top loading or toaster NES?

[bluecollarninja]

is one really better then the other? or should i just buy a new pin for the toaster?

[CrazyImpmon]

Personally I prefer toaster box. It's cheaper, more common, and an $8 part is all you need to get rid of blinky screen. Plus if you rip off the front cart flap, you can easily stack another console on top of the NES for space saving. And since it's common, you could get a few "blibky" NES decks cheap or free (check the dumpster behind Funcoland) so you have plenity of spare parts.

Top loading NES doesn't have any AV ports, may cost $100 to get, and a few unlicensed games doesn't work on it. And since it's top loading, you can't stack it plus you do need fairly high clearance for the large NES cart. (more if you use Game Genie and top loading adapter)

Unless you're too lazy to deal with cleaning NES cart and replacing worn 72 pin connector, stick with the toaster box.

[bluecollarninja]

how woudl you go about replacing it?

[Raedon]

You want em both.. and a super 8 thrown in because you gotta have em all

[stonecutter]

As above, having all is very good. If you don't want to spend the money though, so many blinking problems are resolved by simply cleaning your library of games.

[Britboy]

how woudl you go about replacing it?

its no problem, just buy a new connector on ebay, unscrew the casing screws, unscrew the metal cover, lift up the board a bit, and the old connector pulls right off. then you push the new one on and screw everything back together.

The guy I bought a connector from included instructions. It was super easy even for me, and I'm handicapped when it comes to doing anything mechanical.

[jonjandran]

Instead of replacing the 72 pin connector, Take apart your nes. Take off the metal cover inside. Then use an finger nail file (coarse one ) and scrub the connector good . Clean it off with some alcohol and voila works like new. Do the same for your games and it won't blink again. Save yourself $8.00

[WiseSalesman]

Top loading NES doesn't have any AV ports

Granted that I haven't seen it in awhile (as it's completely stopped working now), but I was pretty sure my toaster NES didn't have AV out either.

[Wavelflack]

They're on the side. Don't feel bad about not remembering this: It was YEARS until I even fucking noticed them on the side. I, like 99.999999% of American kids, used the RF solution when plugging the ol' NES in.



Anyway, it's not hard to add A/V jacks to your toploader. My older brother did it years ago, just out of curiosity. He never got around to cutting a slot in the case for them, however, so his toploader STILL remains in two pieces.

[Raedon]

one of the cool things about the top loader is the fact that you get a great view of the cart's label while playing.

[kainemaxwell]

Instead of replacing the 72 pin connector, Take apart your nes. Take off the metal cover inside. Then use an finger nail file (coarse one ) and scrub the connector good . Clean it off with some alcohol and voila works like new. Do the same for your games and it won't blink again. Save yourself $8.00

Can anyone else back this up if it worked?

[BenT]

is one really better then the other? or should i just buy a new pin for the toaster?

Toaster Pros
+ needs less vertical clearance
+ composite A/V out
+ compatible with all games
+ cheap
Toaster Cons
- less reliable than your freebasing uncle Ike
- larger footprint

NES 2 Pros
+ generally much easier to get working
+ smaller footprint
+ some prefer the more rounded "milk bone" controllers to the originals
NES 2 Cons
- needs more vertical clearance
- limited to RF out of the box
- "stripey" graphics artifacts make all games uglier (the deal breaker for me)
- handful of games not compatible (as mentioned above)
- expensive

If you don't care about image quality I'd say go with a Top Loader. If you do, stick with the original NES or find another NES playing solution. Btw, the Super 8 adaptor for SNES has the same stripey graphics problem that the NES 2 exhibits.

[samuraiX]

Instead of replacing the 72 pin connector, Take apart your nes. Take off the metal cover inside. Then use an finger nail file (coarse one ) and scrub the connector good . Clean it off with some alcohol and voila works like new. Do the same for your games and it won't blink again. Save yourself $8.00

Can anyone else back this up if it worked?

I don't know that I completely trust that method. It may work a little better. The only thing that I have been able to do so far is take a paperclip or a toothpick or something else small and bend each one of the pins out (just a little). This works for a little while at least in my experiences. Personally I would just spend the $8 and buy new pins (or use one of the top loaders I have).

[CrazyImpmon]

Instead of replacing the 72 pin connector, Take apart your nes. Take off the metal cover inside. Then use an finger nail file (coarse one ) and scrub the connector good . Clean it off with some alcohol and voila works like new. Do the same for your games and it won't blink again. Save yourself $8.00

Can anyone else back this up if it worked?

Been there, done that. Just about all the front loading NES' connector pops out easily. No soldering or glue used, it's noting more than 'U' shaped 72 pin connector to connector.

There's some info somewhere (I forget, maybe on classic game site?) that explains how you can try and revive a worn connector with screwdriver or paper clip. or you can just pluck $8 and get a new one and not have to worry about bad connector for years.

A word of caution, using Game Genbie for NES is often the reason many connector go bad. They flex the connector differently since it goes in at an angle rather than fully horizontal and it's board ar emuch thicker than normal. If you don't need to cheat, just don't use the Game Genie at all.

[jonjandran]

Ok I Have replaced the connector and even then, the ones off e-bay are cheap and they'll start blinking almost immediately . And Yes the finger nail file method works. The pins aren't getting bent or anything. They are metal and as everyone knows metal starts rusting and corroding after time. This method cleans it. The only reason you use a finger nail file is that they're easy to get . A real file would work better if you can find a small enough one.
And whats all this talk about "why go through all that effort" It takes 10 minutes and I gurantee if you do it to your nintendo and games they WON"T blink anymore. NOUGH SAID!!!

[kainemaxwell]

I actually prefer the blinky NES. Sure it may be unrelaiable sometimes but it can play all NES titles, licenced and unlicenced.

And I have replaced the pin connector and still having blinking issues.

[Tom61]

How about a compromise? Hunt down one of these: http://assembler.emugaming.com/Black.../mini_nes.html

Or build your own direct connect front loader (Which I plan to do).

[stonecutter]

Everyone keeps talking about the pins.Not many have mentioned the games them self. Making sure your games get a good cleaning and doing this periodically goes a long way towards fixing the blinking problem as well. If you replace your connectors and start throwing in your dirty old games your just going to get the same thing again before you know it.