Dina 2 in one

Dina 2 in one
Manufacturer: Bit Corporation, Telegames
Variants: Telegames Personal Arcade

The Dina 2-in-1, supposedly originally known as the Chuang Zao Zhe 50, is a video game console manufactured by Bit Corporation, a Taiwanese electronics company. It is a hybrid console with the ability to play ColecoVision and SG-1000 games.

History

The Dina 2-in-1 ermerged in the mid-1980s. To this day, little is known about the console, but it is said to have been bundled with a Colecovision game, Meteoric Shower.

It is currently unknown as to whether Bit Corporation were officially licensed to produce this console, however North American video games company, Telegames, supposedly with a license from Coleco, approached Bit Corporation with the proposition of selling the console in the US. Bit Corporation presumably agreed and the console was re-branded the Telegames Personal Arcade, going on sale in this region in 1988. For a period, only the box used the Telegames branding - the unit itself was still labeled as a Dina 2-in-1.

At the time, Sega had chosen not to penetrate the North American video games market, instead selling its SG-1000 consoles in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe through a number of distributors. It is not known whether they were aware that the Telegames Personal Arcade (or the Dina 2-in-1 for that matter) existed. The Telegames Personal Arcade did not openly advertise SG-1000 compatibility as cartridges in North America were rare, and furthermore it was only available via mail order, so it is possible that it slipped by unnoticed.

The Telegames Personal Arcade was a cheaper alternative to the Colecovision ($40 USD) but is now extremely rare, partly because of the small-scale distribution methods employed by Telegames, and partly due to a tornado which swept through Telegames' remaining stock in 1994.

Interestingly Telegames released a Colecovision game compilation for Microsoft Windows in 1996. It is also called "Telegames Personal Arcade".

The Unit

The Dina 2-in-1 is heavily inspired by the SG-1000 II. It uses gamepads similar to the SG-1000 II, with a D-Pad and unlabled and buttons. A number pad exists on the front of the console itself for use with Colecovision games, as does a pause button for SG-1000 ones. As expected, the pause button does not work with the Colecovision and the number pad is incompatible with the SG-1000.

The vast majority of both Colecovision and SG-1000 games will boot in a Dina 2-in-1, however there are some consessions. Colecovision games which require the number pad will struggle if SG-1000 controllers are used, however the system does include two DE-9 ports, which means official Colecovision controllers can be used, as can official Sega ones (going up to the Sega Mega Drive). The system will also refuse to boot if a cartridge occupies both slots at once, as there is no switch to tell it which console should get priority.

It is unlikely that the system is compatible with any of the expansions for either console (meaning it cannot play Atari 2600 games, use the Colecovision steering wheel, or be made into a personal computer through the use of an SK-1100 keyboard). There is an expansion port on the back of the console, but at this time nobody knows what it does.

The cheap price also leads to a cheaply made console. The graphics chip in particular is prone to overheating and damaging the internals after prolonged use.

It is rumoured that the console can output both a PAL and NTSC signal, though this has not been confirmed.

Gallery

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  Dina 2-in-1 console packaged in a Telegames Personal Arcade box

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  Underside of unit

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  Cartridge slot (left SG-1000, right ColecoVision)

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  Number pad for ColecoVision games

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  Pause button for SG-1000 games

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  Back of unit

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  Gamepads

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  Front of box (Telegames)

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  Back of box (Telegames)