General Pong question from Pong system Newbie

[sku_u]

I know nothing about Pongs other than that many of them predated even the earliest cartridge based units. I'm interested in getting a few pong systems and have two questions:

 

1. In terms of playability (not collectability), what are the best home based pong systems (including non-cartridge based misc. systems)?

 

2. Is this pong I recently purchased good or is it a piece of garbage that I overpaid for?

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3017627679&rd=1

[Lemmi]

i think $15 is an average price for pongs on ebay, but ive never heard of that one

 

here are some fun pong systems

 

Left side top to bottom

APF TV fun

Atari 2600 jr

DYN electronics

 

Right side top to bottom

Roberts sportsrama 8

Atari C-380 video pinball - very nice pong system and the pinball flippers are on the sides of the console

Radio shack TV Scoreboard

[sku_u]

Wow, that Telstar Arcade looks busy and really cool!

[Lemmi]

yup its full of fun

 

and it has removable carts too

they only made 4 carts for it #1, #2, #3 are not to hard to find

but #4 is really hard to find

 

here read more about it it has awesome pics of it there too

http://www.pong-story.com/coleco1.htm

[Smada Bez]

I have that exact same pong system. I bought it a few years ago at a flea market. But it didn't come with the ac adapter. I noticed that yours does. Would you mind telling me the specs when you get yours. The system takes the same plug as a 2600, so I was temped to try one of those but I didn't know if the polarity is the same.

 

Thanks

[Rob Mitchell]

Pong units are usually $2-$5 at thrift stores .. and really nobody wants them ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[BIG EARL]

My favorite is the "Radofin TeleSports mini TV game" although I have only played 3 different "Pongs", the other 2 being Radio Shack TV scoreboard (was missing the gun) and the Roberts Rally IV

 

I like the Radofin because it uses a "Thumb" slider instead of a twist knob, its a lot easier for me to use.

 

I paid between $5 to $10 for each of my "pongs" at thrift stores. I don't know why anybody would pass on a Pong system they are great. The rules are easy to learn, they don't take long to set up and just about anyone can play.

 

I buy all the pong systems I find.

[AtariDude]

Here is a good site with the history of different pong type systems:

 

http://www.pong-story.com/