Dreamcast VGA Cable vs VGA Box

[HyruleHero]

I want to get the best out of my dreamcast. Is there a difference between the VGA Cable and VGA box? Also, how do you get sound to your tv if a VGA just provides video. Whats my best bet??

Thanks in advance!

[Greg2600]

The VGA Boxes usually had composite ports on them too, so you just hook up a standard AV cable for audio. You want a box that has the S-Video switch because many games are not compatible with VGA.

That said, I think the only 1st/3rd party devices in the DC lifetime were the boxes. Cables have been produced recently instead. They are much cheaper. VGA boxes are very expensive.

[HyruleHero]

The VGA Boxes usually had composite ports on them too, so you just hook up a standard AV cable for audio. You want a box that has the S-Video switch because many games are not compatible with VGA.

That said, I think the only 1st/3rd party devices in the DC lifetime were the boxes. Cables have been produced recently instead. They are much cheaper. VGA boxes are very expensive.

Racketboy.com sells both the cable and the box. You are right, the cable is cheaper. My idea is to maybe buy the cable , hook the cable up to VGA to component adapter then to my tv. The cable also has an output for PC or Stereo speakers. I was thinking of using a stereo to red and whit audio adapter to extract the sound ... What are your thoughts?

[kedawa]

The cables racketboy sells are crap. Get the box they sell instead or find one of the other brands of cable. The good cables have a VGA port built into the little case, whereas the crap ones have the VGA connector on a short cable.

[j_factor]

I used to use a cheapo VGA cable that I bought from Lik-Sang. It worked fine for years, though eventually the audio connection stopped working. The cable was just a straight VGA cable with a little headphone jack on it for audio. The difference is that a VGA box also gives you composite/s-video out, and lets you switch between them. That makes it more convenient when you want to play one of the few DC games that doesn't work in VGA. Some VGA boxes also had a VGA-in jack, so that you can keep your Dreamcast hooked up along with your computer.

I wouldn't buy anything from racketboy. I bought their VGA box, and it worked fine at first, but after a while it stopped working properly.

[xelement5x]

I got the VGA box from Racketboy maybe 6 months ago and it's been fine for me. I can't comment on long term reliability though.

[Greg2600]

Racketboy.com sells both the cable and the box. You are right, the cable is cheaper. My idea is to maybe buy the cable , hook the cable up to VGA to component adapter then to my tv. The cable also has an output for PC or Stereo speakers. I was thinking of using a stereo to red and whit audio adapter to extract the sound ... What are your thoughts?

There are VGA cables with a stereo mini-connector built in. I have one that I run from my PC to the TV. If possible, I buy ALL my cables from monoprice.com. Inexpensive and good quality. A VGA-to-component adapter is money also, though it is convenient if you don't feel like swapping the VGA connector with something else. Again I would see if Monoprice makes an adapter. The racketboy VGA box is out of stock, the cable is in, which is why I mentioned it.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dreamcast-VG...item19d4759c80

Check out this UK seller, pretty cheap. Don't know about the quality, but I think it's the same vendor that racketboy had. I'm fairly certain only one vendor (in China I think) has been making these things that you see on the net. Or you could spend 80-100 bucks and buy a SEGA one, most likely from Japan. And this one has the VGA/AV switch.

[kedawa]

One of these days, I hope someone will just make a cable that combines the VGA box with a component transcoder, so I can just hook my DC straight to my tv and get 480p resolution.

[eggwolio]

There are also several schematics online about how to implement an internal vga mod, with a vga port and 1/8" jack on the back. It also makes it easier to "trick" many games which are normally incompatible with VGA into working. Much cheaper than a box or cable, if you have the tools and skills to do it.