What SNES would you keep Regular newer version or SNES Mini/JR?

[SuperSonic]

I have two SNES pretty much mint.. Doesn't the SNES mini have better picture but need to have RGB restored with a mod.. BUt with the normal one you can ad YpbR? The regular snes is the newer one with out the better sound.

I think they mini is more rare and costs more too.

[Aussie2B]

I don't know how they are after modded, but I have both as they were straight out of the box and I definitely prefer the original model. The mini model lacks s-video support and it also has no power light. Pretty much the only plus it has is the smaller footprint, but it's not even THAT much smaller. It's nothing compared to the size difference between, say, a Genesis + Sega CD combo and a CDX.

[needler420]

I don't like the mini since it has no eject button.

It's one less feature you have to worry about breaking but it's also one of my favorite features.

[Atarileaf]

I keep both. I'm kooky like that.

[wiggyx]

Mini, by a long shot.

SNES 001 S-vid is so-so, even on the later units. Only certain revisions are capable of being component modded (and it's not the easiest mod). RGB isn't very useful for most of us in the US.

The 101 has great composite output. and when S-vid output is restored, it's pretty much on par with or possibly even better than component modded phat units. The S-vid mod is easy, and adding a power LED is even simpler.

I guess all that could be moot if the eject button is a feature that you're really concerned about :/

[BricatSegaFan]

I don't have a snes but I really don't like the way either of them look. I would go with a fat one based on looks but I hear the mini is superior overall.

[theclaw]

Mini RGB is the choice for those who insist on top level video quality.
Chances are you'll want to pair with a component encoder, and upscaler if necessary (some HDTVs don't take 240p component).

[Polygon]

I prefer the original, mainly for nostalgic reasons. Also, I prefer the fact that it will do S-Video out of the box. Sure, you can restore that to the mini, but the first reason negates that for me. I do own both though.

[A.C. Sativa]

I don't have a snes but I really don't like the way either of them look. I would go with a fat one based on looks but I hear the mini is superior overall.

I think it's the best system ever made, but yeah, it's ugly.

[SuperSonic]

I think it's the best system ever made, but yeah, it's ugly.

I like the super famicom too bad we can't put american carts in there :C

[Tanooki]

I just gave up a mini when I got a lightly used immaculate DK super set system all complete. The system in those are the 1chip models with the best audio video output. It's sharp and clean, and despite some reports super gng and pocky and rocky work just fine.

[SuperSonic]

Mini RGB is the choice for those who insist on top level video quality.
Chances are you'll want to pair with a component encoder, and upscaler if necessary (some HDTVs don't take 240p component).

I use a Sony Wega Tritron.. Would a component upscale do anything? From my understanding Sony Tritrons are the best for old games

[BricatSegaFan]

I think it's the best system ever made

Ehhh Idk about that. The genesis may be the best or pc engine. Of course in my opinion ;)

[A.C. Sativa]

Ehhh Idk about that. The genesis may be the best or pc engine. Of course in my opinion ;)

I've only played a TG16 once, for about 5 minutes in emulator form, so I have to take your word for it there. As for the Genesis, I just feel the SNES was better. Better hardware, better first party games, and usually when 3rd party were released on both systems the SNES were superior, IMO. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the Genesis is a bad system by any means, and I intend to pick one up when I have some extra cash lying around.

It kind of comes down to what you grew up with, if my mother bought me a SMS instead of a NES for Christmas when I was 5 I would probably a Sega guy. That's the reason I've never played an actual TG16, NO ONE had one around here when I was a kid. I don't think they even had them at Toys 'R Us, or if they did they didn't have the demo thing where you could play it. And there's only 1 good emulator for it, and it's something like $15. Which isn't unreasonable, but I'd rather spend my money building up the stuff I had back then before I branch out into new stuff.

[theclaw]

I use a Sony Wega Tritron.. Would a component upscale do anything? From my understanding Sony Tritrons are the best for old games

Well the most basic type of converter doesn't upscale. 240p stays that way.
Fantastic for SDTVs, but some HDTVs don't accept 240p component and will need an upscaling one.

[Tron 2.0]

I like the super famicom too bad we can't put american carts in there :C
Actuality you can with the right adapter far as playing snes carts on a sfc.

