Poll: Dreamcast or DVD player?

[Viper GTS]

I have $125 from my birthday. I can add whatever money is necessary to purchase either of these items.

My choices:

Decent DVD player

Pros:
- I'll have a 27" Wega tomorrow, what better way to use it?
- I love watching movies, & now that I'm out of school I'll have more time on weekends.

Cons:
- DVD's are pretty much all they're good for. I'll be using the built in speakers in the Wega for now, so using it as a CD player is kinda pointless.

Dreamcast with keyboard/mouse/extra controller/VMU units

Pros:
- Hackable as hell, I'll be able to do a lot more than just play DC games
- I can play Quake on my Wega!
- I can play Q3A on my Wega!
- Web browsing from my bed.

Cons:
- No watching DVD movies on my Wega.

Any thoughts?

Also, are there any wireless keyboards/mice for DC? Any optical mice?

Viper GTS

 

[Viper22]

Well ive got both. Though my Dreamcast has been in its box for the past 9 months since nothing good (in my opinion, no flames please) has come out for it and am actually trying to get rid of it so i can probobly hook you up with a deal PM me. My DVD Player gets used a pretty good amount on my 36" Wega

Viper22

 

[toph99]

DVD Player, but that's because i don't like consoles

 

[Viper GTS]

You'll have a PM in a minute.

I do intend to get both eventually, these two are not mutually exclusive. Whichever one I don't get now I will get in 2-4 weeks.

The question is which will offer more entertainment value during that time period.

Viper GTS

 

[PistachioByAzul]

- Hackable as hell, I'll be able to do a lot more than just play DC games

Not really, VCD and SNES emulator playback sucks. The Linux port is useless. MP3 playback is also useless.

 

[Siva]

LOL, I just PMed viper offering to sell him my DC

 

[Siva]

<< MP3 playback is also useless. >>


Wrong! Its like having a 20+ disc changer in your room, since you can fit so many songs onto one CD. I find that very convient.

 

[RichieZ]

DVD player, i use it way more than my dreamcast even tho i have hella games.

Browsing the internet on your dreamcast SUCKS! Pages look like crap and if you want it to go fast u hafta buy the broadband adapter

 

[PistachioByAzul]

Wrong! Its like having a 20+ disc changer in your room, since you can fit so many songs onto one CD. I find that very convient.

Yeah, but our computers can do that.

 

[Viper GTS]

Pages look like crap and if you want it to go fast u hafta buy the broadband adapter

Is it any worse than windows @ 640x480? Also, I can't get broadband here so I'm perfectly used to 56K speeds.

Viper GTS

 

[Siva]

If you have one in your room.

 

[Siva]

The web broswer isn't horrible, but you better have the keyboard or else its pretty much useless. The pages don't look bad at all, you just have to scroll to the sides because it doesn't always fit on the screen. The mouse makes a big diff too, if you want to do any serious browsing I'd get it.

 

[Viper GTS]

If I use it for browsing I will have both the keyboard and mouse, so that's not a problem. Has anybody tried the forums on a DC?

What resolution is it equivalent to, 640x480?

Viper GTS

 

[geno]

<< Not really, VCD and SNES emulator playback sucks. The Linux port is useless. >>


I dunno about the Linux port, but the SNES emulation is borderline unplayable.

 

[Deeko]

dreamcast.

 

[RichieZ]

<< Is it any worse than windows @ 640x480? Also, I can't get broadband here so I'm perfectly used to 56K speeds. >>



I think its much worse, the browser software sucks and pages don't show up correctly. I'll load it up and take a couple of pics w/ my digital camera. Be back in a few

 

[yellowperil]

It's at 640x480, but doesn't support JavaScript. Pages look blurry as hell on a regular TV (not sure about Wega), so I recommend using a VGA box (then again if you're at your desk you might as well use your computer anyway). I tried the SNES emulator and it only runs at ~80% speed. Other than that, the games are good. I just sold mine yesterday for $55. I would get a DVD player.

 

[mosdef]

Definately Dreamcast. All I gotta say is VIRTUA TENNIS!!! With DC, though I'm not supporting piracy, you basically get free games with your system. If you decide to buy a Dreamcast, don't buy the Dreamcast brand keyboard and mouse. You can buy adapters for like $15 and then you can use any keyboard or mouse you like, including optical mice. If you need more convincing on the Dreamcast PM me. Also, check out DC.IGN.COM for a good Dreamcast site.

-mosdef

 

[RichieZ]

Alrite here it is:

AT home page

This thread

As you can see its readable but its ugly and oh boy is it slow, even moving the cursor aroung is sluggish at times. This is from my 35&quot; Mitsubishi TV. Man 56K is slow.

And here is a pciture of all my stuff:
HT stuff
no the right speaker is not right nxt to the tv anymore, its about the same distant from the TV as the left speaker. We only had it htere because we were demoing the second sub for the system, for my system to be THX ultra certified its supposed to have 2 subs, but I decided to only go w/ one since the room isn' that big.

 

[MrBond]

I love my DC, it's great for parties, etc. I will highly reccomend NFL2k1 if you're into football at all, its an excellent game (although the pacers are damn near Godlike in it.), and quite fun. It's a nice diversion at school in the dorms as well. Webbrowsing isn't all that good, but its useable.

I use my DVD player more though. I'm just not all that into single player gaming unless its on the PC, so the DC is kind of lacking there for me. Nothing like popping in a DVD and relaxing for a while.

Of course, with the prices DCs are going for these days, I'd just get both.

Also, VMU's are nice, but I wouldn't get more then one (two max if you have two controllers). The &quot;extra info&quot; they display isn't all that useful, and they fill up fairly fast (espcially with NFL2k1, which takes an entire one to store a season). Go for the 4x memory cards you can get for about the same price.

 

[Viper GTS]

Where can you get the keyboard/mouse adapters? Are they just as compatible as the official Dreamcast ones? Do the ports have sufficient power to run a wireless receiver?

And the browser is pretty ugly, but it might be tolerable if I wanted to avoid sitting at my desk.

Viper GTS

 

[Soybomb]

<< Yeah, but our computers can do that. >>

They can play dvd's too cant they

I bought a dc a couple weeks ago and I think its cool... Get a couple good fighting games like soul caliber and dead or alive 2, go grab crazy taxi, maybe unreal tournament or q3 (personally I hate fps' on a console, I want high res with a kb and mouse), a sonic the hedge hog game, etc. The snes emulation isn't so hot yet (i expect it to improve over time), but the nes emulation is pretty good. I expect more and more hacks for it to evolve over time too.

Also I think you should get it while you can, when they're gone they're gone, you'll still be able to get a dvd player in 6 months

 

[mosdef]

The adapters are really easy to find. Check online or at your local Electronic's Boutique, Funcoland, or any other gaming store. I have no idea if they work with wireless, you can always try and if it doesn't work just switch to regular keyboards.

-mosdef

 

[Aenygma]

I have one with multiple coloured controllers memory card extension cord about 12 games in box getting ready to be put up for sale.. PM me if interested.

 

[Nutdotnet]

MY DVD Player!

I sold my DC before I got that 27&quot; Wega, so I really couldn't tell you if I liked it or not. I just got sick of playing all the same type of games on it. I mean how many racing games do you need?