WTB PCE Duo-R

[OC2010]

While I understand and appreciate the sentimentality toward CRT, they are becoming more scarce along with the parts that fix them everyday. I also admit that I enjoy the "shiny" HD picture and that with the right equipment they can make the picture quality for these older games look better than ever. I am not a speed runner, and the input lag is extremely minimal with the equipment I am choosing, so that is not a problem. We could argue for weeks about whether my statement about picture quality is true or not, because "better" is my opinion, but I am choosing to move with the times... Whether that is "forward" or not is also subject to our opinions. But I want everything on one TV, and I have moved to HD, and soon to UHD.

[Gypsy]

I guess it depends on where you live but I have multiple good trinitron tvs, all acquired for free. I could get many more via CL if I felt like it too. That said, I also have a DVDO iScan VP30 with the ABT 102 card installed. Mainly so I could have a central set-up where I have newer consoles and stuff like my Saturn and Genny hooked up. I think both are fine options, it's just preference.

Edit: I will add that I would like to get a decent quality older monitor, but both times I've tried recently the other person flaked out.

[Johnpv]

I just wanted to add that saying a Duo-R is going to cost you $1000 is way off base.  You can find RGB, and Region modded Rs on ebay in the 350 - 400 range.  They come with the RGB cable you need, and to add a framemeister into that cost is a bit disingenuous IMHO.  The FM is going to work with all your gaming consoles and not just the Duo-R.  If you watch sales and time it right, a set up can be had for way less than you're thinking.

I hope you are right. But the Duo-Rs that I have seen recently on eBay have not been modded. The costs when I added them up yesterday looked like this:

PCE Duo-R -@ $300
Duo Card - @ $75
Region Switch mod - @ $50
RGB mod - @ $65
XRGB Mini - @ $370 (but you are correct it will help with the other consoles I will get)
SCART and other cables - @ $30
Multi tap - @ $40
Additional 6 button controller(s) if there isn't two (priced Avenue 6) - @ $40 per
Shipping - @ $75 if I have to do all mods after the fact and purchase from Japan

Total: @ $1045

This is how I got my number... Take away some of the shipping and add the mods in at $350 to $400 for the system and I'm still at @ $950- $1000. So, the system itself and the XRGB Mini for $1000? That's not what I meant and I'm sorry for the confusion. It's all the other stuff that make it function the way I want it to that add to the cost. I will be very grateful if I can get what I am looking for at better prices. I hope you are right!

Why are you including prices for things already done.  Plus why are you including the Arcade card price, there's only a small handful of games that use it.  Plus every pre-modded system I've seen sold include an RGB cable so again, inflated pricing.  You're just inflating things with multitaps and more controllers.  Should you add magical chase to that and say a Duo-R costs 5 grand?

It just comes off to me like you're making up excuses to justify your purchase of a retro freak.  No need to spread miss information though. 

Hell man there's 8 nice condition Duo R's on ebay right now with buy it nows for under 300 bucks, and I see pre-modded ones all the time for the 400 range.  There's a bunch of nice Duo-Rs with at least 4 games in the 250 - 300 buy it now range.

I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, if you want to go retro freak instead go for it.  I'm just saying don't claim the reasoning for it is because a Duo-R costs 1000 dollars.  It's like saying ohh I don't want to get a PS4 because its 300,000 dollars.  Ohh well I'll need to buy a TV with it, and then I'm going to need a house to put that in, and pay for electricity! 

[Necromancer]

That's what I was thinking, Johnpv.  That and for a guy that's broke and just looking to enjoy some games, he's going about  it in one of the most expensive ways possible.

[OC2010]

I just wanted to add that saying a Duo-R is going to cost you $1000 is way off base.  You can find RGB, and Region modded Rs on ebay in the 350 - 400 range.  They come with the RGB cable you need, and to add a framemeister into that cost is a bit disingenuous IMHO.  The FM is going to work with all your gaming consoles and not just the Duo-R.  If you watch sales and time it right, a set up can be had for way less than you're thinking.

