Anyone have experience with replacement laser lens for Dreamcast?

Tech Talk
1

I know I’ve seen at least two kinds of replacement laser lenses for the Dreamcast.

Here’s one up on e-Bay at the moment ==> SPU3200 16 PIN SANYO OPTICA LASER PARA SEGA DREAMCAST | eBay

There’s another brand, too. It has the label number R48.

I have a Dreamcast that will boot up and it does seem to turn GD-ROM’s but will not read them leading me to believe this is a laser lens issue… probably aggravated by a Homebrew CD I made and used a few years back. In the meantime, I have a backup DC I use. The Homebrew CD has been permanently retired!

I am wondering if either of the two replacement laser lenses works with the Dreamcast.

I am somewhat wary of the fact that this is a Sanyo part… some unpleasant experiences with their electronics in the past. Not a quality electronics manufacturer (ie, don’t expect their stuff to last longer than 4 years, max) IMHO.

2

You can always buy a new dreamcast. I’ve acquired 3 for about $25 each throughout the years.

They’re pretty cheap and easy to find where I’m located.

3

Adding to the above post, when my Jap Dreamcast started having problems I swapped the cd compartment over from a UK Dreamcast. Still seems to be working fine, and from what I remember it was pretty straightforward to do. Just keep track of what order you unscrew things in.

And buying a used DC could work out cheaper than hunting down a part replacement by itself.

4

Very true about used systems but I am somewhat crazy about having perfectly good hardware going to waste. Nothing wrong with the system that I can see besides a laser lens problem…

<SIGH> We’ll see. The DC in ICU isn’t my number one priority right now…