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The XRGB series of upscalers

Discussion in 'Technical Discussion' started by MarzSyndrome, Aug 10, 2013.

  1. MarzSyndrome

    MarzSyndrome

    Everything is going to the beat. Member
    I briefly mentioned this in my other thread about the Sega Saturn. Having seen YouTube videos of the XRGB-mini in action, I'm tempted to get one myself at some point, though the only known site to sell it - Solaris Japan - charges a total of at least £279.45 including the cheapest delivery option available. On the other hand, a YouTube user by the name of Yakumo1975 is offering to sell them at a cheaper price of 39,000 yen, which translates to £261.15 as of XE.com's current standing. Not much of a price drop sure, but bear in mind that his price is supposed to include shipping as well.

    Has anyone here ever played about with one of these, or any previous XRGB models? Would it be worth my time taking the plunge on the Mini or anything similar?
     
  2. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    If it's worth anything, people on NeoGAF swear by 'em.

    I'm interested in one, but the USD/JPY exchange rate is a little low for my liking, and keeps declining. (It was 99.5 on the first, but 96.3-something now...) I'd probably stick with S-Video at first, and then go about upgrading everything to RGB (except the NES; that can wait until this project gets somewhere, since I'm hesitant to rip increasingly-rare PPUs out of PlayChoice-10s), but relatively slowly.
     
  3. Meat Miracle

    Meat Miracle

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    Yakumo has threatened people with releasing their personal info (because they gave him bad feedback), so you might want to suck up the extra cost and buy from elsewhere.
     
  4. Blastfrog

    Blastfrog

    See ya starside. Member
    Jesus, is that even legal?
     
  5. Andlabs

    Andlabs

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    Writing my own MD/Genesis sound driver :D
  6. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    Even if they did, you could probably use a proxy service to ship it to the US. I've got no experience in doing so, however, and I hear you're SOL if you receive faulty hardware, while Solaris would cover you somewhat.

    Even then, I'd recommend the XRGB-mini over the XRGB3; the 3 is rather finnicky, to my understanding, and the mini has English-language firmware.

    And even then, if you're gonna order from a Japanese retailer, Amazon.co.jp has a good 25% markdown on the mini.
     
  7. MarzSyndrome

    MarzSyndrome

    Everything is going to the beat. Member
    Same problem as with all Amazon stores - international shipping seems virtually non-existant.
     
  8. Meat Miracle

    Meat Miracle

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    I dunno, I get international shipment from Amazon all the fucking time.
    Amazon.co.jp seems to be entirely different from their parent though. My normal Amazon account (which I've used in US and many European countries) didn't even log in at amazon jp.

    It's probably like Yahoo japan, which is also a semi-independent subsidiary for japan only.
     
  9. MarzSyndrome

    MarzSyndrome

    Everything is going to the beat. Member
    What sort of items do Amazon allow international shipping for then? Can't be games, that's for sure - I've always hit a brick wall whenever I come across a rare title I see available at .com but not .co.uk.

    Yeah, had to quickly create a new account for it, hoping I'd go quite far with this order - but obviously not.
     
  10. Overlord

    Overlord

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    I dunno, I've bought from Amazon.de (and a digital purchase at .com) without issue.
     
  11. MarzSyndrome

    MarzSyndrome

    Everything is going to the beat. Member
    Granted, it is possible to purchase digital downloads from Amazon.com by using any random US address, such as one picked from this site.
     
  12. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Actually I supplied my own UK address, so eh =P
     
  13. Shadow Hog

    Shadow Hog

    "I'm a superdog!" Member
    I think you missed this:
     
  14. doc eggfan

    doc eggfan

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    I've ordered stuff from Amazon.co.jp without difficulty before (Blurays, DVDs, Mangas and soundtracks)

    I use buyee.jp as a proxy service for YAJ with no issues, pretty sure they also work with other Japanese outlets.
     
  15. MarzSyndrome

    MarzSyndrome

    Everything is going to the beat. Member
    Okay, so I wasn't aware that proxy services for buying items existed. And Now You Know.


    Just registered to one such site (after googling) - shoppingmalljapan.com - but before I could even get started it stated I will need to do a "security deposit". Quoting from their e-mail:

    Whuh? Limits? Ummm?

    Why do I get the feeling that buying a fairly expensive piece of equipment from a foreign site like Amazon JP is going to prove to be trickier than I thought?

    Any shipping rates or additional deposit bullshit is bound to nullify the effect of Amazon's price slash isn't it?
     
  16. So how did this turn out? I have an XRGB-mini en route, ironically from the same seller as in the OP despite finding them through different means. I ordered the Genesis and SNES cables I need but now I need to track down an appropriate SCART switch and a SCART to RGB21 cable. Oh, and an SNES. The Mini is supposed to have less compatibility issues than the 3, which is why I got it. Hoping to post some photos at the end of the week.
     
  17. winterhell

    winterhell

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    http://www.retrogamingcables.com/micomsoft-xrgb.html

    They also have an ebay page.
     
  18. <3