[Atarileaf]

I guess all that could be moot if the eject button is a feature that you're really concerned about :/

I don't remember anyone I knew back then that actually used it. Its certainly unnecessary IMO and I wouldn't call it a "feature"

[wiggyx]

I don't remember anyone I knew back then that actually used it. Its certainly unnecessary IMO and I wouldn't call it a "feature"


I agree 100%, I just saw it mentioned as a feature that someone liked.

[theclaw]

Actuality you can with the right adapter far as playing snes carts on a sfc.

Passive ntsc adapters are relatively scarce. Of course others like action replay might work, at least the japanese versions.

[thegamezmaster]

I still have the first snes cib and have a snes2 that I use due to size. Easier to setup. Like both really.

[Polygon]

I don't remember anyone I knew back then that actually used it. Its certainly unnecessary IMO and I wouldn't call it a "feature"


I agree 100%, I just saw it mentioned as a feature that someone liked.

I always use the eject lever. Mainly because I can do it with one hand. Not really a must have, or even a cool feature though.

[SuperSonic]

Where do you get an svideo snes cable that is not crap but not 94 dollars?

[Polygon]

Where do you get an svideo snes cable that is not crap but not 94 dollars?

You can find the official ones on eBay for around $40. If you don't mind a 3rd party cable, the ones for sale at Racketboy are decent for about $6.

[SuperSonic]

You can find the official ones on eBay for around $40. If you don't mind a 3rd party cable, the ones for sale at Racketboy are decent for about $6.

I don't mind 3rd party but I watched a video that they are poorly made cables that don't even output svideo correctly.

[Atarileaf]

I agree 100%, I just saw it mentioned as a feature that someone liked.

I suppose that would have been a handy feature on the 2600 with certain carts. Ever try to get an Imagic cart out? Sometimes you need to brace your foot against it and yank with all your might :D

[BetaWolf47]

I just gave up a mini when I got a lightly used immaculate DK super set system all complete. The system in those are the 1chip models with the best audio video output.

I noticed that, too. People go nuts about how good the video output is on the SNES Jr. without ever really talking about how great the audio is. I hooked it up to my headphone setup (a set of AKG headphones with a NuForce amp) and was completely surprised at how great the audio was. Sure, it's not as good as modding it to output to a dedicated DAC, but it's above and beyond what you'd expect stock in a 16-bit console.

[DK1105]

I personally would keep both because I really enjoy collecting different hardware and hardware variations but if I had to keep only one I would go for the mini. Not because of any hardware reasons but mini is harder to find and they are a neat conversation piece. The regular SNS-001 are also a dime a dozen if you hit garage sales and such. Most of the times I go for some games and get another console just for the games.

I have heard that the mini is the better of the two but I wouldn't be able to confirm or deny this.

[Polygon]

I noticed that, too. People go nuts about how good the video output is on the SNES Jr. without ever really talking about how great the audio is. I hooked it up to my headphone setup (a set of AKG headphones with a NuForce amp) and was completely surprised at how great the audio was. Sure, it's not as good as modding it to output to a dedicated DAC, but it's above and beyond what you'd expect stock in a 16-bit console.

I believe he was talking about 001, not the mini as the 1-chip models are early 001 models.

[Tanooki]

I don't remember anyone I knew back then that actually used it. Its certainly unnecessary IMO and I wouldn't call it a "feature"

I used it (use it still always) as it's just gentler on the system that way. I know a lot of lazy or abusive types didn't which is why Nintendo redid the cart shells to remove the slot from the front as people were breaking the systems with their ignorant behavior.


Also as noted the old style is a dime a dozen, sure, but how many dimes do you find that still look like they're new (not yellowed somewhere or everywhere on it?) That annoyingly is getting harder to find one that's not somehow hosed up visually.

[wiggyx]

To be fair, the mechanics which locked the cart in the system was a useless feature as well and was what caused any issues with breakage more so than anyone yanking carts out. The only wear and tear the eject button could possibly save is of the cart labels, since grubby hands really didn't need to touch that part of the game if it was used.

[dementia_]

Original. <3 RGB.

[DK1105]

I used it (use it still always) as it's just gentler on the system that way. I know a lot of lazy or abusive types didn't which is why Nintendo redid the cart shells to remove the slot from the front as people were breaking the systems with their ignorant behavior.


Also as noted the old style is a dime a dozen, sure, but how many dimes do you find that still look like they're new (not yellowed somewhere or everywhere on it?) That annoyingly is getting harder to find one that's not somehow hosed up visually.

I have 3 snes right now and none of them are yellowed and aren't really hard to find because they change the plastic rather early on.

