PCE Duo: R or RX?

[Phinn]

I've decided that it would be a good idea to get into PC Engines whilst I'm in Japan. There does seem to be a bewildering range of options when it comes to hardware though. I've narrowed it down to either an Duo R or RX model. My question is, does the RX offer anything over the R except a slightly different colour scheme and the 6 button pad? If not, I'm tempted by the R since the RX lacks a headphone port which would be handy for hooking it up to a surround sound system at some point.

Also, what kind of price should I be looking at and what should I check for in terms of necessary peripherals?

TIA!

[Jamtex]

The R also lacks a headphone port too, the R probably stands for Reduced Cost and the RX offers nothing extra apart from 6 button pad and a funky new colour... The original Turbo Duo is probably the best, trying to find a boxed one could be tricky though but they should be Y20,000 or so when they do show up.

Sent a PM to you as well.

[Japan-Games.com]

DUO-R: March 1993 39,800 yen
DUO-RX: June 1994 29,800 yen

It was my understanding that the RX was mostly a last ditch effort by NEC to move consoles. They added the X, changed the controller, and dropped the price by 10,000 yen to reposition it in the market.

The RX's do go for high prices in Japan still, on Yahoo you're lucky if you get one close to 20,000 yen. The R goes for about 12,000 to 16,000. I'm guessing the RX just has a better rep for whatever reason because it's the same hardware for a higher price.

I like the DUO, personally. The white units never seem to hold up over time.

[jp.]

DUO-R: March 1993 39,800 yen
DUO-RX: June 1994 29,800 yen

It was my understanding that the RX was mostly a last ditch effort by NEC to move consoles. They added the X, changed the controller, and dropped the price by 10,000 yen to reposition it in the market.

The RX's do go for high prices in Japan still, on Yahoo you're lucky if you get one close to 20,000 yen. The R goes for about 12,000 to 16,000. I'm guessing the RX just has a better rep for whatever reason because it's the same hardware for a higher price.

I like the DUO, personally. The white units never seem to hold up over time.

Yeah, sadly the PC-Engine Duo R falls apart very quickly, and just feels like a cheap POS overall. Thats what I had gotten several years ago, and several moves later it quit reading CDs.

[Baseley09]

They dropped the ball with the RX by not making it Arcade Card compatible as standard.

[GaijinPunch]

They dropped the ball with the RX by not making it Arcade Card compatible as standard.

Indeed... they tripped over the ball by not making more than a few ACD's worth buying as well.

I had a Duo-R for ages. I might've been the only person on the planet who had one that didn't break.

[Baseley09]

They shouldve done Samurai Spirits, and Super SF2. Missed oportunities. I remember the development rumours at the time over PC Engine SF2 were nightmarish akin to Strider, something about a dual HuCard & CD package, imagine that lol.

[jp.]

They dropped the ball with the RX by not making it Arcade Card compatible as standard.

Wait what? The Duo RX doesn't support the Arcade Card?

Gah, so lame. But thats the first I ever heard of that (then again, I've never heard much about the RX other than it came with a nice 6-button controller).

[Jamtex]

Ah strider on the PC Engine, what a load of bollcoks that was, and it still sells for more then the superior Megadrive version. As for Arcade CDs, well what a load of bollcoks most games were, most of the them were better on other machines. Looking at my collection, most the of the ACD compatable games I have are mahjong games, although I do have about 15 copies of Fatal Fury Special for no good reason apart from a shop had too many new copies and the cases were more vaulable to them then the games... :lol: The Turbo Duo R should have had the Arcade card built in then again NEC made such a great effort supporting the SuperGrafx. :thumbsup:

I have a Duo-R and it's been rock solid since I've had it.:thumbsup: Although if I could then I would just have my NEC Laseractive out as it's so nice to be able to press a button and get a nice tray load system.

Although I still thought that the PC Engine overall was cheap and plastic. The Megadrive, Mega CD and Wondermega were marvels of Engineering by comparison.

[hl718]

They dropped the ball with the RX by not making it Arcade Card compatible as standard.

Says who?

This is the first time I've ever heard anyone claim that the Duo RX doesn't work with the Arcade Card. Which is pretty suprising because mine works just fine with said card.

-hl718

[ASSEMbler]

Mine works fine too... I think he means tennokoe bank?

Anyway, the RX is better as it has the 6 button, that will save you a chunk of cash to get.

[MottZilla]

Wait what? The Duo RX doesn't support the Arcade Card?

