Investigation on NOS CD32 from China

tteich · 24 October 2006, 01:03

Hello Amiga-Friends!

pardon if this has been discussed already here on the board, but here is my question:

I'm currently doing a little research about those New Old Stock CD32 consoles which are available from chinese eBayers these days (see here: http://cgi.ebay.de/COMMODORE-AMIGA-C...ayphotohosting)

Does anyone know
- how they went to China
- why and how they disappeared 12 years ago

I'm going to write an article for the english/german Amiga fan magazine "www.jurassicpack.de" as I bought one of these consoles and would be glad to add a few more information which are "based on fact", and not speculation.

So any help on this would be appreciated.

cheers, Torsten

spiff · 24 October 2006, 01:26

Afaik the chinese, or some other place in asia was where commodore had it production/assbembly line. When Commodore went bankrupt the government/factory quickly grabbed all of the CD32 in stock and production in order to cut their losses.

Well, this is more speculation as to this being the reason for CD32 being available now. It might just as well be that they are refurbished CD32s with bootleg boxes. Amiga market prices are rising and the Chinese are quick to exploit cheap electronics. Facts that probably can be verified are that commodore had a factory and that CD32 where grabbed. The connection to available CD32 are as I said, speculation.

*edit*
nothing new I see, A quick google
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Amiga_CD32

Quote:

It was manufactured right up to the bankruptcy, and it is well known that the Philippine government seized the remaining units. According to Amiga Computing Issue 88 (July 1995) the manufacturing assets they seized was around US $1 million. —Pixel8 20:42, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

alexh · 24 October 2006, 01:35

At £80 each they are hardly cheap.

Possibly even NTSC.

tteich · 24 October 2006, 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiff

nothing new I see, A quick google
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Amiga_CD32

Thanks for the link. This seems to be one part of the story... Let's see if there is someone who knows exactly what happened to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexh

At £80 each they are hardly cheap.

Possibly even NTSC.

Yes, they are NTSC (I bought one from China). Price was 120 Euros I think. Not really cheap, but for a New Old Stock acceptable (okay this is my personal opinion).

Photon · 24 October 2006, 12:49

Well if you only want something that works there might be cheaper ones available. But man, NOS! That means that it is untouched, the drive can spin for many years yet, and it has the feeling of getting a present!

If I were hunting for an NTSC CD32, this price would be so worth it! But NTSC is sh t.

DJBase · 24 October 2006, 13:50

AFAIK all these NOS CD32 are from an old warehouse and were forgotten over some years like the Refurbished A500 some time ago in USA.

JonSick · 31 October 2006, 12:27

If only I had a digital camera...

Just got through chipping my mate's ps2.

The cd drive ICs are exactly the same as that of the CD32! Exactly, no difference!

Interesting, huh?

OK probably not, but there ya go!

rsn8887 · 31 October 2006, 16:54

Isn't it possible to switch NTSC cd32 to pal cd32. Like you can switch A1200 to NTSC using the cool "two mouse button" boot-menu?

tteich · 31 October 2006, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonSick

If only I had a digital camera...

Just got through chipping my mate's ps2.

The cd drive ICs are exactly the same as that of the CD32! Exactly, no difference!

Interesting, huh?

OK probably not, but there ya go!

It doesn't surprise me that much as lots of CD-ROM components today are made of standard Philips electronics (I think for laser pickups and control PCBs only two manufacturers exist today).

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsn8887

Isn't it possible to switch NTSC cd32 to pal cd32. Like you can switch A1200 to NTSC using the cool "two mouse button" boot-menu?

I downloaded the service manual from the german CD32 forum (might provide a link if you can't find it. If I read the schematics correctly, the PCB layout is designed such that PAL and NTSC is supported, but not at the same time (so you have to add the second chrystal with some additional logic to switch between the two carriers, etc.), but I can check that again.

th4t1guy · 01 November 2006, 02:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsn8887

Isn't it possible to switch NTSC cd32 to pal cd32. Like you can switch A1200 to NTSC using the cool "two mouse button" boot-menu?

Yeah, I have to do that a lot in order to get a lot of PAL games to play on my cd32. Unfortunately, there's nothing that lets you pick what it defaults to though...

24 October 2006, 01:03	#1
tteich Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Stuttgart/Germany Posts: 41	Investigation on NOS CD32 from China Hello Amiga-Friends! pardon if this has been discussed already here on the board, but here is my question: I'm currently doing a little research about those New Old Stock CD32 consoles which are available from chinese eBayers these days (see here: http://cgi.ebay.de/COMMODORE-AMIGA-C...ayphotohosting) Does anyone know - how they went to China - why and how they disappeared 12 years ago I'm going to write an article for the english/german Amiga fan magazine "www.jurassicpack.de" as I bought one of these consoles and would be glad to add a few more information which are "based on fact", and not speculation. So any help on this would be appreciated. cheers, Torsten

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24 October 2006, 01:35	#3
alexh Thalion Webshrine Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Oxford Posts: 14,365	At £80 each they are hardly cheap. Possibly even NTSC.

24 October 2006, 12:49	#5
Photon Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eksjö / Sweden Posts: 5,615	Well if you only want something that works there might be cheaper ones available. But man, NOS! That means that it is untouched, the drive can spin for many years yet, and it has the feeling of getting a present! If I were hunting for an NTSC CD32, this price would be so worth it! But NTSC is sh t.

24 October 2006, 13:50	#6
DJBase Amiga is my Religion Join Date: May 2005 Location: Germany Posts: 578	AFAIK all these NOS CD32 are from an old warehouse and were forgotten over some years like the Refurbished A500 some time ago in USA.

31 October 2006, 12:27	#7
JonSick Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: London UK Posts: 255	If only I had a digital camera... Just got through chipping my mate's ps2. The cd drive ICs are exactly the same as that of the CD32! Exactly, no difference! Interesting, huh? OK probably not, but there ya go!

31 October 2006, 16:54	#8
rsn8887 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: USA Posts: 1,058	Isn't it possible to switch NTSC cd32 to pal cd32. Like you can switch A1200 to NTSC using the cool "two mouse button" boot-menu?

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