If you really want to put some effort any one can take some really beat up systems or games make them look rather nice.

[Zing]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

I don't remember anyone I knew back then that actually used it. Its certainly unnecessary IMO and I wouldn't call it a "feature"


I didn't know anyone other than 4 year old kids that *didn't* use it. Did you just violently rip the game out of the system? My friends and I would have pounded anybody that did that our SNES.

[Polygon]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

This is exactly how I feel, but I seemingly didn't have the balls to say it as bluntly.

[needler420]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

:hail:LOL:cheers:

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.


It was cheaper for Nintendo, but I'd hardly call the system junk. The composite video is different, better in one way, not as bad in others. It lacks the faint vertical line of the earlier models, but has shimmering color artifacts when scrolling. It has a little clearer video output, but it can also look gritty.

I never thought to compare the audio on the two, but apparently the SNES jr. is a little better. As a pure guess, I bet it is slightly higher pitched like the N64 and Gamecube.

The case's plastic is a bit thin I suppose, but it doesn't feel weak. I don't like the fact it has no eject or power LED, but those are not deal breakers.

It is quite small and cute. If you plan on playing Super Famicom games I believe they match a little better with it than the SNES (since the SNES jr. is much more similar to the SFC mini).

From a reliability standpoint, I've had better luck with SNES jr. power sockets. They always work. Many of the SNES units I come across have loose power sockets that need the power cable to be scotched against something to work.

To answer OP: Unless I really needed the money for an emergency, I wouldn't get rid of either one.

[Gameguy]

For everyone complaining about the lack of an eject button on the redesign, do you know of any other consoles that ever used an eject button?

[SuperSonic]

For everyone complaining about the lack of an eject button on the redesign, do you know of any other consoles that ever used an eject button?

I don't even use the eject button on the normal SNES

[Aussie2B]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

The funny thing is that if this was just a few years ago, this would likely be the majority opinion in this topic. I guess those of us who buy and play normal games and systems as they were sold are now in the minority, outnumbered by all the people who mod everything, make repros, and all that jazz.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

For everyone complaining about the lack of an eject button on the redesign, do you know of any other consoles that ever used an eject button?

Taking it as meaning a cartridge eject button, the Famicom and some of its iterations had one.

[theclaw]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

Perhaps, but composite is junk with near universal prevalence for its time. Instead of one console at the tail end of its life that wasn't even released to PAL users.

[wiggyx]

Ignoring the supposed video improvements, which are meaningless unless you mod for RGB, and in practice actually have worse video output via composite, the SNES Jr is junk. It was clearly made as cheaply as possible to save Nintendo money. The case is injection moulded instead of constructed from components and painted. The plastic is thin. The colours are plain and virtually non-existent. It has no eject button. It has no power LED.

• The video improvements are quite noticeable, even when using composite.

*It also saved the consumer money. It was roughly half the price of the SNES phat when it launched.

• Both housings were made using injection molded ABS plastic.

• Neither were painted.

• Wall thickness of the SNES jr/mini is marginally thinner (2.5mm for the 001 versus 2.0 for the 101)

• The colors are virtually identical to each other save for the dark gray eject button.

• Really, the eject button again? People seriously care about that?

• I'll give you lack of power LED. That is a bummer. But one can easily be added if you are at all handy with a soldering iron.




I didn't know anyone other than 4 year old kids that *didn't* use it. Did you just violently rip the game out of the system? My friends and I would have pounded anybody that did that our SNES.

Yes, the same way that I still "violently rip" games from my Genesis, Turbo Grafx, etc.

[Zing]

I don't know why the myth that the SNES Jr eliminated the vertical line keeps living, but it is not true. It has the vertical line just as with anything else.

As for the cheapness of Nintendo, take a look at the PSone. It was a redesign that passed significant savings onto the consumer. However, the build quality and components are actually better than the original. The Sony engineers tried to make something more efficient. Nintendo just made something cheap.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

Yes, the same way that I still "violently rip" games from my Genesis, Turbo Grafx, etc.

But those systems didn't have eject buttons! You're not doing it right!! You can never come over to my house again!!!

Also, you MUST let the disc stop spinning inside a Playstation before removing it from the system.


I don't know why the myth that the SNES Jr eliminated the vertical line keeps living, but it is not true. It has the vertical line just as with anything else.


