Hardware Review #1 The Pioneer Laseractive with Sega PAC

[ashdragon1]

what sucks now is trying to buy one of the laserdisc games, they are so expensive up to or over 100 dollars each

[JerryTerrifying]

@ashdragon1 A buddy gave me two Mega LD Roms free of charge. It was pretty damn nice...and he refuses to tell me how much he spent on them.

[ashdragon1]

I have 2 of these systems, bought one when it came out for 800 bucks by itself without the sega pac, then later bought the karaoke expansion and turbo. still have it boxed up in my collection. If your lucky you can get a mint condition one on ebay for 500+ dollars. I still have the remote control for this system and original controllers. This is my prized possession in my collection.

[KamenGatack]

LOL, I knew a laserdisc was big but I didn`t knew it was THAT big, it look more like a metallic vynil LP

[JohnGauntSega32]

My Sega PAC has blown caps. :(

Does anyone know of a reasonably-priced but reliable re-capper? I understand that repairs can not be guaranteed.

[JerryTerrifying]

@JohnGauntSega32 I wish I knew. There's a Mega LD game that won't play right either. Kind of a bummer. The video part plays but the game part is invisible :(

I've opened up the PAC and it looks just a tad beyond my skill level to replace the caps.

[JohnGauntSega32]

@JerryTerrifying I'll hang on to the main unit, but the Sega PAC is looking more and more like eBay material.

[ARMODILLOXX33]

Nice Beauty DUDE! Allow me to inform you that the stupid Modder named: NEOTROPLIS is selling that badboy you have for, holdyouself, $3,400 USD.

I love this system ever since i was a teen in nyc but i havent been successfull

on getting it in even used conditions! So holdon to it because there are many rare

game systerm collector hunting for it! GOOD VIDEO!

[bluebluekeyboard]

it's my 1st time see pionner ld play sega cd!!! thank you!

[dragonforces]

There is one of those right now one eBay, brand new, with both SEGA and NEC PACs... the price is with 2,5k$ a little bit steep though...

[XNINONY]

i just got one of these for 50 bucks at a local junk shop.

[voltz15]

I remember a number of reasons for wanting one of these a number of years back, but it's kinda redundant now.

[JerryTerrifying]

@voltz15 If you love watching Laserdisc movies and playing Sega Genesis games this thing is fucking awesome. I actually use it to play genesis games more often than any of my Genesis'.

[JerryTerrifying]

@KEWLSTEWIEGUY I got it for $80 bucks which is a pretty good deal as far as ebay is concerned. I know a guy that's found two...TWO...on craigslist both for $30 a piece. I hate him and his amazing good luck.

[dude22072]

get a ram cart. that should fix the save problem on sonic CD

[JerryTerrifying]

@dude22072 Have a ram cart, doesn't work on the Laseractive. It's an issue with the SEGA PAC.

[RobertC19850209]

what about sega 32x is there any possible way to play them?

[JerryTerrifying]

@RobertC19850209 There's no where to plug the video mixing cable in. So no you can't use the 32x with the Laseractive.

[Enigmatism415]

@JerryTerrifying

Why couldn't you just use a second A/V cable (backwards) from the unit's A/V RCA jacks?

[JerryTerrifying]

@Enigmatism415 I'm not sure what you're talking about. But if you're asking why not use the AV jacks on the back of the TV casue the front one is wonky...there's only S Video on the back of the unit and it's in use by other junk.

[rkoguy]

@JerryTerrifying what kind of company would put av inputs on the front and only s video on the back on their tv's? o_O!

[OtakuBozu]

um, the shaky camera is giving me motion sickness.

[JerryTerrifying]

@OtakuBozu Yeah it is really bad.  I'm going to make another video now that I've got a tripod but I'm lazy about that kind of thing. Eventually I'll just be compelled to make another video about it :D

[goldenheartOh]

I have one of those. Bought it off ebay & got dented in shipping. It worked fine though. I enjoyed it for a while, didn't touch it for months, and now for some reason it just gives me a squiggly screen whenever a cartridge is in it--even the RAM memory cart. Would that be caused by the caps? Still played the Sega CD's tho.

I love how it's 1 of the few LD players that can pause any movie & keep a pic on the TV, even if it is at half resolution. (Looks blocky.)

