[Q] JVC Wonder Mega

how stable and reliable is the JVC Wonder Mega in fact?
i ogle at one to buy in near future, but since they ain't cheap nowadays (or never were), i first like to make sure of my invest.



any answers and experiences are welcome.

thx a lot.
tatsu

 

Basically bullet proof, I've never had a single problem with the machine, it is my Megadrive / Mega CD unit of choice (and I have 3 of them...), the DAP buttons do make a lot of difference to how the Megadrive sounds too.

When buying make sure the lid opens and closes on demand as sometimes idiot people can break them by forcing the lid and test at least one game...

There are a few issues

The PSUs can age and effect the running of the machine, you can tell this as the lid and power LEDs dim a lot when the machine is opening and closing the lid.

Even though the connector is that of a Megadrive 2, do not use a MD2 PSU as you will find the PSU getting very hot and probably burn out.

The audio output from the back of the machine is quite noisy, use the headphone socket instead.

RGB mod it.

You can't use the Super 32X, well you can but you will need to RGB mod it with a 8 pin Din socket wired to the Megadrive standard and you'll need a simple japanese / US adapter to get the machine to fit and putting something under it to keep it stable.

Datel never made a CDX cartridge for the machine so playing Mega CD / Sega CD imports is not possible, before someone says use a patcher and reburn them, I couldn't get the machine to realiable read CD-Rs.

 

As Jamtex says, that machine is rock solid. I've had two in my time, one of which was badly beaten up but still worked fine. It is the deffinet way to go for Mega Drive and Mega CD in one.

DON'T buy the crappy US XEYE or the turdy Japanese Wondermega 2. YOu'll be very sorry. The original Wondermega is just one of those consoles that no matter how old it gets it will always be something special.

Yakumo

 

thanx a lot guys. it's already one decided buy!

is 20'000yen for a loosey (but with all necessary things) a good price?

or is someone willing to sell one for even cheaper? :110:

actually all i need is the device with PSU and s-vid cable. or even the device only would be already good enough.

 

I have Xeye...I know the lack of Svideo sucks, but what else is bad about it vs. the original? I like mine a lot. Wish it looked as cool as that though, lol.

 

...I know that when I get my first job, one of the machines I'll get is one of those. XD It so beautiful, and I'm so tired of having 14 wires across my room for just the MD + MCD. I just hope that the opening motor doesn't screw up with the time. XD

 

20,000 yen is a reasonable price as they are getting rarer to buy in second hand shops, I've only seen 3 in my many trips to Japan, I managed to snaffle a mint boxed one a few years back for 25,000yen and I was glad I did.

The S-Video isn't bad on the machine too although RGB is the way to go.

I am going to sell my unboxed Sega and JVC wondermegas but they are in England.

 

Well, as you said it's not a looker that's for sure. Also the Karaoke options are gone, no audio DSP options and it feels very cheap where as the Wondermega feels like a quality product.

yakumo

 

Karaoke? Mine came with a Karaoke disc and has a mic port. Is that the same? What do you mean by audio DSP? I really do wish it looked like the Wondermega and had Svideo...why cut that out, seriously...at least it's still awesome. It reads Sega CD games faster then a normal Sega CD for me.

 

yeah..the s-vid is the best part for the moment, coz i still couldn't manage to get a RGB-crt yet.

 

Oh and the Wondermega has a midi in and out. Most would never use it but it's still a nice feature. The Karaoke feature on the Wondermega includes dual mic in put with each having their own volume control.

The DSP functions are pre-set sound modes like on stereo systems. They really can make the Mega Drive audio sound far more alive.

Yakumo

 

Ah damn, really sucks it was stripped down in the US. Still the best Genesis/Sega CD around here but it sucks it could have been as good as the original.

 

The Wondermega 1 only has a MIDI out and nothing really apart from WonderMIDI uses it.

The DAP function does make the audio come alive, there is a knob at the front which you can twiddle to change the effect. It also has two microphone inputs and the unit can even change the pitch of the CD as well as some other Karaoke functions. The CD+G mode is fantastic (if you can find Karaoke CD+G discs).

Still nothing beats the shear awesomeness of the motorised top loading tray.

The only nice thing about the Wondermega 2 was the ability to switch the machine on via the infrared remote.

 

The X'eye uses the same Sony CXA1145 video encoder that you find in the Neo Geo, so it's easy to add S-video. But it does stink that so many other features were omitted in the name of cost savings. The quality of the functional console itself isn't so bad. It's nice to be able to run the whole shebang from one power supply and have a CD drive that doesn't stop working for no apparent reason. I don't use my X'eye much any more though, since I have a CDX/Multimega running in its place.

 

My old man still has shitload of CD-G disc he used back in 90s? Nowadays he just uses the same machine used in most Karaoke shops~ - -;

I agree Wondermega 1 is the thing of beaut~
Yes I have the Sega one still kicking around~~ ^ ^

 

EDITED.

 

My wondermega arrived this morning. Quick burnt off a CD using cheap supermarket CDRs and max burn speed and it worked! It's a bit tempremental though, have to find the right brand of CDrs I think. Going to investigate homebrew translations of MegaCD games.

It's an upgrade from a UK Megadrive / Sega CD combo through composite (My HDTV doesn't do rgb). The difference is amazing, night and day. Sharp video through s-video, full screen full speed, dsp sound. Final Fight CD sounds, looks and plays amazing. Going to try Popful Mail(US edition patched) next. Start building my collection of Mega CD/Megadrive games. Only UK game I have that fits the cartridge slot o bloody Shaq Fu.

Thanks to Yakumo and retrocore for turning me onto WonderMega.

Got Thunder Storm FX(Cobra Command) with the machine. I've forgotten how much fun good FMV games are.

 

Man, I gotta learn to post here more often! Well, you got all the info you needed and I was only gonna add that, as long as you stuck with the model 1 Wondermega, either the sega or JVC model, you cant go wrong. I love my JVC model and cheers to you for getting oone. 'Tis a thing of beauty

 

Yup, one thing I'd say if if you intend to play Sega CD games don't use a standard Sega 850Watt 10V adaptor. Burnt mine out in an hour. You'd get away with it for just Megadrive games I think.

1.5A 9.5V, near as you can get.