If you have the privilege to own two CD-i players of the same type, you might be surprised that even within the same CD-i model number there can be found differences. One of our CD-i members owns a CD-i 210/20 and a CD-i 210/40. The numbers after the slash are version numbers by Philips, generally newer versions have a higher version number. If you noticed that the weight is difference of both CD-i 210 players, this might of course be because one of them has the Digital Video Cartridge installed and the other has not, that's an obvious difference. But what if both have a DVC installed. Let's look at the key features of the CD-i 210/20: It works on the first generation of the player shell software, it works with the 9141 Digital Video Cartridge (the large one, the first version) and it has a CDM9 laser mechanism (the robust version). Finally, it has a Mono-II PCB board.
The CD-i 210/40 on the other hand works on the second generation of the player shell software, it works with the 9956 Digital Video Cartridge (the small one, the second version) and it has a CDM12.4 laser mechanism (the newer version). Finally, it has a Mono-III PCB board. The difference in DVC type, laser mechanism and PCB board are part of the reason why the CD-i 210 is more heavy compared to the CD-i 210/40.
There is another difference between these two CD-i 210 players that we can't check ourselves, but it is verified by two CD-i members. CD-i member 'Xalalalala's Attic Treats' told us: "I have a CD-i 210/20 and a CD-i 210/40. Let me tell you that the 20 is way faster than the 40 and the burned games run faster and smoother."CD-i member 'HalfblindGamer' confirms this: "I was suprised too. Their configuration is identical but the CD-i 210/20 model turned to be a pleasant surprise. In fact i had some problems on reading copied games with the 40 and until now i've tried about 30 burned games on the CD-i 210/20 and none of them failed.
It seems like the CDM9 laser mechanism of the CD-i 210/20 is more robust and of higher quality compared to the other types. We've discussed this before in this article.
[Thanks, Xalalalala's Attic Treats, Wendy Alphenaar, HalfblindGamer]