[JerryTerrifying]

@goldenheartOh Yeah it could be leaky capacitors. If you've got a 3.8mm security bit you can open the Sega PAC and look at the caps. Look for some good leaking out around them. If you see that then yeah just replacing the caps should do it. There are some caps in there that are super hard to get to so try and find an electronics wiz soldering expert to help you out.

[Skolly]

I love feeling old, especially with things like this. FANTASTIC video!!!

I never heard of this growing up, but no doubt, if I had, i woulda wanted one.

[JerryTerrifying]

@Skolly Yeah me too. Seeing everything it does I would have loved to have one back in the day. Hell I would love to have a TG16 expansion pack for it so I could finally play some TG16 CD games.

[92greenz34]

ok thank you

[92greenz34]

hey do you know if it has an auto revese feature so you dont have to flip disks midway? ive been seriously contemplating buying this as i am a genesis collector but im going to make this my first laserdisk player also... basically if im going to do it i want it to work nice (do to price) and are curious if it has that feature

[JerryTerrifying]

@92greenz34 You have to manually flip the discs over. Not to many LD players have that auto flipping feature and the ones that do tend to break down. At leat that's what I've heard. 

If I were ridiculously rich though I'd buy one of the LD/DVD combo players that apparently exist. Something cool and exotic for the media rack. :D

[cessnaace]

@JerryTerrifying Of the four LaserDisc players that I own, three have dual-sided play. Two even have a 'quick-turn' mode, which speeds ups the changing of sides. The one player that I have that requires you to manually flip the disc over is a high end industrial model (Pioneer LD V8000). I also own an RCA model, plus a Pioneer CLD-D503 and a Pioneer CLD-D504.

I couldn't afford a LaserActive back in the day.

STAY AWESOME! :)

[JerryTerrifying]

@92greenz34 Personally I don't mind having to flip the disc 90% of the time. Most movies are just one one double sided disc but some longer movies are on 3 discs and if it uses both sides then it's a pain. when I watched Aladdin it was on 2 discs and used both sides of each so every like 30 minutes I had to get up...that was a bit much. It did look and sound amazing though.

For the most part it's not a pain really. Adds to the charm of the format in my opinion. :D

[stridercrowe]

Very cool, I learned a lot. *frantically starts to look up information on Mega LD games*

[JerryTerrifying]

@stridercrowe Wow I'm glad you enjoyed the video! I've got a person that listens to my podcast and he's donating me two Mega LD games...so when I get ahold of those I'll be putting up video/reviews of them. I'm really excited and can't wait to get ahold of them.

[Tornado1994]

"Mega LD" was originally going to be Mega Drive Laser Disc.

[JerryTerrifying]

@Tornado1994 that's very cool information do you have any links?

[TheMonkeyKingX88]

umm does it matter if u have the american or japanese version of this system are the sega games are region free?

thx

[dankss]

they also released a pc engine pac and a mega drive pac thats what i got.... I have the japanese version. You got a nice piece there man! replaceing the cap is easy bro... you should go for it! Its so easy even the most newbie solderers could handle it man! give it a go!

[JerryTerrifying]

I had a junk TV that I found on the curb in some trash...I opened it up and yanked out some boards and have been practicing my soldering. Once I feel confident I have a few projects. Mainly replacing those caps and then making a region switch for my Saturn.

I'd LOVE to have the NEC PAC but those thigns are way expensive as hell.

[thecurssiproject]

So, what systems does ur play?

[JerryTerrifying]

I've got the Sega PAC so I can play Genesis, Sega Cd and Mega LD games on it.

Mega LD games are expensive as fuck so I don't have any yet. But I'm sure I will someday.

[RA7ICU5]

@JerryTerrifying get some!!!! lol would be cool to see what they are like

[thecurssiproject]

That's really cool, and it atill plays Laserdisc movies, right?

[dankss]

Its literally 2 poiints of solder and extremely easy.... Just keep practicing and dont be scared man.... Youre better off trying than letting it sit like that.... I wish i could help you

[JerryTerrifying]

Lol I really suck at soldering...I've been practicing though and doing some work on some junk boards and have made some clean solder points. I'll wait till I'm very confident...Sega PACs aren't cheap!

