Dreamcast was most reliable console!

As far back as I can think the Dreamcast had no overheating problems or anything? If you had problems with your launch console please let me know?

The only consoles to have that problem have been the PS3 and 360.

Oh I thought from what people said that the PS2 and original Xbox had issues. Not sure about the Gamecube though.

They didn't, the only consoles to have that problem are the PS3 and Xbox 360. Though all consoles with optical drives eventually need the laser replacing, and sometimes the motors, so if you're going to go for "most reliable" you'll have to go further back to cartridge based systems with no moving parts

@barrybarryk: I'm pretty sure N64 ram expansion paks would sometimes overheat. I know mine recently starting overheating causing the N64 to crash every 2 hours or so. I replaced the pak and it's fine now though.

Anything with moving parts will need replacing like you said though. Most old consoles I've had that have broken were due to mistreatment (dropped my genesis on my driveway :( ).

A lot of times if a console fails it can be repaired, for example the DS lite hinge that typically breaks is easily repaired.

Now the gamboy pocket, that is a tank. Here's a pic I took a month ago, I don't even remember how old this thing is http://i.imgur.com/BCxnEzo.jpg

Whats the point of this thread? There are a ton of consoles that didn't have any inherent problems at all. Really out of all the dozens of systems there are what, 2 or maybe 3 that had common issues?

Oh and youre wrong. The dreamcast had a well known and common problem where it would reset/restart randomly on users. You make it sound like the dream was the only system to ever be problem free and that every other one is a mangled mess of hardware.

Well I didn't own a PS2 or original Xbox although I do recall that PS2 slim ran extremely hot. The only thing I didn't like about the Dreamcast was that it was way too loud. I'm really ticked off about that wobble but I hope my PS4 doesn't have that problem.

consoles back then werent as complex as they are now either

The laser in the Dreamcast wouldn't read properly and you needed to open it up and turn a little screw.

Yeah I remember opening it up and it was overall a simple set up. Oh yeah I do remember hearing something about the laser.

It's hard to overheat when you're not being used :P

Dreamcast has the same problem all optical devices have and that's the laser going.

The most reliable consoles are cartridge based, my Megadrive and Master System are still going.

Yeah that's true but you have to admit that memory card and controller for Dreamcast was pretty ahead of its time.

the dreamcast has had problems with the power supply board, the laser and the controller ports being loose/unresponsive.

The VMU wasn't really ahead of its time, it was just ridiculous and almost entirely useless. I really don't get the fondness for it apart from some rose tinted nostalgia goggles for a kooky piece of kit. Original, sure but still a ridiculous design for a memory card that saw pretty much no meaningful integration with any games

Maybe that was the problem with my roommate's Dreamcast in college. It would randomly stop reading the disc. I figured out that turning it upside-down lowered the chances of that, but it still happened. All I wanted to do was get through Grandia 2.... I went through so much trouble to do that, but that game was totally worth the hassle.

True that! Well the visual memory unit has basically spawned into what the Wii U and the PSVita have become. Which as we know the PSVita is basically a secondary screen when used in conjunction with the PS4. So the Dreamcast VMU was an idea that evolved into what we see today. So it was a brilliant idea but hadn't been perfected. Grandia 2 no doubt but Iwonder what would have happened if they would have given us a way to set the Dreamcast vertically. It would have probably lasted much longer?