It's actually rather a moot point now as my Turbo CD arrived in wonderful non-working condition. Not sure if it was the lens or the motor, but it just would not spin. At any rate, I think I'll just get a Turbo Duo next time. So much less hassle.
I bought a US/SS card a few weeks ago for $100. I got the seller to lower his pricing on a few other items so the sale would "feel" more fair... but I did end up dropping some cash.
I wanted to avoid the mod because I'm a collector and really wanted to keep my TG-16 in original condition... and avoind some of the problems some people have with the region mods on the Original TG-16s. I'm an Electronics tech and fully capable of doing the mod, but value my time with my family and have had an ever increasingly tight schedule... so I opted for the US card.
Avoid GameSquadStore unless they'll knock off $100 from their price... people around here seem to loath them, and justifiably so...
As far as the broken CD unit... Duo's are known to have some issues (caps needing replacement, etc.) and they're CD units are subject to the same where and tear.
First think I would do with your unit is clean all of the contacts with D5/Deoxit and see if that works... if it was stored in a moist environment there may be some oxidization on the pins.
My TG-16/CD combo is working like a champ and it's almost 20 years old.
Good luck.