Best source for 2732 eproms?

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Need some expert advice. Thanks in advance!

Need to have 24 roms burned for robotron.

1- What is the best source for buying chips?

This one has each chip for 2.95 apiece. (assuming these are 250nS?)
http://www.arcadechips.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_23&products_id=74

Jameco has the 450nS chips for 5.95 apiece

2- how many do i have to buy to end up with at least 24 good ones? forums indicate high programming failure rates on 2732s?

3- assuming the original chips are 450nS, will using 250nS have an adverse affect on any "speed up" of the game play?
 
I generally buy chips in bulk lots, occasionally by the pound...

I've gotten them from epromman in the past, but I have heard he was getting out of it. Try contacting him anyway, it's worth a shot.

Sometimes you can find lots on eBay too.

2732's are very reliable, I've only had a few bad ones, but if you're buying a bulk lot of untested, used ROMs, and you need 24, try to get at least a couple (two or three) extra, just in case.

I'm assuming you have an EPROM eraser - you'll need it when buying used chips. Be sure to *thoroughly* clean the old label off, goo on the window will prevent them from erasing completely.

Faster chips won't affect anything. The rating is just how long it takes the chip to return with the data - as long as it is as fast or faster than what the game needs, it's fine. There will be absolutely no difference in the way the game operates.

-Ian
 
Outstanding. You guys are a technical rainbow of skittle-like goodness.

ordered some new ones from epromman for 1.75 apiece.
cheers.
 
forums indicate high programming failure rates on 2732s?

Only thing I can think of is people not recognizing if the EPROM is a 2732 or 2732A. The former programs at 25V, the latter at 21V. Try to program a 2732A as a 2732, and I'd guess you might have a high programming failure rate...
 
I used epromman a few months ago (after the threads in question about him being either gone or unreliable) and didn't have any problems. I haven't checked all the chips, but the ones I have tried have all erased and programmed normally; I believe he included extras of each type I ordered as well.

LeChuck
 
My two cents is to buy a 2nd ROM board that you can swap out instead of monkeying with a bunch of eproms.

That, or burn a double set and alternate between two games by flipping a switch.

On average, I think I would bend at least one pin every time I changed them out.

Kerry
 
This is a one time shot for me, once you have patched blue roms i can't think of any benefit of switching the roms back to orange or original blue label. nor would they ever need to be reprogrammed.

His exact words in the email:

I've been running low on 2732's lately, here's what I have:
NMC27C32QE-45 - Refurbished 50¢ each
TMS2732A-35/45JL - Refurbished- We've been getting about 25% failures on these 35¢ each
M2732A-2F1 - NEW $1.75
 
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