EPROM Buyer's Guide

Hello,

I'm interested in making a few repo carts for myself and had a quick question.

I've noticed while looking at different EPROM chips such as 27c512 and have noticed that some models have a letter like M27c512 in front of it. Should i be concerned with this letter? I know what EPROMs are needed for the carts i want, but i don't want to make the simple mistake of buying the wrong ones.

What should i be looking around for when buying NES and SNES EPROMS?

I'd also like to know what people think between the top853 and gq-4x programmer. There is about a $50 difference between and I'd like to make a few nes/snes repos.

brand letters don't matter as long as they have the same basic part number (or equivalent interchange). pinouts are standardized.

I have a top853. it's worked very well for me. I've heard it has issues with vista or 64 bit operating systems. I'm trucking along on an old winxp laptop. it's also limited to 8 bit chips, which is fine for NES. but it can't do 16 bit chips for genesis or some of the bigger snes carts.

EPROM datasheets are your friends. Google the number ID and you'll find the datasheet, you can check out the pin layout.

Very useful stuff. I use it all the time for any chip, etc.

Not all UVEPROMS (or EEPROMs) use the same programming method when made by different manufacturers. But that should only matter if you're building your own programmer.