I hope you are right. But the Duo-Rs that I have seen recently on eBay have not been modded. The costs when I added them up yesterday looked like this:

PCE Duo-R -@ $300
Duo Card - @ $75
Region Switch mod - @ $50
RGB mod - @ $65
XRGB Mini - @ $370 (but you are correct it will help with the other consoles I will get)
SCART and other cables - @ $30
Multi tap - @ $40
Additional 6 button controller(s) if there isn't two (priced Avenue 6) - @ $40 per
Shipping - @ $75 if I have to do all mods after the fact and purchase from Japan

Total: @ $1045

This is how I got my number... Take away some of the shipping and add the mods in at $350 to $400 for the system and I'm still at @ $950- $1000. So, the system itself and the XRGB Mini for $1000? That's not what I meant and I'm sorry for the confusion. It's all the other stuff that make it function the way I want it to that add to the cost. I will be very grateful if I can get what I am looking for at better prices. I hope you are right!

Why are you including prices for things already done.  Plus why are you including the Arcade card price, there's only a small handful of games that use it.  Plus every pre-modded system I've seen sold include an RGB cable so again, inflated pricing.  You're just inflating things with multitaps and more controllers.  Should you add magical chase to that and say a Duo-R costs 5 grand?

It just comes off to me like you're making up excuses to justify your purchase of a retro freak.  No need to spread miss information though. 

Hell man there's 8 nice condition Duo R's on ebay right now with buy it nows for under 300 bucks, and I see pre-modded ones all the time for the 400 range.  There's a bunch of nice Duo-Rs with at least 4 games in the 250 - 300 buy it now range.

I'm not trying to be a dick or anything, if you want to go retro freak instead go for it.  I'm just saying don't claim the reasoning for it is because a Duo-R costs 1000 dollars.  It's like saying ohh I don't want to get a PS4 because its 300,000 dollars.  Ohh well I'll need to buy a TV with it, and then I'm going to need a house to put that in, and pay for electricity!

That takes the cake as the most absurd statement I have been confronted with in here. Am I not allowed to get the Duo-R for the main purposes I want it for? I never once said that the Duo-R would cost $1000 for the console, at the top of page 2 of this thread I provide my first explanation without pricing it all out. Should I just buy it and not have the means to play it the way I want? My gosh... I don't understand at all why a few people in here are so up in arms about this? I was completely up front about how and why I wanted it on page 1 of this thread. I also explained why I wanted the Arcade Duo Card - I like the Neo Geo fighters that are playable with it: Fatal Fury 1 and 2, and Art of Fighting. I just priced it out for you because this is what is need to play it how I want. If I don't get all the things I want, it's like buying a toy that requires batteries to use the functions I want, but not buying batteries. Essentially, the toy is not the toy I want it to be. None of these prices are inflated, and I even gave you the fully modded price at the end. I didn't include games, I just chose to not go into this with blinders on. I asked myself: "What am I really getting into if I am going to do this the right way for what I want from the system?" I really don't understand what the problem is.

I am not choosing to NOT get a Duo-R, just to wait on it. The Retro Freak gives me a lot of bang for the buck and helps with other systems I want access to their game libraries. The fact that it plays TG16, PCE and SGFX is great icing and allows me time, while still scratching the itch, to get the funds together how I want for the Duo-R. This is the most absurd argument... that it is even happening and that you guys are arguing semantics so much. Maybe this is what Zeta was talking about with people being antisocial? Do you guys have nothing better to do than pick apart what I never tried to hide? Give me a break.

I'm going to give these forums some time. But why in the world would anyone want to stick around in here with people that treat you like this? I feel like I'm trying to become a member of a club, but since I haven't been here as long as you and your friends, and since you don't know me, some of you want me to go away and are treating me like trash just to make me leave. I hope that is not the case... But it is how you have made it seem.

[OC2010]

FWIW, I think you're going the right route.  Get the system and play the HuCards and give it some time.  You might find that the upscaler situation has changed in the next few months.  Maybe the OSSC will be the new darling of upscalers.  I was kind of driven crazy by the Framemeister because each and every system required niggling little tweaks or had some minor oddball issue ("oh, it takes a few seconds when a Saturn game changes resolution from 240p to 480i, but on *my* TV it totally drops the connection and requires me to power cycle", etc.).  I went the CRT w/RGB route and that has its own challenges.  I've invested too much time and money into the setup, time that I could have spent playing the f*cking games.

