CollectorVision Phoenix Release Thread

[insertclevernamehere]

My worry with no further production runs of the Phoenix being planned is what happens if my one and only Phoenix stops working?  I don't know how likely that is but I do have a little anxiety in the back of my mind about it.  When I got my Phoenix, I could only afford one and I sold my very temperamental CV afterwards.  My plan was to hopefully purchase another in a possible future production run.  That way I could still play my CV games while my broken Phoenix went back to Collectorvision for a repair.  Which leads me to my other worry.  Will Collectorvision even do that?  If so, could I be looking at a turnaround of days for the repair or could I be waiting for months?

 

 

[Hastor]

18 minutes ago, insertclevernamehere said:

My worry with no further production runs of the Phoenix being planned is what happens if my one and only Phoenix stops working?  I don't know how likely that is but I do have a little anxiety in the back of my mind about it.  When I got my Phoenix, I could only afford one and I sold my very temperamental CV afterwards.  My plan was to hopefully purchase another in a possible future production run.  That way I could still play my CV games while my broken Phoenix went back to Collectorvision for a repair.  Which leads me to my other worry.  Will Collectorvision even do that?  If so, could I be looking at a turnaround of days for the repair or could I be waiting for months?

 

 

I think it is pretty clear that the future is uncertain, and we need to go with what we have now, aside from things like devs that want to help the existing units etc.

All consoles hit a point where they don't make more, and whether that is now, or after another batch, it will be true for the Phoenix. If you really are concerned about access to Colecovision games I recommend doing like I did and getting a recapped video modded CV. It is also good for comparisons to see if the Phoenix is doing anything differently. Yes it costs money, but will likely only cost more in the future, so I'd recommend looking into that as I can guarantee there will be used CVs available for some time but no one can promise anything about the future of the Phoenix. As mentioned it may well happen, but no one is in a position to guarantee it.

[+Sargon]

On 11/26/2022 at 12:10 PM, TPR said:

 

I’m going to assume that the answer is the same as what JF posted above the last three times you have asked the same question this year. 
 

This is the piece of hardware I currently use to get it working on one of my TV’s. 
 

 

 

I ordered the exact scaler pictured above and just tested it out.  Unfortunately it did not resolve the issues with my Sony 4K OLED TV.  I still get garbled HDMI output more often than not.  I have no idea what the root cause of my problem is, but with everything I have tried I think I can rule out any scaler as a solution.  The best option I have is still to use the mClassic upscaler powered by a USB cable with an inline power switch, which I can repeatedly flip on and off until the picture is playable.  Even that is far from ideal though, as it can sometimes take 5-10 or more attempts before the picture is ok.  It can be any combination of centered, shifted up, or shifted down, sometimes with major garbled graphics, sometimes with just slight glitches, and sometimes perfectly clean.  Admittedly, I have a somewhat complex setup, so these issues could be unique to me, but I have never experienced them with any other console.  I'm done spending any more time and/or money trying to resolve it though.  For now, I'll live with it "as is" and continue to play ColecoVision games sparingly.  Hopefully in the future we might see an update to resolve some of the Phoenix's HDMI problems.  Otherwise, I may just end up having to get an original console RGB-modded at some point.

[Hastor]

If I ever find another switch like mine to try I'll send you one to try. It was cheap but probably a batch from a Chinese company that moved on. Identical ones with different branding don't work. I'd even want to test a current one that looked the same in case they changed the internals. At least one other person here found one and it worked for them. I'd love a spare myself.

[+OLD CS1]

On 12/10/2022 at 9:17 PM, nick3092 said:

While these are not actively sold, if some come up for sale second hand, feedback should be made available for any potential buyers to decide if they want to buy it. How else could a second hand buyer research the product if complaints are deleted?

He noted that the only thing which was cleaned up are duplicate complaints.  When threads grow too large, and this one is currently 49 pages, people tend to skip over all the content and just post their problems.  This is not helpful at all.  What might be helpful in this scenario is to have a problem tracker, maybe in the first post, so that new readers can more easily find their problems, especially if their search-fu is weak.

 

On 12/10/2022 at 9:17 PM, nick3092 said:

Of course now I have no way of knowing if they were legitimate because you've deleted them. I've felt in the past that your moderation favors vendors when people complain, and this seems to be just another example.

If they problems have been addressed, then they certainly have some legitimacy.  If the thread still summarizes the problems people are having, as well as potential technical solutions, I am not sure where the problem lies.  You quoted @TPR's comments on why and how he made the clean-up, but it seems you missed the point and are demanding full transparency -- which everyone says they want until they get it, per my observation above.

[+evg2000]

34 minutes ago, OLD CS1 said:

What might be helpful in this scenario is to have a problem tracker, maybe in the first post, so that new readers can more easily find their problems, especially if their search-fu is weak.

 

 

https://github.com/CollectorVision/Phoenix-Colecovision/issues

for 2600 

https://github.com/CollectorVision/Phoenix2600/issues

[+OLD CS1]

2 hours ago, evg2000 said:

https://github.com/CollectorVision/Phoenix-Colecovision/issues

for 2600 

https://github.com/CollectorVision/Phoenix2600/issues

As is listed in the FP

[TPR]

13 hours ago, OLD CS1 said:

He noted that the only thing which was cleaned up are duplicate complaints.  When threads grow too large, and this one is currently 49 pages, people tend to skip over all the content and just post their problems.  This is not helpful at all.  What might be helpful in this scenario is to have a problem tracker, maybe in the first post, so that new readers can more easily find their problems, especially if their search-fu is weak.

 

If they problems have been addressed, then they certainly have some legitimacy.  If the thread still summarizes the problems people are having, as well as potential technical solutions, I am not sure where the problem lies.  You quoted @TPR's comments on why and how he made the clean-up, but it seems you missed the point and are demanding full transparency -- which everyone says they want until they get it, per my observation above.

THIS!

 

And I have once again cleaned up the thread due to people who are just here to complain and not here to be helpful in any way at all. 

[Eric M]

phoenix 50hz / 60hz

 

Hi,

 

Maybe a stupid question : is it possible to switch phoenix from 60hz to 50 hz ??

 

thx

 

Eric

[ricky]

No, it is not possible to switch between 50 and 60Hz, there is no parameter to do so.

But it's a very good idea, it probably needs a new firmware that can support it.

[Hastor]

I got Circus from Collectorvision. While not advertised as a Phoenix game, when I ran on my Phoenix it said F17/Phoenix version with an option to press 9 for the normal version. If I don't press 9, everything is glitched and flickery and not playable. The player is in the border at the bottom of the screen etc. If I press 9 to play the normal version it seems fine.

 

Anyone know what's up here? It almost seems like they were gonna make it for Phoenix then gave up without removing the code.

I've got the latest stuff installed on my Phoenix and other games are fine. This happen for others?

 

(Collectorvision's contact form is a 404 right now as well)

Edited February 22 by Hastor