I own both boards... and for anyone who cares to listen... these boards can easily be bulletproofed. The number 1 issue with PP and PP2 boardsets is the edge connector where the +5 comes in. Bottom line is that the edge connector should have had 2 or 4 more +5 pins but because they didn't they heat up the edge and the connectors and or traces near the edge connectors start to fail. As they start to fail the SENSE feature of the AR boards senses that there is less and less +5 making it to the boardset so it ups the voltage to compensate... as it ups the voltage it causes the edge connector and/or traces near it to fail even more eventually burning something out. To bulletproof the boardsets simply run wires from each +5 test tab and each GND test tab on both the video and mainboards to two separate molex connectors... then you can either add a molex connector to the current power supply +5 and GND wires or do what I did and run them to a dedicated switcher. If you go with the switcher route, make sure to disconnect the +5 coming from the AR boards at or near the PCB edge connectors (both mainboard and video... and there are more than one so be careful). I will post a picture of my PP boardset below. It looks sort of "hacked" but trust me... it works great.
Now... I prefer PPII. Why? Because of a number of reasons. (1) It has more tracks (including the original's Fuji). (2) It's much MUCH faster gameplay. PP tops out at about 60-70% the speed that PP2 tops out at. (3) I prefer the sounds of PP2 to PP... other than the engine noise that is. What you will want to know though is that PPII does have at least 1 bug that I've discovered (and confirmed with other PP2 owners)... when you get to close to max speed, there are times when you swerve off the road (usually in a corner) and back on the road you will hear the engine noise twitch a little and then increase...regardless of whether you are speeding up or slowing down (due to being off road). During this "bug", your cars speed increases at about 2 to 3x the normal acceleration maxing out at 330MPH very quickly... if you crash or let off the gas the "bug" ends and you're back to the normal speed/engine sounds. If you can learn to use this "bug" to your advantage you can get some pretty good scores. I've confirmed this issue with a half dozen PP2 owners. It usually only happens on the TEST track though I've had it happen on Fuji before only because they're the only tracks you can get close enough to max speed for the bug to kick in... the other two tracks are just brutal.
My cab currently only houses 1 boardset and it's been PP2 for about 90% of the time. I do have a 2nd PP PCB cage coming in the mail (today?) and I plan on reversing both cages and attaching them to each other so I can swap games by sticking my hand through the coin door and moving the two edge connectors and two molex connectors from one to the other.
Here is a pic of my bulletproofed PCB:
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Topic: What are the differences in Pole Position vs. Pole Position 2 (Read 5163 times)
