BurningDoom wrote:^ The SNES won't wear out as easily or quickly as a disc-based system, for sure. But it still can go out form usage. Chips can short out, things can overheat, and cords and soldering can come loose.
I've been through 2 different Commodore 64s because of chips shorting out (and I'm talking the base unit, not the moving disk driving).
Chips on the SNES won't short out because the system was designed properly and is fused off in just about every direction.
Solder can be re-flowed and would only affect something that gets hot enough to cycle heat or is moved/flexed frequently. Since leaded solder can withstand very high temperatures it would rule out the chips outside of a freak accident. So, it's most likely to only affect the cart slot, power jack or controller ports. Spend five minutes with a soldering iron and it'll all be fixed and shored up better than from the factory.
The story is similar with overheating. 99% of the heat (if you can even call it that) you feel coming off of an SNES doesn't come from the chips, but actually a teeny tiny voltage regulator that screws into a heatsink. That particular regulator is a generic off the shelf part that can be bought at radio shack or just about any other parts place you can name for the price of loose change.
Lastly your Commodore 64 is not a Super Nintendo. Unfortunately the Commodore 64 was designed at the hardware level by idiots with no idea as to how board design should be approached (just like the 360), and is loaded with problems and defects.
Chips randomly getting over-volted, static electricity & electric shocks, overheating issues and all sorts of crap are only a small part of the C64 experience. Not all hardware is created equal, and the C64 like most computers of the time was pretty badly built as far as any standards go. The C64-C was built far better but still had bad enough issues that there was an active recall campaign and several other paid fixes that were recommended by Commodore themselves.
You can fix and protect your current C64 and it's chips from over-voltage with an easy to install kit from here:
http://console5.com/store/kits/power-su ... t-kit.html
fastbilly1 wrote:Mod_Man_Extreme wrote:s1rweeze wrote:I use original hardware (except recording, then it's SNES9x) but I'd like to be able to retire my original SNES from December '91 while it still works. I just dread the day it doesn't turn on or doesn't work, that would just destroy me. May have to see how the Retron 5 looks.
You can't and won't break your SNES or just about any other cartridge based console from just using it, that's a bad myth that never seems to die. If you pick up a Retron you'll be greeted with lousy sound, crappy video output and glitchy half-baked game compatibility all laughing at the $50 or more you just wasted on it.
The Retron 5 is boasting 100% compatibility, unlike the previous versions, this one is not just systems on a chip. It is an android mini console with controller and cartridge ports. Every video of it playing games is impressive:
and before you say it, yes you can turn off smoothing and enable scanlines. But that showcases that you can play Castlevania 3, a game not playable on other clones. The only SNES game video Ive seen is Super Punchout.
So in other words it's an emulator with a cartridge port? Why pay for what you can get free?
Ziggy587 wrote:Mod_Man_Extreme wrote: Not to mention you'll likely die before any of the chips or mask roms in your system and it's games (respectively) begin failing from legitimate causes.
My original SNES from 92 or 93 has either bad RAM or PPU, and I'm not an isolated case.
RAM goes bad, it's just as simple as that.
At least if RAM or a mask ROM in a cart goes bad, it's fixable. A blown PPU in a SNES isn't fixable, aside from salvaging the parts.
True, but as you said RAM and ROM's are fixable. The blown PPU's are a problem, but as far as I've seen still small enough percentage wise that I'm willing to label it a freak issue.
