[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Even before I received my wonderful D25s (they got a bit lost in the mail, but I received them in the end), I was thinking if I would be able to use the 6xDD batterypack for my Atari Lynx with it.

Well, that plug was too small. Then I got my Gamegear rechargable batterypack by GP (Gold Peak). Compared the plugs, they were the same. Voltage is also 9 volts. Then I realized it most likely would have the wrong polarity.

Tried it anyway, the plug was short, like on the official Sony adapter. To my surprise the display lit up and the player worked!
(even though I couldn't remember when I last charged this thing)

My batterypack is about the size of a pack of cigarrettes (sp?), I don't know how long it will last yet, but probably long enough as the Gamegear is well known for guzzling battery power like there's no tomorrow (it's 3 watts, uses a halogen backlight apparently). The battery pack is 1000mAh BTW, I'm not sure how long it needs to be charged.

Moral of this story, looking for an easy solution to power your old Sony PCDP from the 9v adapter port? Find a Gamegear batterypack somewhere, no soldering required.

 

[Hirsch]

Some of the old Sony's have the center pin positive, others have the center pin negative. A 9v supply will work if the player has the same polarity as the gear it was intended to drive. If the polarity is wrong, you could trash a player.

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

I see, I was under the impression from reading messages here that all the old 9 volts ones had the negative pole at the center. That would make more sense as they could use the same standard powersupply for all the different types (the orange label one).
I wonder why Sony varied the polarity on different types.

I didn't expect to be able to destroy it with the wrong polarity, as I have never experienced that happening with any other device. Also from what I read at this forum about people trying powersupplies with the wrong polarity, the PCDP still worked perfectly afterwards.

 

[myself, aka me]

you would think they would have a diode there to stop frying from happening...

 

[LamerDeluxe (tm)]

Right, I understood there was some kind of circuitry in there to handle the not so constant current anyway, so why not add a prevention of damage with the wrong polarity.

Even though Sony probably said only to use the standard powersupply, they would have known that people were going to use other ones regardless and I bet they didn't want to see fried ones being returned during warranty.