PCE Pro 32M Flash Cart

[Official Ninja]

Any one have the TotoTEK PCE Pro 32M flash cart?
http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_19&products_id=30

If so, do you like it? Easy to use? Any draw backs to it? I've read you cant mix Region roms on it. But if you have a region switch , why not just select the region of the rom your going to play before turning it on?

I'm thinking of getting one as $60 is not a bad price. My brother uses that other one (i forget the name) that uses a usb programmer and has 128m. He really likes it. At 1st he thought it was broken but once he found the right software to use he now loves it.

Thanks!

[Frank_fjs]

I don't have one but a friend of mine does. He says it works great and is a lot cheaper than other similar devices on the market.

Only drawback is that you need a parallel cable/connection on your PC and it doesn't work on newer versions of Windows (Vista, 7).

[NecroPhile]

The Tototek card is comparatively primitive and inferior to the Neo Flash offerings in every way but price.  Do yourself a favor and pay the extra $40 for one of the newer cards.

[Official Ninja]

The Tototek card is comparatively primitive and inferior to the Neo Flash offerings in every way but price.  Do yourself a favor and pay the extra $40 for one of the newer cards.

Do you say that because of the more primitive interface to the computer? I'm not worried about the parallel interface. I'm a retro computer user and have many TRS-80, Atari, TI, and IBM clone computers / laptops around. I'm sure I'll find a parallel port on a windows machine somewhere.

What other features would make it inferior? I see it stores less being only 32M. besides that if you can get the rom on it and it plays what else are we looking at?

(not being a smart-ass, i really want to know as I've never used a flash cart on any system that didn't have an Atari logo.)

[NecroPhile]

What other features would make it inferior?

Pros:
- cheat feature
- price

Cons:
- no reset button, forcing you to cycle power to get back to the load menu
- requires both epp and usb connections for loading
- exposed chips = increased risk of component damage
- less memory, requiring more frequent reloads
- epp is far slower than usb (admittedly, the tiny files renders this point nearly moot)
- physical size; it'll stick out of the console, consequently making it more prone to physical damage (Neo Flash carts fit in standard HuCard jewel cases for easy storage)

Note that none of these things is all that big of a deal and either option will get the job done, but when you add all the positives of the Neo Flash offerings, they're well worth the added cost.

[Official Ninja]

Very cool. Great information. These things are not all too expensive. So I think I'm going to go with the PCE Pro. I can always get the Neo Flash someday if I find too many short comings with it.
The main reason is the USB model cost almost double, with better models costing more than double.
I think up to 31 games is all I need.

Maybe I can pocket my brothers Neo Flash when he is not looking.....  

I wouldn't......

[Duo_R]

How about a group buy on some Neo cards? Hasn't been done for a while but we could score a nice discount on the cards.

[NecroPhile]

I think up to 31 games is all I need.

Considering the average ROM size, five or six games is more realistic.  Still better than one at a time though.

[Official Ninja]

I think up to 31 games is all I need.

Considering the average ROM size, five or six games is more realistic.  Still better than one at a time though.

Oh, I see. 31 games if each game was 1M but the average game is 5??
So it wouldnt be flash it and forget it. I'd have to always be updating it with my current top 5...

So is the M megabytes? Its a 32 Megabyte card?

[Duo_R]

bascially it should be a 4 megabyte card, iirc you divide these flash cards by 8 to convert to megabytes. I know that is how my gameboy flashcard worked at least.

[NecroPhile]

So is the M megabytes? Its a 32 Megabyte card?

Close - it's 32 megabits (4 megabytes).  Some titles are only 1 megabit (i.e. Timeball) and one is 20 megabits (Street Fighter II'), but most games are in the 4-8 megabits range.

[Duo_R]

Here is a megabit to megabyte converter:

 http://www.unitconversion.org/data-storage/megabits-to-megabytes-conversion.html

So this should mean that the pro PCE flash cart is actually 16 megabytes (128 megabit)

[nat]

So this should mean that the pro PCE flash cart is actually 16 megabytes (128 megabit)

How do you figure? The PCE Pro is 32Mb. 32 megabits. That's 4 megabytes.

My two cents on the PCE Pro: you get what you pay for. The thing doesn't hold much, not to mention its outdated interface (parallel) and other cons Necromancer mentioned add up to a sub-par product in today's age. The thing even looks like a prototype-- exposed and unprotected ICs is a bad, bad idea.

And yeah, the average non-CD Turbo ROM size is probably 4-6 megabits, with a good number being 8 or higher.

[Duo_R]

Nat I was talking about the Neo 128 flash cards

Sorry that wasn't very clear. Lol

[nat]

Ah, in that case you are correct. However, you said PCE Pro which is the 32Mb Tototek cart.

[Duo_R]

Ya I goofed lol

[Charlie]

Love mine.....when I use it.