And the PC Engine pac is wayyyy to expensive for me at the moment.  I'd LOVE to have one but it'd cost twice what I paid for the Laseractive and Sega PAC.

[Tornado1994]

@JerryTerrifying Sega and Pionner actually originally planned to launch a Mega Drive with LD media playback and games which would had also had several mid 80s LD arcade ports. The plan was to release the hybrid in Japan in 1991 and limitedly in America in 1992. The project was scrapped due it its expensive production costs and Sega teamed up with JVC instead to quickly design "Mega CD". Pioneer still wanted to market the idea as a multi-media box and Sega gave them the rights to use MD roms.

[OpticalHaze]

no Sound FX? Thats pretty lame... is it just your system or is general like this?!

[JerryTerrifying]

I say in the video that it's a problem with my Sega PAC. It has leaky capacitors and can be fixed. It's a common issue with The Laseractive and its PACs. Can be fixed as long as you're decent with a soldering iron.

[underpathunderpath]

That is one awesome piece of machinery! That is like the uber video game machine, something they all fear :)

[neoyoc]

that is the most badass piece of hardware ive ever seen.

[JerryTerrifying]

It really is a nice piece of hardware.

[RA7ICU5]

what about mega drive games?

[JerryTerrifying]

No clue. If I had a mega drive game I'd test it out.

[RA7ICU5]

does the sega pack have internal memory as well like to save sega cd games or would u need the cd backup cart? i cant find one of those to save my life

[JerryTerrifying]

Yes the Sega PAC does have internal memory. The battery in mine is bad though so I can't play Sonic CD on there due to it checking for internal RAM before booting. But my Sega PAC has a lotta issues...that can probably be fixed. Someday when I get cash there's a youtuber that said he'd put new caps in it for me. He's a pretty nice dude.

[RA7ICU5]

so are there any laserdisc players that also play dvds?

[JerryTerrifying]

I don't tink so. I've heard of LD players that play video CD though.

[JerryTerrifying]

Actually I just did some poking around on Wikipedia and yes there are Laserdisc players that also play DVDs. I just might have to pick one up.

[RA7ICU5]

hell yeah get me one too lol

[Kingnothing8585]

Can you add a 32X hardware on the Sega PAC, and if so- can it play Sega CD32X games? Sonic & Knuckles, Game Genie?

[JerryTerrifying]

No you can't...because of the video wires. There might be a way to mod it to be able to work...but wouldn't it be a lot easier to spend the $10 -$20 for a Genesis.

As for the Genesis games yes they all work. I'm sure the game genie works too but I don't have one to test it out with.

[Watcher3223]

Pardon my language, but the person you bought your LaserActive from did a half-assed job on the PAC-S10 module.

You have to replace ALL of the surface mounted electrolytics, clean up the leaked mess left behind, and patch any damaged traces.  All of the SMD caps will have leaked by now and not fixing the problem soon will eventually cause serious damage to the copper traces on the board.

I know because I've done recaps and repairs related to SMD caps, including on my own PAC-S10.

[JerryTerrifying]

Well I'm not confident in my ability to solder in new caps. I've never worked on a project that involved and I've only soldered a few things and am not good at it.

The guy was up front about the Sega PAC. Just stating that he replaced most of the caps. And what does and doesn't work. It also needs a new battery. But I don't know anyone that repairs this kind of thing around here. :/ I mean I'd love it if was working 100%

[Watcher3223]

@JerryTerrifying

Well, for the battery, you may be able to get it working again; leave the unit on for about 24 hours. The internal battery is rechargeable.

However, it is possible that one of the caps in the vicinity of the battery may have completely failed, which can keep the battery from being able to sustain the save game RAM.

I've done recapping before, so I may be able to help out if necessary. A problem is not knowing how many caps were changed, so there may be a few or a lot.

[Watcher3223]

I'd imagine that the caps that weren't changed were the ones where space is a premium (and things must fit in some rather close spaces on both boards in the PAC-S10).

I did a complete recapping of my PAC-S10, but I didn't make a video of it for YouTube. Maybe I could do it this time around.

