Just tested my chinese famiclone from volumerates

[Kiddo]

So last night I tested my chinese famiclone that I got from volumerates a few weeks ago. This isn't actually the clone that I placed an order for, but its almost the same so i didn't want to make a big deal out of it, having already spent way too much time talking to chinese tech-support while waiting for my stuff to arrive. 

The reason I hadn't tested it before was because I had no way of plugging in the ac adapter because of it's minimalist design. Basicly the pins wouldn't fit into a multiplug, and since there are very few wallsockets in my appartment I had to buy a new cheap multiplug and file down the plastic so the adapter would fit in. (The picture explains what I'm talking about)



So I plugged it up and tried putting in the 64-in-1 cart that I also got from them into the clone. Much to my amazement the cart was too large and cumbersome so it didn't even fit into the cartridge slot. So I put in the smaller type of carts they sold me and turned on the clone. The picture quality was superb! When I tested these carts on my micro genius IQ-501 clone the games were all glitchy but it seems these carts were made to be played on shittier clones. So I tried a few seconds of adventure island 4 but then the game froze. I tried it again, and again, always the game would freeze after only few seconds. I tried different carts, and even another type of pirate cart not from volumerates, always the same thing, until I managed to play almost 2 whole minutes of RoboCop 4. Then the clone made a short low volume farting sound, the game vanished from the screen and the smell of burning came from the console. I immeadiatly unplugged it, fully knowing that I wouldn't be playing more games on this clone. 

So I wouldn't recommend buying this clone from them (even just for the lulz like I did) since they are obviously very fragile and low quality, but then again I might just have been extremely unlucky. But even if it had worked perfectly it is very badly designed. As I mentioned before, half the carts volumerates sell won't fit into it. Also all the cables that come with the clone are so short it's like they expect your TV, wallsocket and sofa to be all in the same square meter.


(2 liter cokebottle for visual measurement)

Anyway, I contacted the volumerates live support last night, and after almost a full hour of chatting (haggling) with them they agreed to send me 4 new carts for free (1 for the broken one I received, and 3 for the broken clone). First they wanted me to send them the clone back so they could verify it was broken and then send me a new one. But after explaining to them that that would cost me triple that of buying a new one they agreed to the deal that I mentioned before (even though it still puts me at loss technicly speaking).

So if you want to buy a cheap clone, don't buy this one:
http://www.volumerates.com/product/back-to-the-good-old-time-classic-vs-3b-8-bit-famicom-video-game-console-2-controllers-1-light-gun-96334

[jpx72]

Well I would say that they added a wrong adapter. It's common on pirates and I have also some clones which had extremely shitty adapters. There was one adapter packed with my PSOne-like clone that gave almost 18V under load! It had 9V written on the cover, and the best part? The clone don't even have a voltage regulator, so it only needs 5V.
Since this discovery, I never use supplied adapters with clones and always try my own 5V adapter first.
Thanks for the review anyway!!!

[gorgyrip]

I HATE famiclones. And for 18USD you can buy a NES.

[cmv2]

in famiclones always have to put a timer for 7805 will not burn and can use any other transformer valid for Famicom (the article is of socram8888, not mine)

http://www.elotrolado.net/hilo_tutorial-modificacion-y-mejora-de-un-famiclon-noac_1691462

[lobdale]

I gotta say that I just do not understand the allure of the pirate stuff.  Yeah, it's kinda neat to fiddle with for about five minutes, but seriously?  Just save up a little more and buy a decent AV Fami and you'll never need one of those junkers again.  It's like pouring your money into a collection that retains virtually zero resale or gameplay value and is almost always of inferior build quality to the actual stuff, most of which is not all that much more expensive than the real deal.

[NintendoKing]

Most people buy knowing it will not have resale value, true collectors do not buy games/systems for later profits they buy them for the interest of owning.

[lobdale]

But is it "true collecting" to just accumulate a ton of cheaply-made knockoff stuff?

[NintendoKing]

If that's what you wish to collect then it is.

[Kiddo]

Well I would say that they added a wrong adapter. It's common on pirates and I have also some clones which had extremely shitty adapters. There was one adapter packed with my PSOne-like clone that gave almost 18V under load! It had 9V written on the cover, and the best part? The clone don't even have a voltage regulator, so it only needs 5V.
Since this discovery, I never use supplied adapters with clones and always try my own 5V adapter first.
Thanks for the review anyway!!!

That's a possibility and wouldn't surprise me in the least. I've yet to open it up and see which part got fried, will try and get around to it this weekend.

I gotta say that I just do not understand the allure of the pirate stuff.  Yeah, it's kinda neat to fiddle with for about five minutes, but seriously?  Just save up a little more and buy a decent AV Fami and you'll never need one of those junkers again.  It's like pouring your money into a collection that retains virtually zero resale or gameplay value and is almost always of inferior build quality to the actual stuff, most of which is not all that much more expensive than the real deal.

