Site selling modded Dreamcasts from China

[buzz_n64]

Heck yeah! Modded with a/v vga, sd card capabilities.... all for around $45. If I could properly navigate through the site (google translate not perfect) Maybe I'd pick this up.

http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=4792894809

http://img02.taobaocdn.com/imgextra/i2/119984923/T2F00oXchaXXXXXXXX_!!119984923.jpg

[maxlords]

Why mod it with AV when it already does AV? Confusing.....

[Dr. Dib]

Dreamcats eh? That sounds like an awesome product!

[megasdkirby]

An SD card slot?

[Ryaan1234]

http://www.cnet.co.uk/i/c/blg/cat/gadgets/dreamcat.jpg
Aww, it's a dreamcat!

[fahlim003]

It'd be interesting to see the full extent of the modifications, especially if there's an SD reader and the bios swap mod to name 2 significant additions. I'm not doubting completely but I'd like to see it with all that is claimed in the flesh. That's a bit hard to do unless it is bought.

Taobao is a pretty good site, especially for Sega hardware. I've bought a few Saturns off there, since it's a cheaper method of buying the nice looking V-Saturn Mk2s. Like Yahoo Japan, you'll need a middleman service to buy goods off of Taobao but that's not too hard to do, and given the often low prices (outside of shipping) it's usually a good bet.

[Kitsune Sniper]

... Boy am I glad one of my oldest friends works in China. :D

I'll see if he can help me buy this. My old Dreamcast is kinda well, old... :D

ETA: Judging from that screenshot, it looks like they've removed the network adapter... and replaced it with an S-Video pinout.

Wonder if the plug still works?

[jdc]

Makes me want to run downstairs and hug my Dreamcast right this minute. :)

[OldSchoolGamer]

Why mod it with AV when it already does AV? Confusing.....

I am guessing to have standard AV connectors built in rather than using the AV out cable.

[buzz_n64]

Wow, didn't notice my typo. haha I was laughing hysterically to the point of crying at the comments. Made my day guys. :)

[j_factor]

Taobao is a pretty good site, especially for Sega hardware. I've bought a few Saturns off there, since it's a cheaper method of buying the nice looking V-Saturn Mk2s. Like Yahoo Japan, you'll need a middleman service to buy goods off of Taobao but that's not too hard to do, and given the often low prices (outside of shipping) it's usually a good bet.

Can you recommend an appropriate middleman? The only middleman service I'm familiar with is Rinkya, which only does Japanese sources.

[fahlim003]

Why mod it with AV when it already does AV? Confusing.....It's simply because of the direct S-Video mod, which would require seperate composite audio jacks as well. Even then, to have direct composite jacks means you can use something other than the Dreamcast video cable.


... Boy am I glad one of my oldest friends works in China. :D

I'll see if he can help me buy this. My old Dreamcast is kinda well, old... :D

ETA: Judging from that screenshot, it looks like they've removed the network adapter... and replaced it with an S-Video pinout.

Wonder if the plug still works?
Dude, of all the great stuff you find at flea markets and swap meets you only have 1 Dreamcast? Weak! It's fortunate you do know someone in China and that you are interested in getting one. This could be a pretty good setup. As for that S-Video jack replacing the RJ-11 jack, I wager the modem internals were simply removed entirely.

[Emperor Megas]

Why mod it with AV when it already does AV? Confusing.....This is what I was trying to figure out.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Dude, of all the great stuff you find at flea markets and swap meets you only have 1 Dreamcast? Weak! It's fortunate you do know someone in China and that you are interested in getting one. This could be a pretty good setup. As for that S-Video jack replacing the RJ-11 jack, I wager the modem internals were simply removed entirely.Ha ha.

Well, I got this Dreamcast as a gift from my ex-girlfriend a long time ago. It still works quite well, but it's old and noisy. It's always been noisy. I haven't seen my buddy online yet, but I'll ask him if he can help me out.

And "owning one Dreamcast"? Every time I see these, they're all beat up, dirty, broken, cracked, or worse. And the prices are often through the roof. I don't need the modem anyway...

ETA: The "mod with AV" thing makes sense. You don't need to have a standard DC cable, all you need are any good old A/V cables you might have handy.

[fahlim003]

Ha ha.

Well, I got this Dreamcast as a gift from my ex-girlfriend a long time ago. It still works quite well, but it's old and noisy. It's always been noisy. I haven't seen my buddy online yet, but I'll ask him if he can help me out.