As for "user freindly:
1. Noticed that it worked "cleanest" by following a set sequence of connection and dis-connection...although it's been so long I don't remember what that sequence was.  But I could occasionally loose stuff (or maybe lock the unit up) if I did it wrong.
2. It apparently wanted progs to be some min size, or maybe it was some size boundry (ie: 2Meg ok, 1Meg ok, but oddball values like 1832 bytes NG).  Made it a pain for homebrew, as I always had to pad my progs.

Sorry for all the "maybe" stuff, but as I said, it's been a while.

Charlie

[Senshi]

How about a group buy on some Neo cards? Hasn't been done for a while but we could score a nice discount on the cards.

Count me in

[MottZilla]

What kind of a "discount" or more accurately what would the cost then be for one of these PCE Flash cards? Neo products are really pricey. I owned the Sega Genesis cartridge and ended up selling it off. Too expensive. Actually wasn't that much better than my cheaper but still expensive Double Pro Fighter. The Tototek cart is alot cheaper but seems to be out of stock.

[NecroPhile]

What kind of a "discount" or more accurately what would the cost then be for one of these PCE Flash cards?

64mb flash cart: 1-9 = $99 each, 10-49 = $69 each, 50-99 = $65 each, and 100+ = $59 each
128mb flash cart: 1-9 = $129 each, 10-49 = $99 each, 50-99 = $94 each, and 100+ = $89 each
128mb flash cart with save: 1-9 = $149 each, 10-49 = $109 each, 50-99 = $104 each, and 100+ = $99 each

Note that free shipping is included when buying less than 10 units, so the discount on volume purchases is not quite as good as it appears at first glance; figure an extra $10 each to cover shipping to the US and for distribution.

[Official Ninja]

Wow, maybe I got the last one???

[MottZilla]

The odd thing though about Tototek cartridge vs NeoFlash while some people have the problem with the parallel port, I have the problem that NeoFlash's drivers atleast the last time I tried didn't support 64bit Windows Vista which is what my PC uses. So it's a big hassle. The only way I used the Neo Myth MD was by using the SD card cartridge and putting ROMs on it since I could use any PC to put the files on the SD card. But for Tototek's PCE cartridge, I have an old laptop with parallel port that I used for my old SNES Game Doctor 7 so that's not a problem and saves me the trouble of going to a PC with Windows XP 32bit to put games on the card. The laptop runs Win98SE which the NeoFlash drivers also don't work with.

Edit:
Tototek has some more stock of the PCE Pro 32M. http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30

[Official Ninja]

Got my PCE Pro 32M yesterday. I must say, I love it. It couldn't be any easier to use. I keep my Duo-r in USA mode, so when I use the software to flash the cart I check the USA box and everything works great. US and Jap game alike. It also works perfectly in my TurboExpress, although its hard to put the express down on its back when the cart is inserted.

[exodus]

Hey, sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I got sent one of these back when they were available, and I've never ever been able to make it work. I'm wondering if any of the people who owned one have advice.

Here, they show the dreamwriter thing you're supposed to download: http://www.tototek.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5_19&products_id=30

But I've never managed to get my PC to recognize that the card is even attached, using the USB attachment. I can't find a place to search for drivers, and have no idea what the deal is with this thing.

Questions:
- does it not work on versions of windows newer than XP?
- do I really need to use both the giant cable thing and the USB?
- anyone have the drivers?

If the first two things are true, I guess I'm not using this until I set up my awesome windows 95 box (a thing I actually plan to do)

thanks for advice! this is my only flash cart.

[CrackTiger]

I only ever got it working regularly on Windows ME. The drivers were always an issue.

[exodus]

any chance you've still got those drivers floating around? maybe I should just dump this thing, or donate it to a museum.

[SignOfZeta]

I never got mine to work either. If anyone can run these POS we should send all of ours to him with a list of games we want on the thing and buy him pizza or something.

[mickcris]

Iirc, it only gets power from USB and you need both it and the parallel cable.  I got rid of mine years ago but I never had a problem programming it.  Think I still have that pc around somewhere.

[ccovell]

Hey, sorry to dredge up an old thread, but I got sent one of these back when they were available, and I've never ever been able to make it work. I'm wondering if any of the people who owned one have advice.

The Parallel cable is needed for data; the USB is only for power.  Stupid, yes.  It was stupid when it was released for not having modern PC and USB support.

The Dreamwriter software across several models (SMS, MD...) seems to lock up the parallel port after you use it once.  If you turn "off" the xxx-Pro interface unit or disconnect a cartridge, it'll no longer be recognized.  You'll need to reset the parallel port somehow, either by putting your PC in standby mode and waking it again, or some other means.  (Starting and quitting my Willem PAR EPROM software works for me.)  Start up any of Tototek's software only after the device is connected and turned on.

[exodus]

this sounds like a huge pain in the butt. I think I should maybe just dump this thing, considering it can only hold about 10 proper sized hucards anyway. resetting the parallel port (which I would have to... get one of somehow) is kind of the last straw, there.

[Keith Courage]

oops, didn't realize this with an old thread. Comment deleted.