Test Unit PS2

I heard that the Test Unit PS2 DTL-H30001 is useless. Or is that the DTL-30001?

Is the DTL-H30001 like the Green Debug PSX and has no region protection?

 

The PS2 Test DTL-H30001 useless? Well it depends what you are trying to do with it? It's region free, automatically coverts the signal to suit the disc placed in it, so you can have an NTSC unit, but place a PAL game into it and it suddenly coverts to PAL. The DVD drive has a lovely little step motor which adjusts to select the best laser depth. I personally have little other experience of Test units, but know there are others out there that have less to offer. Apparently it also plays all PS1 game irrespective of region in NTSC (but that is a quote from another site, I have never tried it).

 

I heard that it doesn't let you use the hard drive and another has no memory card support.

 

Wrong, both.

 

I also heard it had no HDD support, but subsequently discovered it does. As for memory card, yes, it did from day one I bought the unit.

 

so basically, if i get a dtl- h30001 its a ps2 with hard drive and memory card support and no region protection at all.

 

Yes, with a couple of cavaets.

Many 3000x series do not appear to support official HDD games (like FF:XI) as the HDD is not seen from the browser - this appears to be down to whether they ever received a firmware update from Sony. The HDD is supported for use with HD-loader type programs.

Additionally, if you use component output, then I've found that PS1 games will not display properly on the Test units. Normal AV output seems OK & PS2 games are handled just fine either way (The big white PSX seems to behave the same way, BTW). I did get some display issues using NTSC/NTSC-J PS1 games on a PAL Test unit (screen shifted up & to the side), but they're fine on an NTSC Test unit - no idea if similar happens with PAL PS1 games on an NTSC unit, as I don't possess any PAL PS1 games.

There are a couple of TEST threads on this forum that go into more details about the HDD compatibility & differences to retail units.

 

I read the sticky and have yet to come up with which one is the best bet for someone who just wants a region free PS2 that is closest to retail...opinions?

 

Depends on what you want to use the PS2 for...

Initially, I just wanted to play some games that aren't available outside of Japan - so I got a Japanese PS2 off ebay fairly cheap. Already had a US PS2 & didn't really want to mess with modchips. That pretty much fulfilled my needs.

I got the Test units mostly because they were interesting, rather than specifically to get all-region in one unit. Having said that, they do have that capability & they gave me the additional ability to play PAL games (in particular World Championship Snooker 2004).

 

I got PAL PS2TEST specifically as my single PS2 console.
I live in PAL land and it works fine for my purpose - just playing mix of NTSC-J/U, PAL titles thru YUV connection...

For PS1 titles I have couple of Debug units to play on. So it never was the issue with me..

cheers

 

Your 100% right, depending on the model however, I've had quite a few, it seems the older TESTS would not work w/ the HDD (I can go into details, but meh!), and a "S" variant I had of a TEST did not support the memory card (even tried swapping out the PCB for it = no luck!)

 

Are there any decent games that require the HDD to really make the effort to find a debug station with HDD support? The SL test PS2 I had played everything I threw at it (PS2 and PS1, plus debug PS2 and PS1 discs) and gave a nice picture in RGB Scart.

 

Here's a link to the US/JPN titles released that can utilize the HDD - not sure if it's absolutely complete, but it does list the ones I know of, with the exception of Nobunaga no Yabou Online on the JPN side. This game & FF:XI are the only ones I believe absolutely require the HDD. One thing I'm personally not sure of, is whether the on-line capable games can use the network port, when hooked up to a Test unit.

So, for many folks, the answer is probably 'Not really', especially since load-time-saving capabilities can readily be added to via HDLoader for many games. Me? I'm looking for one, mainly from the collecting aspect, as opposed to any real practical need.

 

My TEST unit (DTL-H50001) goes online perfectly with FFXI in the UK. I use it as a multi-region console mainly, that's the reason I got one.

 

Hey dickibow, didn't you have an HDD compatible Test unit up on ebay a few months back? I tried for one back then, but it went for a pretty penny...

So, do you have the US, or the JPN version installed? I'm guessing either should work on a suitable Test, right?

[Edit: BTW, my online comment was more about whether the network port would work for online games on non-hdd compatible Tests (ie: online games that don't rely on seeing the official HDD)]

 

Yes I did - a DTL-H50002 (PAL model), I think MacWest from here bought it IIRC.

Yep correct - you can use either BB Navigator (JPN) or the US HDD software on HDD compatible TEST stations. Both work fine. BB Nav is quality but is in Japanese so a bit pointless unless you understand it.

Oh right - the network comment bit. Actually, I once had an old DTL-H30001 and it couldn't detect the Hard drive OR the network adapter.

 

the DTL-H30001 plays us, jpn games and burns right? with memory card and network adaptor support?

 

Some DTL-H30001 consoles recognise the official network adapter and HDD, and some don't. The majority don't from the amount of DTL-H30001 consoles I've used. I don't know where you got the info about the memory cards! All DTL-H30001 consoles can accept memory cards.

If you want a multi-regional PS2 that's the closest thing to a retail, you want to get either a DTL-H30101 or a DTL-H50001. Both of these work with HDD's, network adapters, Linux for PS2, JPN, UK, USA titles, PS1 titles. Everything you throw at them basically. These types are much harder to come by though.
Differences between these two units are that the 30001 has an IEEE 1394 i-Link port (50001 doesn't), the 50001 has the quiet fan, the 50001 plays DVD-RW / DVD+RW / DVD+R, the 50001 has the built in IR sensor.

 

Agreed, although my H3000x units do recognise the network adaptor (LAN capable games seem to detect it). The units don't however, see the HDD when its connected. My H30002 (with the latest serial # of the units) is slightly different - it hangs before the browser screen, if the HDD is connected, but runs happily if only the network adaptor is hooked up. Dickibow, did you ever see this behaviour?

I'm curious about this, too - all my units take MCs with no problems.