Resale wasn't on my mind (and rarely is when i buy stuff), I was actually going to give this away as a x-mas present for a friend of mine as a joke. But that was of course out of the question when I opened the box and saw that it was the wrong clone. The one I ordered (but didn't get) had "Funstation 3" written on it in parody of Playstation 3. Although this one looks about the same, it doesn't have the writing that kind of cements the joke.
Also I actually don't own an offical famicom. All I have is clones and they do their job quite nicely since they are good clones. But soon I'll be getting a nice Twin Famicom from Xious so the days of me playing games on clones will be numbered.

Most people buy knowing it will not have resale value, true collectors do not buy games/systems for later profits they buy them for the interest of owning.

Exactly 

[Kiddo]

Well, I found out what destroyed the famiclone. My own recklessness 
On the packaging it says 110V, but over here we use 220V, so that must've fried the NOAC chip.
Although in my defense, before I ordered the clone I contacted Volumerates customer support to get two things confirmed. One; is it a PAL console, and two; is it 220V. They confirmed both at that time. But of course I should have checked the packaging, and some warning flares should have gone up when it started freezing but none did (this might of course have something to do with the fact I got sent the wrong clone). Oh well live and learn.

But anyway I took a few pictures of it's innard for posterity. It was actually quite shocking how empty the shell was and how much of the stuff was more or less fastened down with hobby glue instead of screws.

For those who are interested here is a pic of the inside:



Also you can see a date on the RCA board. 16 march 2010. So these clones are quite new 

[jpx72]

As expected, no voltage regulator at all. This baby needs 5V only to run safely.

[Volumerates support]

Well, I found out what destroyed the famiclone. My own recklessness 
On the packaging it says 110V, but over here we use 220V, so that must've fried the NOAC chip.
Although in my defense, before I ordered the clone I contacted Volumerates customer support to get two things confirmed. One; is it a PAL console, and two; is it 220V. They confirmed both at that time. But of course I should have checked the packaging, and some warning flares should have gone up when it started freezing but none did (this might of course have something to do with the fact I got sent the wrong clone). Oh well live and learn.

But anyway I took a few pictures of it's innard for posterity. It was actually quite shocking how empty the shell was and how much of the stuff was more or less fastened down with hobby glue instead of screws.

For those who are interested here is a pic of the inside:



Also you can see a date on the RCA board. 16 march 2010. So these clones are quite new 

so the problem is the AC adapter's voltage???

[Kiddo]

so the problem is the AC adapter's voltage???

Yep, that was the problem. Some markings on the AC adapters would be nice since there is no indication on the outer shell if it is 110 or 220. It wasn't until a few days later when I was putting the clone back into it's box when I noticed the specs on the side of the box. But again, in my defense I was told by one of your customer support agents that the console had a 220V adapter, and I have the chat transcript in my inbox to prove it. I'd still like to know if the clone I placed my order for had a 220V adapter, since the clone I got was clearly the wrong one.

[myfreelog]

so the problem is the AC adapter's voltage???

Yep, that was the problem. Some markings on the AC adapters would be nice since there is no indication on the outer shell if it is 110 or 220. It wasn't until a few days later when I was putting the clone back into it's box when I noticed the specs on the side of the box. But again, in my defense I was told by one of your customer support agents that the console had a 220V adapter, and I have the chat transcript in my inbox to prove it. I'd still like to know if the clone I placed my order for had a 220V adapter, since the clone I got was clearly the wrong one.

In fact it doesn't matter if you were using a 220 or 110 ac adapter, that spec is only for the ac adapter. The most important is the output of the adapter, 9v, that is what arrives to the console. You can replace a 110 adapter with a 220 adapter to use the console in different countries, and that should not affect the console.

Check the Ac adapter with a multimeter, if it's OK then change the voltage regulator inside the console as shown in the tutorial posted before, that is the main problem when a console of this kind is dead.

If you finally change the regulator and the console works, try to use another adapter, 5v should be enough for this kind of consoles.

[Kiddo]

In fact it doesn't matter if you were using a 220 or 110 ac adapter, that spec is only for the ac adapter. The most important is the output of the adapter, 9v, that is what arrives to the console. You can replace a 110 adapter with a 220 adapter to use the console in different countries, and that should not affect the console.

I am aware of this, but did not realise before too late that I had a 110 adapter. 110 adapter with 220 input will ofc put out much higher voltage than it is supposed to.

Check the Ac adapter with a multimeter, if it's OK then change the voltage regulator inside the console as shown in the tutorial posted before, that is the main problem when a console of this kind is dead.

If you finally change the regulator and the console works, try to use another adapter, 5v should be enough for this kind of consoles.

Are you saying that the voltage regulator might have been fried and not the NOAC chip itself? If so is the console salvagable if I change the regulator like in cmv2's tutorial?
Or am I misunderstanding something here?