Thank you!

[khyron65]

I just wanted to add that saying a Duo-R is going to cost you $1000 is way off base.  You can find RGB, and Region modded Rs on ebay in the 350 - 400 range.  They come with the RGB cable you need, and to add a framemeister into that cost is a bit disingenuous IMHO.  The FM is going to work with all your gaming consoles and not just the Duo-R.  If you watch sales and time it right, a set up can be had for way less than you're thinking.

I hope you are right. But the Duo-Rs that I have seen recently on eBay have not been modded. The costs when I added them up yesterday looked like this:

PCE Duo-R -@ $300
Duo Card - @ $75
Region Switch mod - @ $50
RGB mod - @ $65
XRGB Mini - @ $370 (but you are correct it will help with the other consoles I will get)
SCART and other cables - @ $30
Multi tap - @ $40
Additional 6 button controller(s) if there isn't two (priced Avenue 6) - @ $40 per
Shipping - @ $75 if I have to do all mods after the fact and purchase from Japan

Total: @ $1045

This is how I got my number... Take away some of the shipping and add the mods in at $350 to $400 for the system and I'm still at @ $950- $1000. So, the system itself and the XRGB Mini for $1000? That's not what I meant and I'm sorry for the confusion. It's all the other stuff that make it function the way I want it to that add to the cost. I will be very grateful if I can get what I am looking for at better prices. I hope you are right!

Dude. You dont have to get all that shit all at once you know. A modded console is less then 400 bux and thats all you need to start. Also, once they been modded they all play the same. just get the cheapest DUO you can.

[OC2010]

That's what I was thinking, Johnpv.  That and for a guy that's broke and just looking to enjoy some games, he's going about  it in one of the most expensive ways possible.

I'm not broke, I'm just trying to not get ahead of myself. I need to continue to pay down debt while I do this, and I don't see much point in buying a system before I can use it how I wish. I am getting the Retro Freak to get to many games at a lower cost. But the main reason I look forward to getting the Duo-R is for the regular CD and Arcade Card games. I have always wanted one.

I would love help getting it cost less and it still work the way I am looking for it to. Any help is appreciated!

Unfortunately, I'm getting berated more than helped and I am not sure what I did to deserve it...

[khyron65]

That's what I was thinking, Johnpv.  That and for a guy that's broke and just looking to enjoy some games, he's going about  it in one of the most expensive ways possible.

I'm not broke, I'm just trying to not get ahead of myself. I need to continue to pay down debt while I do this, and I don't see much point in buying a system before I can use it how I wish. I am getting the Retro Freak to get to many games at a lower cost. But the main reason I look forward to getting the Duo-R is for the regular CD and Arcade Card games. I have always wanted one.

I would love help getting it cost less and it still work the way I am looking for it to. Any help is appreciated!

Unfortunately, I'm getting berated more than helped and I am not sure what I did to deserve it...

Once you get your Duo it will render the retrofreak obsolete. Are you factoring the cost of the retro freak then to your final price? Or are you going to try and recoup some of that money by selling it. My advice though right now is....do what you want but just tell everyone here you bought a Duo.

[OC2010]

I just wanted to add that saying a Duo-R is going to cost you $1000 is way off base.  You can find RGB, and Region modded Rs on ebay in the 350 - 400 range.  They come with the RGB cable you need, and to add a framemeister into that cost is a bit disingenuous IMHO.  The FM is going to work with all your gaming consoles and not just the Duo-R.  If you watch sales and time it right, a set up can be had for way less than you're thinking.

