Game Gear "services" are quite common now - you can get them recapped to solve the infamously troublesome sound dropouts, and most will change the screen to a far more power efficient LCD display as well to let you play at night.

It still eats batteries, but at a much slower rate.

I'm just gutted I left mine in the garage in storage where the damp air fucked it for good

[–] ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 11 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

How bad is it? You would be amazed how salvageable they are with the right chemical soak and solder reflow.

[–] PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Honestly I never opened it. I have a Master System II and in fairness, the difference in game ports are negligible for the most part, so I never really looked at repairing it.

Speaking more broadly, I wouldn't mind learning how to solder - my skills have mostly been in software rather than hardware. Things like fucking about with a Raspberry Pi and their expansion boards sounds like a right laugh.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Soldering is super easy, don't let it intimidate you. You can be going in no time after dropping just a few bucks.

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 2 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

if the board is completely fucked, people have made reproduction boards to move the components to, too.

soldering isnt hard, it just takes common sense, a modicum of thought, and a little bit of patience and carefulness.

If you are on a extreme budget, try to find a used Weller soldering station at a pawn store/garage sale/thrift store/etc and just take some dead electronic device you have and practic desoldering and resoldering the components on it.

if you have a bit of money to spend, pick up a Hakko FX-888d station and beginners soldering project (You can get radios, various LED projects, and some lead solder etc etc, all for pretty cheap, and by the time you've done one you'll be well on your way to basic soldering skills on most non-micro components.

[–] PhobosAnomaly@feddit.uk 1 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

That's very kind of you, thank you for the crash course - some great pointers!

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 points 9 hours ago

np, good luck with it, if you try to pick it up.

Its a great skillset to have, even at a basic beginner level.. Once you get comfortable with a soldering iron, so many dead electronics suddenly can be repaired for cheap instead of replaced... You have no idea how many TVs I've saved just from the dump just with capacitor replacements alone.

[–] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 8 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

The best mod would be changing it from batteries to a cell phone style rechargeable battery. At least then I wouldn't care as much of how quick it dies since im not replacing a ton of batteries every day. Even rechargeable ones, you still gotta take them out and put them back, which is annoying as well.

I miss mine as well. I remember as a kid our grandmother got me and a few cousins it for Xmas one year. I also remember breaking it the following year during a parent kid picnic at school where it got crushed. I still remember it, which says a lot because I have very few memories from way back then!

Edit: of course they made this mod! If I ever find one for cheap I would love to do this just as a hobby.

https://handheldlegend.com/products/cleanjuice-game-gear-rechargeable-battery-module

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 4 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I had a rechargable battery pack for mine back in the 90s.

[–] yucandu@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Bit of rubbing alcohol and a toothbrush usually solves those "damp air fucked my electronics" issues.