great, but his didn't come that clean and the HuCard slot was filthy and struggled to read games, so he doesn't clean them that well.

I'm kicking myself for not grabbing one off him when they were cheap, he used to do boxed systems for $190 and sometimes included free shipping. I never anticipated them rising in price so much in such a small amount of time.

The one up there looks pretty nice.  May not be inside, but it sure looks it on the outside.  The only US games I'd want to play are CD, so region mod isn't important to me despite being nice.  I too am in the near $300 for the loose console from him category.

I just got a nice Sony PVM a guy has had sitting in his garage for 10 years, things looks brand new.  I'd love to see how the duo looks on it via RGB.  I could RGB mod it myself, but I'd have to pay someone to make a cable for it :/.

[grimm]

You cant lump together shipping when you talk value for price as thats not his price to control, that is the shipping company. 210 is good value for the price. Shipping is high yes, but that has nothing to do with the item itself. Total actual price will be 300 (plus possible import related fees and taxes), but again, thats surrounding costs, not the console itself. Im ok with if someone thinks 210 isnt good value, as thats a matter of opinion, but dont add shipping costs or related costs to it as those are based on your location vs the items location and will vary for everyone.

[Frank_fjs]

It's sold now anyhow. Will have to wait for the next one.

Sometimes he uses the 'make an offer' feature which is handy, as he will usually accept around $15 under his asking price. I've noticed that his s-video modded units sell for a bit more, which is fair, but I won't be needing it due to the RGB mod. Just seems that I'm out of luck as every time he lists one I either don't have the money, it sells too fast or it's not the model that I want etc.

Fair call re shipping, yet on one hand $210 for a loose console still sounds pricey to me, but on the other hand I can appreciate the work that he puts into them and that Duo's are just expensive everywhere, just the way the market is... Although, I've seen boxed Duo's (stock/non modded) recently sell for the $150-$160 mark, so it's hard to digest buying a loose one for $210. I guess it all comes down to convenience though, his units are modded and have a new lens installed, so the extra cost is actually justified, just doesn't feel like a good deal when you factor in the total cost with shipping.

[grimm]

If you compare on ebay, people try to sell untouched loose duo-r's for 170-180 and up. i think another 30 is fine for his mods and work done to it. DUO and DUO-R as you know are different consoles alltogether, and if the caps have not been replaced on a DUO that can cost a lot to have fixed if you cant do it yourself. Besides, comparing two different systems price wise isnt fair either i think. When talking price, you should compare with the same object only. He also puts up modded DUO's for sale and they are priced less than 210. Is the DUO more value for money as such? I dont know.

Here in Sweden for example, you cant buy these to begin with really. They hardly ever come up for sale, so i have no choice but to import one. And doujindance's consoles are MY best options, since shipping will be much the same everywhere, and he has a good rep, and have sold 300+ of these by now. If you life in Japan or the US, im sure you can find one for a cheaper total cost, but will it have all these improvements? This is why i exclude shipping costs when taking value for the price. It all depends on your location.

That said, i can see where you are coming from, and i dont think 210 is cheap by any means either, but value i think it has. And ive yet to afford it myself too...

[Frank_fjs]

I agree with everything you've written above, but would like to add one point for consideration...

His loose modded Duo-R consoles sell for more than a nice boxed Duo-R console.

So the question is; Is a boxed unmodded Duo-R that costs less than a loose modded Duo-R better value for money?

The answer to the above will differ from person to person, as everyone has different wants and needs, but in my case I look at it like this:

- He doesn't recap the R's as there's no need, so no advantage here.
- He does fit a new lens, which is fantastic, yet the lenses in the R's seem to last a long time anyhow.
- RGB mod is great to have, no cons here.
- Region mod/s-video mod does nothing for me, I don't need these features.
- Cleaning them is nice, but is easy to do yourself (and free) plus it will never restore it to being perfect. I've seen many well looked after Duo's available for sale, so this isn't a big issue for me.

So in essence, the major gain is an RGB mod, guess I have to ask how much that is worth to me. If I were to buy a boxed Duo-R from him it would need to be worth approx $80.

[grimm]

I cant say ive seen nice boxed DUO-R's sell for less than 200. But i havent looked outside ebay. Right now there are a few on ebay and they are all over 200 (or technically 199). Loose untouched ones are 170+

The cap issue is the advantage right there though. As far as my knowledge goes, which isnt expert i admit, the DUO-R has no cap issues to begin with.

Keep in mind im not talking which is the better constructed or built machine. Just prices. Recapping costs money, how much depends on if you can do it yourself, or have to ship it off to someone to have it done for you.

As for the cleaning, ive seen how he cleans them, and compared to others work, his seem way better. And it isnt free to do it yourself, you still need to buy the cleaning agents to do it and you might not get a good result etc.

As for your needs, or mine for that matter, those really are irrelevant when it comes to value for money as well. If you dont need what he adds, thats fine. You can buy another console cheaper elsewhere. But factor in all the stuff he does for 30 more (comparing ebay prices only because they are easily referensed for most people) and its not a massive markup. Im not saying you cant score a deal on forums or elsewhere mind you. People like to charge for their time for some reason, and he puts both time and effort, aside from component costs, into those 30. I think that is good value for money, regardless if you need his improvements or not.

[Trenton_net]

I'm also in the market for a Duo R, but I was under the impression all systems require a recap these days. Is that not true? Given the age, I would have assumed so. Unless the white Duo R/RX machines are immune to this problem.

[Frank_fjs]

Duo R/RX's aren't exactly immune to the problem, but they used an improved type of capacitor (titanium I think) that last a very long time. It's very rare for one to require a recap.

[DejahThoris]

Wow, this spiraled into an interesting discussion.  Like I said, it's not the money that's an issue, not sure where grimm got the idea that his shipping charges were an issue on my end.  It is just that I've lost a handful of items in the past few years that were shipped internationally and I'd rather avoid the whole potential headache and purchase one domestically.

To throw in my position on what's needed/not needed:
- Recapping is nice, but it's plenty easy enough to do myself so I wouldn't go out of my way to find a re-capped console.
- New lens would be fantastic, I've tried to replace a lens in a PS2 one time but that went really poorly.
- RGB mod is almost a requirement on my end.  I could pretty easily do the actual mod, but making the cable seems beyond my abilities (I've tried wiring a VGA connector before and I could never get it working, I assume SCART would be just as difficult), so it's easy to assume that an RGB modded console would come with a cable.
- Region mod/s-video mod does nothing for me, for the handful of TG16 games I would want to play I bought one of those $45 flash cards from a member of the forums and I'm going RGB so no need for S-Video.
- Cleaning them is nice, but I really don't mind if it has some yellowing, gives it some character.

I've contacted Keith Courage, but he doesn't have any RGB modded in stock, I'll be sending him another message asking if it's possible that he mod one if I bought one.

I've also reached out to multimods.com as I read someone got their console there and was treated well.

Hopefully one of the two will be able to help me out .

[grimm]

I never said that shipping charges were an issue at your end, so i think you imagined that one. On the contrary i said shipping charges shouldnt be thought of since they differe depending on your location. Personally im ok paying those to get one of his machines, when i can afford it.