E.EUROPE WTB: PS1 CONSOLE SCPH-5903

I'm looking to purchase the vcd model scph-5903 playstation 1 console.

I am in the UK

 

Does it matter if it is chipped?
I will check the ones I have here for you....

 

No doesn't matter, thank you that would be great

 

One thing to note about the SCPH-5903 is that if it has a modchip in it it won't play VCDs - the modchip makes a VCD look like a PlayStation disc to the system, so it tries to boot it - which obviously doesn't work.

Also note that although it has a parallel port I've never found a cheat cartridge that works on them.

 

Ah okay, good to know, if it comes with it, I can remove it no issues

 

I am new to exploring the specific PSX models. I've been thinking that I want a US 5xxx model. Is there something specific about the 5903? Is it region specific too?

 

It was only released in certain Asian markets outside Japan - which is what the '3' indicates (0=Japan, 1=US, 2=PAL, 3=Asia) - these machines boot NTSC:J discs like the Japanese consoles, but have an English boot ROM and a wide-range power supply that will accept either 110V or 220V. The reason for the special power supply was that SCEI's "Asia" region included Taiwan, which uses 110V as well as places like Hong Kong and Singapore that use 220V. Taiwan is also the reason that despite booting NTSC:J discs they are set up to use "US style" NTSC output with the black level at 7.5IRE since using the Japanese 0IRE level would cause black crush on the US spec TV sets in use in Taiwan.

There is one oddity in this line of consoles, which is the first - SCPH-5003, this is effectively just a Japanese mainboard in a case with a 220V power supply, so it won't run on 110V, has a Japanese menu and has the secondary region check.

The use of the English boot ROM also means they don't have the secondary region lockout that the Japanese consoles do, and with a modchip will boot discs from any region.

This specific model (SCPH-5903) was produced primarily for the Hong Kong market, since VCD was a popular format there, but never sold especially well because by the time it came out there were several 3rd party external VCD players on the market and they were a much cheaper solution. As a result, they are now quite uncommon.

These SCPH-xxx3 consoles are probably most useful to people that live in places that use 220V mains and want to run NTSC games - although out of the box they only boot Japanese discs. Having said that, if you get a second-hand console from Hong Kong (which is the most likely source) then the chance that it already has a modchip in it is pretty close to 100%.

 

yes I still have one for sell

 

What is the price please including shipping to the UK?

 

body only US$650 + shipping