Buying untested systems....Whats your success ratio?

[Anthony1]

So far I've bought two video game systems that were "untested". One was a Atari Jaguar and one was a 32X attatchment.

So far, I'm 0 for 2, with a 0.000 % success ratio. Neither system works. Both systems were sold, with the possibility of them not working, but also the possibility that they might be fine.

In both cases, the seller didn't have the right cables or power adapters or games or whatever to test out.


I was wondering if I've just been unlucky, or if I should expect them not to work everytime they are labeled, "untested".

Have you guys bought any untested systems, that turned out to work fine?

[Retsudo]

Nope, never happened. Never bought a system that didnt work. I would never buy a system from someone thats say's it might or might not work

[Quintracker]

I buy nes systems untested and then sell them partially untested. I just check to see if the power works, then sell them on ebay with "it needs either a good cleaning or a new connector, as such it is sold as is".

[Classicgamesdepot]

My success ratio has been great on cartridge based systems and fairly good on CD systems, only system that is broken a lot when I pick them up are 3do's. 3 out of the 7 3do's i've found in the wild have been broken

[Ze_ro]

Geez, I buy the majority of my stuff from thrift stores that wouldn't know how to test it in the first place! I've bought at least 15 systems that hadn't been tested, and I've only had two duds... a ColecoVision that I was able to get my money back for, and a PSOne that I bought for $6 (at that price, I fully expected it to be broken. Laser assembly seems to work fine though). I have a Saturn that was found for $15 that works perfectly... I would usually assume that used CD-based systems would be less likely to work, since the lasers seem to be the weakest point of newer systems. Cartridge based systems should last basically forever unless they've been mistreated (there are a few exceptions though, and some systems are more fragile than others).

If you're having problems with a 32X, you might want to look around on the internet for help. Make sure you're connecting it properly (There's lots of pieces, and it's easy to miss something), and that you've cleaned the connections as well as possible. I've heard that there's a ribbon cable inside the thing that occasionally comes loose or something, so if all else fails, open it up and make sure everything inside is clean, and re-seat any chips and connections.

As for the Jaguar... it should be pointed out that if you turn it on with no game in it, absolutely nothing will happen. The system will only turn on if there's a cartridge in it. You did try it with a game, right?

--Zero

[Flack]

He's not talking about in the wild, he's talking about eBay.

Flack's personal theory: "100% working" means 50/50 chance of it working. "As-Is" or "Untested" means there's no way it'll work.

[Anthony1]

I thouroughly cleaned both the Jag and 32X, and tried them out with games and all the appropriate cables.

You know what, I didn't even think about thrift stores. I've bought quite a few systems at thrift stores, where there as "no refunds, as is", and I didn't test before buying, and they worked.

But in a way, I think thrifts are different from buying from an individual. The thrifts don't know anything about these old systems, they just put a tag on them and put them on the shelf. Also, why would somebody donate a broken system to a thrift. You would think that most people would throw away an old broken system.

But having said all that, I have been extremely fortunate with buying old systems at thrifts. I've bought 3 NES systems (they had the blinks, but they did work, with the wiggle cart trick) and I've bought a Saturn and 2 Genny's and a SNES and a Sega CD, and a couple of Playstations and a Dreamcast. All of them worked. I'm 11 for 11 on the thrifts, but all 3 NES systems had the blinks. Some worse than others. But all 3 would work eventually.

[Sylentwulf]

Non-CD consoles, I'm at about 90% with a little bit of cleaning or wire/plug replacements.

CD consoles, honestly, I haven't gotten many or tested the ones I HAVE gotten, but I would guess aroun 40%-50%

I'm telling ya, another 5-10 years, and a working original style PS1 WILL be one of the rarest consoles out there, especially with back compatibility.

[Querjek]

Does killing the system by guessing what AC adapter it can use count as it not working :embarrassed: I've actually accidentally KILLED at least 5 systems, all while guessing what AC would work with them... I can think of a Famicom and TurboGrafx CD right now. I never did know if they worked...
Oh, and about something being sold as "AS-IS": I take that as meaning "I'm too lazy to test it."

[BoOchan]

Oopsie. I would never buy anything untested from eBay, no matter what. Cause normally it means "Dead or "Can't be f**ked testing it".

[maxlords]

Personally, I've never bought a system off eBay. Not once. All mine came from the wild or private sellers. And of all the systems I've bought in the wild, the untested ones work about 75% of the time. The ones I've had the worst luck with are Genesis systems, and I've gotten 1 or 2 dead SNES, a few dead NES, and one dead TG16 (that still worked but had a video problem). That's about it.

[YoshiM]

With the Jag: if it doesn't power up push that power cable into the system HARD. The Jag I had wouldn't power until I did that. It felt as if the plug casing was too big for the port. Of course, don't push TOO hard that it goes THROUGH the Jag LOL .

[liquidmetal]

in the wild ive found every system ive picked up worked.
but on ebay if it says untested i wouldnt go for it.....the seller could could know it doesnt work and just slap it as "untested" so the bid goes higher...ive seen games with systems and all the proper plugs to get it working, and it still says untested....people are either very lazy or you know that thing has a problem

[MarioAllStar2600]

I bought a Polystation from some booth at CGE and the Polystation doesnt work. :o
Im not sure why- they said it was working though

So in untested im 0 for 1.

[scooterb23]

Mixed results here...my first Odyssey 2 didn't work, but the second untested one is still in great shape.

Both my untested TI994A systems work...

I'm 1 for 2 with Sega CDs...and I may still be able to get the other one to work.

The only true doorstops I've picked up were my 2 Atari 5200s...and with a little luck, I even got one of those to work!!

[omnedon]

On Ebay,
"untested" = "tested, didn't work, and the seller would rather you did not know that"

[hydr0x]

On Ebay,
"untested" = "tested, didn't work, and the seller would rather you did not know that"

this is not always true, really, you have to look at the the sellers history!! if he he hasn't sold to much video game stuff and the untested item comes without cables or whatever then it will most likely work, but if it's an untested genny and he has been selling 5 gennys before, well, it's obvious it won't work in this case

[omnedon]

Most of the sellers I've seen are selling an 'untested' with a number of other 'tested' systems. :angry: I realize there are exceptions, but blatant rip offery really pisses me off.

[Ruudos]

I've bought untest NESes and I al got them to work.
I've also bought some NES and Famicom games, that were broken (according to the seller). I've cleaned them, and got them all working.

[Kevin Listwan]

I have only had problems once, with a Sega CD, it was untested and came with a 32X. The 32X worked but not the Sega CD....damn wish it was the other way around. Still looking for a sega CD that is working.

Other than this I have never had a problem, with untested or bought at flee market systems.

Untested = be wary

[overengen]

I only buy untested cartridge based systems, never ever buy untested cd-based systems. (I prefer to buy cd-based systems unused and new) About nine out of ten untested systems have been working fine so far. I have also had some luck with system that have been considered to be "dead" with a little bit of soldering or simply by changing the PSU. :D I have to admit I once fried a nintendo clone by using the wrong type of PSU :angry:

[Keir]

I have to agree with omnedon and others about buying untested systems on eBay. I'd say <5% success rate.

For buying systems in the wild, it depends on the system.
NES = 0% success rate
others = 50% success

[The Unknown Gamer]

I can go one better, I bought a 7800 system, power supply and 21 carts for $20 from a guy on the street and it all worked.