I hope you are right. But the Duo-Rs that I have seen recently on eBay have not been modded. The costs when I added them up yesterday looked like this:

PCE Duo-R -@ $300
Duo Card - @ $75
Region Switch mod - @ $50
RGB mod - @ $65
XRGB Mini - @ $370 (but you are correct it will help with the other consoles I will get)
SCART and other cables - @ $30
Multi tap - @ $40
Additional 6 button controller(s) if there isn't two (priced Avenue 6) - @ $40 per
Shipping - @ $75 if I have to do all mods after the fact and purchase from Japan

Total: @ $1045

This is how I got my number... Take away some of the shipping and add the mods in at $350 to $400 for the system and I'm still at @ $950- $1000. So, the system itself and the XRGB Mini for $1000? That's not what I meant and I'm sorry for the confusion. It's all the other stuff that make it function the way I want it to that add to the cost. I will be very grateful if I can get what I am looking for at better prices. I hope you are right!

Dude. You dont have to get all that shit all at once you know. A modded console is less then 400 bux and thats all you need to start. Also, once they been modded they all play the same. just get the cheapest DUO you can.

I can play many things I want to for about half the price of the Duo-R with the Retro Freak, and many other systems' games as well. That's why I'm waiting on the Duo-R at this time. No need to drop all the cash I want to for the functionality I am looking for right away. I have a ton of games available to me with the Retro Freak. The Duo-R is a system I always wanted when I was younger... I've waited this long. I also only have HDTVs and have no desire to own a CRT.

[OC2010]

Once you get your Duo it will render the retrofreak obsolete. Are you factoring the cost of the retro freak then to your final price? Or are you going to try and recoup some of that money by selling it. My advice though right now is....do what you want but just tell everyone here you bought a Duo.

I will keep the Retro Freak because I will still have the Nintendo and Sega systems available to play on it as well. I owned almost all the Sega Systems, some Nintendo and I had friends that owned all the rest of the Nintendo. I want to have access to their libraries as well, but don't want to take up all the space with all the systems as I once did. The man cave a small space... but it's mine! 

[khyron65]

Once you get your Duo it will render the retrofreak obsolete. Are you factoring the cost of the retro freak then to your final price? Or are you going to try and recoup some of that money by selling it. My advice though right now is....do what you want but just tell everyone here you bought a Duo.

I will keep the Retro Freak because I will still have the Nintendo and Sega systems available to play on it as well. I owned almost all the Sega Systems, some Nintendo and I had friends that owned all the rest of the Nintendo. I want to have access to their libraries as well, but don't want to take up all the space with all the systems as I once did. The man cave a small space... but it's mine! 

ok then lol, that now makes sense!

[crazydean]

I still don't see the purpose of systems like the Retro Freak. For one, you are still missing all the disc-based games. Also, isn't it just an emulator? It would be much cheaper to just emulate on your computer. It's effectively the same, no?

[OC2010]

I still don't see the purpose of systems like the Retro Freak. For one, you are still missing all the disc-based games. Also, isn't it just an emulator? It would be much cheaper to just emulate on your computer. It's effectively the same, no?

Actually, it will rip the game straight off the cartridge and place it on the machine itself onto a microSD card as well as play any of the same devices' ROMs you have on a microSD. The main unit is actually just an interface for the cartridges to a pocket-sized unit that is removable so that it is portable. You can take all of your games, with 2 USB inputs for controllers of your choice and/or their adapter for the classic ones, and with the HDMI output play them anywhere you can plug it in. Pretty sweet concept! All you need are the microSD cards with your games on them, plug it in and go. Cheaper to emulate on your computer? Yes. As convenient when taking them to a friend's house with all your save data, or to a place without consoles and hook it into any HDTV? Nope.

I am hoping they come out with some sort of CD game support with an update, which is what a few reviewers have also wished for. They have been great with updates to firmware up to this point according to the reviews... So, maybe? It would be fun to play things like "Nights into dreams..." again on it, of course any of the NEC CD games, and the Dreamcast catalogue. If I could eventually take everything anywhere without lugging anything but some controllers, a few cables, and a pocket-sized console, that would be very nice!

Just go on YouTube and search "Retro Freak console review." You'll get plenty of opinions from collectors.

[wildfruit]

I still say just get a regular duo. And hold on the アーケードカード. That's plenty to be getting along with.