It keeps living because it's true. Maybe it's still there if you mod for s-video or use RF, but my SNES jr. simply doesn't have it over composite, or it's so incredibly faint that I've never noticed it before. It's definitely a marked improvement over the two different original SNES units I own, early and late run models respectively.

Not having the line is especially nice for use with the SNES PowerPak. Usually, the PowerPak makes the vertical line much more noticeable, but on the Jr. the effect is severely diminished. Only a handful of games (notably FF III and Mega Man X) show it.

[offthechartsvideogames]

Gotta say I prefer the original as long as it isn't yellow.

[Tanooki]

The SNES jr does NOT remove the vertical bar in the center, it's a damned myth. This isn't the first thread I've seen on this matter. A few months ago I got this nearly new in box DK Super Set which has the 1CHIP SNES in it. I heard of another myth it won't play Super Ghouls n Ghosts and Pocky and Rocky so it had me concerned as I wanted a SNES normal style over the Jr I was using for awhile now at that point.

I found this website through a google search which came back to this site about it actually (someone can do the search and find it.) Someone who was just as pissed and bothered about this as some of you are did a lot of research having a heap of SNES systems about, every single hardware revision of the original plus the Mini.

The long story short of it, the two best version of the hardware are the 1CHIP and the Jr, but both were found to still have the vertical line. The thing is, it's almost not there, but it is. The best tester cart for some odd reason is the opening title sequence of Final Fantasy III when the emblem pops up before the other stuff and animation. It also was more or less visible depending on your brightness, contrast and other (if on an LCD) settings, and depending on the tv you're using too.

The end result was that depending on your modding preference the 1CHIP or the Mini were equally as solid material to work with, but the 1CHIP already had working S-Video which Nintendo gutted from the Mini system on the redesign (along with the gutted RF if anyone did care still.)

Oddly enough the two worst systems ended up being the launch system and the final hardware revision where they cut corners and did other funky crap to the system and it showed up in the Killer Instinct bundle and in some systems on the shelf after that point and that one has ghosting, blur, and the bar. The original depending on can blur and have the bar, but not the ghosting if I remember right.

So with that I couldn't find anything solid on the myth of Super GnG and P&R being a lie as everyone said it wouldn't work. I have both, I put them in, they work so that's a bullshit lie too. :)

[Atarileaf]

I didn't know anyone other than 4 year old kids that *didn't* use it. Did you just violently rip the game out of the system? My friends and I would have pounded anybody that did that our SNES.

I've been playing cart based systems since the 70's - Atari, Intellivision, Colecovision, etc. Not once did we need a switch to remove a cart. Not once was a cart or a system damaged by manually removing a cart. Who exactly removes a cart "violently" anyway? And if they are, maybe they should take up knitting as a hobby instead.

I would think the way I see some morons jam carts INTO a system will do a lot more damage then yanking it out. . . and there's no switch for that.

[Atarileaf]

I don't even use the eject button on the normal SNES

Me either, who are these morons damaging their SNES's and carts by removing them manually?

[SuperSonic]

Great... I ended up with another SNES that is just a black screen.. I tried everything and nothing.. None of the caps are leaking I dunno whats wrong

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

The SNES jr does NOT remove the vertical bar in the center, it's a damned myth.

You say later on in your post that it almost removes it, but not quite. Which means it's invisible in all but a couple of specific scenarios (there's something weird about FF III's intro, it's just glaring there on everything)

I can put Super Metroid in my launch SNES and the 1-chip SNES and the bar is very visible at all times. Put it in the Jr. and it's gone 99% of the time. On certain combinations of backgrounds it may faintly be seen.

This is what people are talking about when they say "the Jr. doesn't have the black bar problem". It means it is a practical solution.

However, as I've stated before, the Jr. is not without its drawbacks. If you put in Earthbound and walk around a bit you'll see a shimmering rainbow effect around the edges of trees and bushes. It's not there in the launch and 1-chip SNES's.

[wiggyx]

I don't know why the myth that the SNES Jr eliminated the vertical line keeps living, but it is not true. It has the vertical line just as with anything else.

As for the cheapness of Nintendo, take a look at the PSone. It was a redesign that passed significant savings onto the consumer. However, the build quality and components are actually better than the original. The Sony engineers tried to make something more efficient. Nintendo just made something cheap.

The vertical line is way more of a TV compatibility issue than anything. I see virtually none on my DLP with ANY SNES, but it's a problem with every LCD I own.