I'm pretty sure what he meant was the Duo RX should have had a built in Arcade Card, opposed to just a build in Super CD 3.0. Meaning that you can play arcade card games on the RX, but you still have to buy the Arcade DUO card and put it in the Hu slot. It would have been much nicer if the RX had it built in, leaving the Hu slot free.

But then again I'm sure everyone would have preferred if they had made a Super Grafx Arcade Duo system. :p It would have been really cool to see what kind of games they could have made with the Super Grafx and the Arcade CD.

I used to own a PC-Engine DUO. It was very shiney. However it was also very expensive, and requires a modification to get anything better than Composite video. Also there was a weird problem where it had to warm up or something for the Voice sample channel in Dracula X to work. Sometimes if you just cold started it up, those voice channel sound effects would be missing.

Anyway, if you can afford to collect it, it's a great system and I recommend the original black DUO system. If you can you may want to get it modded with S-Video output or something like that. Also you may want to look into making sure the CD-ROM laser/lens can be replaced. I know someone found a replacement. Also beware that using CD-Rs can be bad. If you do, use high quality/premium CD-Rs with a high quality burner. And even if you do this, it's possible the lens will get stuck. That means you'll have to quit your game, remove the disc, and manually push the lens back torwards the middle of the track as it will be stuck on the far outside.

Some of my favorite PCE games include Lords of Thunder, Super Raiden, Castlevania Dracula X, Ghouls n' Ghost (SGX), 1941 (SGX), Street Fighter 2' CE, Ninja Gaiden/Ninja Ryukenden (even though the NES version is better), the Bonk games, Galaga 88', Sapphire and plenty more.

If you decide to go forward with it, just remember the things I mentioned. For one the system will look very shitty on a High Definition TV or an LCD. You should play it on a standard defintion CRT or a Composite Video CRT monitor. Ideally you would want to get it modded and hooked up to an RGB monitor, but you probably would be better off getting it modded to output S-Video or Component. If you play fighters with friends you might want two 6-button pads. And then you'd also need a multitap to support 2 players. Not much else I can think of other than make sure it works and get some games you like.

[dj898]

reading this thread makes me feel odd one out as I've been using my SGX(mod'd for S-video and region)+CD-ROM unit...
I do have Duo-RX which I got as brand new but it's been only turned on once to confirm it's working... -__-;;

[GaijinPunch]

What Mozilla said. Seemed somewhat clear to me.

[Ze_ro]

I like the DUO, personally. The white units never seem to hold up over time.

Yeah, sadly the PC-Engine Duo R falls apart very quickly, and just feels like a cheap POS overall. Thats what I had gotten several years ago, and several moves later it quit reading CDs.

Well, if it's build quality you're concerned about, then the black Duo's aren't any better... they're well known for problems with the audio circuitry, since the output amplifier was positioned too close to the power transistors. Some people have even gone to such lengths as to replace every capacitor in the machine to avoid future problems!

I just recently bought a North American Duo system, and the audio routinely cuts out after about 5-10 minutes of play. I haven't gotten around to fixing it yet. I've also heard of problems with the laser too. I was under the impressions that the R and RX were more reliable in the long run.

I've also heard that the 6-button controller included with the RX is pretty crappy, though I've never tried it myself. I'd say go with whichever you can get cheaper.

--Zero

[dj898]

there's someone called D-Lite who was working on that audio issue and the fix.
not sure where he is at coz haven't been following the issue for some time now

[kendrick]

Audio problems in American Turbo Duo consoles are caused by bad capacaitors, the wrong power supply or a faulty lens, as stated. The lens is a stock part and easily replacable:

http://www.teamfremont.com/features/...uoRepair.shtml

If you need a reference as to what power supply you need, the GamesX Wiki has a definitive list:

http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=r...epowersupplies

The capacitor replacement is also well-documented, but some variation in the parts list makes the repair action a pain in the ass. Use this link as a rough guide, but be ready to make your own list of capacitor values as your unit may differ from the one shown:

http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128062

[Ze_ro]

The capacitor replacement is also well-documented, but some variation in the parts list makes the repair action a pain in the ass. Use this link as a rough guide, but be ready to make your own list of capacitor values as your unit may differ

I included this link in my previous post, but the forum style makes in-line links hard to see. This forum thread has a complete map of all the capacitors in a Japanese Duo, as well as documenting some of the differences in the North American Duo:

http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=3249.0

--Zero