[JerryTerrifying]

Would you be totally against repairing mine? How much would you charge? Also you could make a video of the process. :D

I opened it up and looked at the battery and it looks like it's not making contact on the bottom side...I can open it up and make a quick video of what I'm talking about there.

[Watcher3223]

@JerryTerrifying

No, I wouldn't be against trying to repair your PAC-S10.

As for charge, I'd leave that up to you; if anything, I'd charge for parts.

The battery should be soldered through the board, if memory serves me. You can check its charge with a multimeter if necessary on the underside of the board.

[JerryTerrifying]

That'd be awesome. I'll cover parts, shipping and pay you a ltitle something....I'm unemployed at the moment so don't have a lot of cash to work with for silly stuff like this. I may have to get a Mc Job soon...gotta do what you gotta do ya know.

[Watcher3223]

@JerryTerrifying

I know where you're coming from regarding income.

Personal message sent...

[sinistermoon]

Damn man you missed out I already gave my LDs to Gamester81. Awesome video man I would like to have one of these some day.

[JerryTerrifying]

Lol that's all right. My crazy internet friend gave me her huge collection. I'd estimate around 30+ movies. The stacks about 3 feet high. She's crazy because she works in Antarctica for six month intervals. No need for awesome LDs when you're on the bottom of the world!

[RandomXv]

Is 100 dollars good for the laseractive and sega genesis gamester 81 said the sega pac cost 600 dollars new aand the system 970

[JerryTerrifying]

I would say $100 is fantastic because these things are rare and getting rarer by the day. If you can even find one its rare for them to be priced that low, so definitely snag it. There's only ever a few on ebay and the few that are are usually asking $1,000 or more.

[RandomXv]

On ebay the trick is to search pioneer laserdisc player because youll find the people who dont know exactly what the have sothey price it low.That how my friend got one for 200 with pc engine addon i think

[JerryTerrifying]

Yeah that's not a bad idea and that's a great deal for the PC Engine PAC. I'd LOVE to have one of those so I could finally play some TG16 CD games. I got mine for about $85 shipped in the original box with all the paper work. Then got a Sega PAC from a youtuber for like $20.

[JerryTerrifying]

If you look at my video about my laserdisc player where I compare the size of the LD player to the Xbox...well the Laseractive is even bigger than that LD player. The laseractive stands like 2 inches taller than the LD player in that other video.

It's a freakin monster!

[Resetti64]

Owning one would complete my collection but It'll probably cost a lot so I'll wait until the demand is down.

Laser disks were going to be a replacement for VCR cassettes but it was too costly and movies would need two or more disks so it was impractical..

[JerryTerrifying]

It was more of a niche market for videophiles.  Kind of like it is now with Blu ray VS DVD. The picture quality of a LD is significantly superior to VHS.

Waiting might be an issue if you want one. They're rare and getting rarer. A lot of them have issues with bad capacitors too. If you ever see on on ebay or craigslist hop on it.

[cessnaace]

I remember when those bad boys came out. Too rich for my blood, though. lol.

Cool video! Rated 5 stars. :)

STAY AWESOME! :)

[JerryTerrifying]

Yeah I got lucky and picked that up for $80 shipped on ebay, came in the original box and manual. The Sega PAC I got from a dude on youtube for the price of shipping and the few bucks he paid to replace a few capacitors. I need to replace the rest and get those sound issues resolved. But for $20 to at least make it look like a complete unit is pretty bad ass.

[cessnaace]

I envy you. :)

STAY AWESOME! :)

[TameFan]

wow that thing is epic. Is it anything i cant do?

You should show this vid to cessnaace

lol 900dollars, thats expensive

[JerryTerrifying]

The only thing it can't do is be not awesome!

[TameFan]

haha yeah one of the coolest machines i have ever seen

[DragonHunterG]

wow that thing is really cool. it does just about everything except make toast. or does it??

[JerryTerrifying]

I would die to have the NEC PAC so I couple play Turbo CD games. And man if the less expensive Mega LD games weren't like $50-75 I might actually get a few.

[mevans1182]

dude, that is awesome. I remember seeing it in EGM way back in the day and fainting when I saw the price

[JerryTerrifying]

Man I wish I knew about the magic of gaming magazines when I was a kid. I was completely in the dark until like 2001 when I started internetting hardcore.