And "owning one Dreamcast"? Every time I see these, they're all beat up, dirty, broken, cracked, or worse. And the prices are often through the roof. I don't need the modem anyway...

ETA: The "mod with AV" thing makes sense. You don't need to have a standard DC cable, all you need are any good old A/V cables you might have handy.
I'll gladly trade you one of the dozen clean and functional Dreamcasts I come across per year for the next copy of The Neverhood you find...

Back on topic, if the VGA mod is well done with a good signal, it's a real gift for anyone without a VGA box, 1st or 3rd party. Thinking about this more I know at least someone else who might be interested in this other than me. I hope whomever does get it reports in full on the functions, perhaps allowing more people to take advantage of this opportunity.

[Steve W]

By the way, Asian Dreamcasts didn't come with the modem installed as standard, it was just a blank piece of plastic shell to cover the area where the modem/broadband adapter goes. And that's a good way of figuring out if you've found an Asian Dreamcast in the wild. If where the modem goes is just blank, then it's an import. I found one years ago and passed on it since I didn't know that at the time, now I hate myself for it.

EDIT: The blue Sega swirl on the machine in the first posted picture means that it's a European console. Weird. Why would they mod PAL consoles for sale in China?

[Kitsune Sniper]

Mainland China uses PAL. Taiwan uses NTSC.

[Steve W]

Mainland China uses PAL. Taiwan uses NTSC.

And yet again I learn something new. I wonder why China adopted PAL?

[buzz_n64]

Mainland China uses PAL. Taiwan uses NTSC.

Wow. I didn't know that. I'm assuming these systems will still work with NTSC television sets.

[c0ldb33r]

Wow. I didn't know that. I'm assuming these systems will still work with NTSC television sets.
Good question.

[yuppicide]

Reading that website through Babelfish, me thinks the SD card is used for emulators:

"FC MD SFC N64 NEOCD MAME GBA"

[fahlim003]

Wow. I didn't know that. I'm assuming these systems will still work with NTSC television sets.
If your television can accept both NTSC and PAL, it certainly can. It doesn't need to be just a television though it could be a DVD Player that accepts both or a Receiver. Additionally, you could get a PAL-NTSC converter box that definitely switches input accepted between the two for a given system. The only issue outside of that would be a step up/down transformer to convert the 220V power that China has.

Or... you could request an NTSC-J system be used in this mod. NTSC-J Dreamcasts are very common in China and already are 100/110V and NTSC television ready. I imagine they already have some, all that's left is to ask.

[Kitsune Sniper]

That picture seems to include some sort of a boot disc.

Come on, I can't believe nobody here speaks Chinese!

[fahlim003]

Or... you could request an NTSC-J be used in this mod. NTSC-J Dreamcasts are very common in China and already are 100/110V and NTSC television ready. I imagine they already have some, all that's left is to ask.
To support my position: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=3509672865
As you can see, there are more than just PAL Dreamcasts in China. So long as you can ask or specify for NTSC, there shouldn't be a problem.

More Dreamcast search results (http://s.taobao.com/search?q=DC%D6%F7%BB%FA&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&search_type=item&atype=&filterFineness=)
Dreamcast category on Taobao, for consoles (http://s8.taobao.com/search?q=&cat=50040357&commend=all&sort=coefp&viewIndex=7&tab=coefp&advsort=advtaobao&istk=5&pid=mm_14507416_2297358_8935934&p4p_str=lo1%3D0%26lo2%3D0%26nt%3D1&ppath=6098541:27954;6104320:27945&cps=yes&from=compass&navlog=compass-3-p-6098541:27954;6104320:27945)

Yeah, it would be good if there were some native Chinese speakers to help out here.

[Gameguy]

Might as well mod it for standard RF output while you're at it.

[fahlim003]

Alright, I've heard back from the seller and I can report that you may specify PAL or NTSC as per the type of console they will provide an individual with. So, the voltage issue is no longer present.

[AB Positive]

The SD card hack/mod was recently found over at DC emu (recent being a couple of months back) so assuming they used the same hardware/schematics that SD card should work for everything from emulators to running backups.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I'd forgotten about this.

I spoke to my friend in China (he actually told me about this). It turns out the seller only made like 12, but it looks like he can make more on demand. The problem, though, is customs... apparently China is starting to ask people to pay more customs fees for shipping stuff out of the country. Or to it. :\

[CRTGAMER]

A good price. Looks like the VGA switch is between the RCA jacks and VGA output. A pain to blind reach for non-VGA games. Simple mod of relocating or adding a VGA bypass switch to the front of the console.