PC Engine mini Question

This is the main shmups forum. Chat about shmups in here - keep it on-topic please!
Post Reply
Gamer707b
Posts: 609
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 7:14 am
Location: Central, Ca

PC Engine mini Question

Post by Gamer707b »

Hi all
I would appreciate any input from those that may know. Been wanting to get the Pc Engine Mini, but I've heard that some have had issues with the USB port and controllers. Some say they've fried their USB ports because they've used a brick exceeding 5V. Any truth to that? Would the bricks that came with Super Nintendo or Genesis work? What has been everyone's overall experience with the PC Engine Mini? Thanks.
dmk1198
Posts: 452
Joined: Thu Jul 09, 2020 11:38 pm

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by dmk1198 »

Any phone charger worked fine, great console
User avatar
Mero
Posts: 1623
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 7:52 am
Location: England

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by Mero »

Running it off one of the USB ports on your tv also works, I think that's what the manual reccomends.
User avatar
cj iwakura
Posts: 1798
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:28 am
Location: Coral Springs, FL

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by cj iwakura »

Yeah, I've only used the USB power source, I haven't tried it with an external.
(Still waiting for that hack, any day now...)
Image
heli wrote:Why is milestone director in prison ?, are his game to difficult ?
Gamer707b
Posts: 609
Joined: Mon Jan 26, 2015 7:14 am
Location: Central, Ca

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by Gamer707b »

Yea, I've been debating on "exploring" the PC Engine's library with the Mini or just waiting till I get a PC Engine Duo R, re-capped and one that is modded to be region free. What's a decent price to pay for a PC Engine Duo R with all the bells and whistles?
User avatar
Jonpachi
Posts: 1349
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2019 5:35 pm
Location: Irvine - CA

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by Jonpachi »

It's a great mini. Just use any USB charging cable. I have mine on a 5v 2.4 Amp USB strip, and have been fine for years with no issues.
Formerly known as 8 1/2. I return on my second credit!
PC Engine Fan X!
Posts: 9075
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:32 pm

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

Gamer707b wrote:Yea, I've been debating on "exploring" the PC Engine's library with the Mini or just waiting till I get a PC Engine Duo R, re-capped and one that is modded to be region free. What's a decent price to pay for a PC Engine Duo R with all the bells and whistles?
------------------------
Here are prices in regards to various PCE consoles with rgb mod and other enhancements listed:

An rgb mod + jail bar fix PC Engine Duo-R for $299.99: https://www.ebay.com/itm/204113313379?e ... BMvpbjl_xh

An rgb mod + re-cap job with a SuperGrafx goes for $450.00 usd.

A rgb mod with an NEC PC Engine Duo-RX will be $425.00.

A Super CD-Rom2 Interface add-on with re-cap job + rgb mod will be $450.00.

A bare-bones white PC Engine console with rgb mod + re-cap job + jail bar fix + audio amp upgrade will be a modest & affordable $149.00: https://www.ebay.com/itm/204318807915?h ... R76W45f8YQ
------------------------

I'd suggest picking up a Krikzz Turbo Everdrive v2.5 flashcart if you want to just play all Hu-Card/Turbo Chip based games. If you want the ability to play all PC Engine CD-Rom2, Super CD-Rom2 & Arcade CD-Rom2 titles without the need for an actual CD-rom drive add-on, pick up a Turbo Everdrive Pro flashcart + Krikzz EDFX board add-on (for stereo sound for all CD-based games). Krikzz recommends that the PCE or TG-16 console be left stock (with no country region mod installed) to use with either flashcart setup. The TE-P has built-in auto-detection of "country region" upon initial power up/booting up whereas with the TE v2.5, a switch on the right side flicked to either PCE mode for PCE based consoles or flipped to TG-16 mode for use on the TurboGrafx-16 console -- easy as pie.

Here's my thread about the original Turbo Everdrive: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.p ... 4#p1523824

And my other thread about the Turbo Everdrive Pro: https://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=71196

Turbo Everdrive v2.5: https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartrid ... ve-v2.html

Turbo Everdrive Pro + EDFX board with stereo support: https://krikzz.com/our-products/cartrid ... e-pro.html

Stone Age Gamer Turbo Everdrive v2.5 PCE variant: https://stoneagegamer.com/pceverdrive-clear-shell.html

Stone Age Gamer Turbo Everdrive Pro: https://stoneagegamer.com/turbo-everdri ... black.html

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
Atariboy
Posts: 88
Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2021 7:53 pm

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by Atariboy »

Gamer707b wrote:Hi all
I would appreciate any input from those that may know. Been wanting to get the Pc Engine Mini, but I've heard that some have had issues with the USB port and controllers. Some say they've fried their USB ports because they've used a brick exceeding 5V. Any truth to that? Would the bricks that came with Super Nintendo or Genesis work? What has been everyone's overall experience with the PC Engine Mini? Thanks.
I've been powering mine for years now with the USB power supply that came with the NES/SNES Classic Edition.
PC Engine Fan X!
Posts: 9075
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:32 pm

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by PC Engine Fan X! »

I own both a PC Engine Mini & a TurboGrafx-16 Mini -- they both work just fine with a USB A/C adapter rated at 5v 1a. There are some cool exclusive PCE-M stg roms pre-installed including Fantasy Zone, Gradius & Salamander (that haven't been rom dumped yet) that are slightly different from their original PCE Hu-card releases. It'd be nice to play 'em on a real PCE and/or TG-16 console setup just for novelty's sake -- something different for a change of pace. You can play the PCE Arcade CD-Rom2 stg of Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire with either mini console variant (including on the 3rd variant CoreGrafx-Mini also).

It's a bit pricey to get the PCE-M multi-tap + four more PCE-M/TG-M game pads (but totally worth it in the end just to play a serious Bomberman match with 5 players duking it out until one emerges victorious).

The classic PCE title of Bomberman '94 with the Kangaroos is a hoot to play indeed -- is never the same game twice, especially with five folks (you can play against up to four CPU controlled Bomberman character opponents as well).

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
jd213
Posts: 502
Joined: Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:03 am
Location: Pennsylvania

Re: PC Engine mini Question

Post by jd213 »

The exclusive rom hacks were dumped and put up on the net not too long ago, but the hacking method hasn't been made public yet.
Post Reply