If you think so. I think the PSone's construction is sorta crappy. The power and lid open buttons become stuck in the down position almost every time I use the thing. Takes a bit of a smack on the top of the console to make them pop back up. That's always a blast :/

Both were designed to be manufactured for less. But, contrary to what you're asserting, the PSone passed zero dollars of that savings to the consumer:

http://m.gamespot.com/news/ps-one-launch-details-announced-2619260

Both came out at the very end of their respective life cycles. Both are made with corner cutting measures (for the PSone, no reset button, serial, or parallel ports, and those poorly engineered buttons I mentioned). I'm not sure what makes you think the PSone is "more efficient" or better than any of the models that preceded it? The only real "improvement" was the LCD attachment. but that could just as easily have been produced for the phat models and has nothing to do with the quality if the PSone hardware itself.

[Jack_Burton_BYOAC]

Both came out at the very end of their respective life cycles. Both are made with corner cutting measures (for the PSone, no reset button, serial, or parallel ports, and those poorly engineered buttons I mentioned). I'm not sure what makes you think the PSone is "more efficient" or better than any of the models that preceded it? The only real "improvement" was the LCD attachment. but that could just as easily have been produced for the phat models and has nothing to do with the quality if the PSone hardware itself.

The laser assembly in the PSone is considered the most reliable. People often remove it and place it into one of the earlier model PlayStations in order to resurrect them (usually one of the blue debugging units).

[Zing]

I can put Super Metroid in my launch SNES and the 1-chip SNES and the bar is very visible at all times. Put it in the Jr. and it's gone 99% of the time. On certain combinations of backgrounds it may faintly be seen.


My experience is the exact opposite. My brand new in box SNES Jr has a much more pronounced vertical line than my launch unit. Every model of SNES has the problem to varying extent. It is not accurate to even imply that the Jr. eliminates the line.



The vertical line is way more of a TV compatibility issue than anything. I see virtually none on my DLP with ANY SNES, but it's a problem with every LCD I own.
My experiences are with a variety of CRTs.

This didn't need to turn into another vertical line thread. We already have one with valid information instead of the speculation we are finding here.

[wiggyx]

I didn't bring it up.

[BlastProcessing402]

Where do you get an svideo snes cable that is not crap but not 94 dollars?


You can find the official ones on eBay for around $40. If you don't mind a 3rd party cable, the ones for sale at Racketboy are decent for about $6.


I don't mind 3rd party but I watched a video that they are poorly made cables that don't even output svideo correctly.


I don't know why it would ever be 94 dollars, since you could just get an N64 or Gamecube one instead.

Anyway, I've had tons of Nintendo S-video cords, everything from 1st party SNES official to various multisystem 3rd party cords that cost all of 5 bucks, and they've all worked just fine. And now I can't even use them thanks to HDTV makers cheaping out and not putting on S-Video anymore...

[wiggyx]

I don't know why it would ever be 94 dollars, since you could just get an N64 or Gamecube one instead.

Anyway, I've had tons of Nintendo S-video cords, everything from 1st party SNES official to various multisystem 3rd party cords that cost all of 5 bucks, and they've all worked just fine. And now I can't even use them thanks to HDTV makers cheaping out and not putting on S-Video anymore...

It's not cheaping out so much as abandoning a dead technology. 99.9% of the people out there have zero need for an S-Vid input. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't make me happy at all, but it had to happen at some point :(

[Polygon]

I don't know why it would ever be 94 dollars, since you could just get an N64 or Gamecube one instead.

Anyway, I've had tons of Nintendo S-video cords, everything from 1st party SNES official to various multisystem 3rd party cords that cost all of 5 bucks, and they've all worked just fine. And now I can't even use them thanks to HDTV makers cheaping out and not putting on S-Video anymore...

I would love to know where you got ANY official Nintendo S-Video cable for $5. I've looked high and low and $35 was the best price I could find for 1st party.

[Zing]

It would have to be someone local. The only first-party options I have seen online were from Japan and priced around $20. A few years ago, you could get the purple Monster brand cables for pretty cheap. No longer.

[wiggyx]

Or he bought em in 1996 when they were worth all of nothing like I did ;)

[ApolloBoy]

I'd go for the SNES mini myself. Once you mod it for S-vid and RGB, and cut the tabs out of the cart slot, you've got a nice little system on your hands. I've still got mine from when I was a kid and it's one of those systems I couldn't possibly get rid of.