What are the exact differences between the Nintendo Gamecube and Panasonic Q?
Panasonic Q was just a GameCube with a built in DVD player, which original GameCube lacked.
The Panasonic Q (also known as Q and GameQ) is a hybrid version of the GameCube with a DVD player manufactured by Panasonic in cooperation with Nintendo. The system was officially released only in Japan. A feature of its main competitors Xbox and PlayStation 2, the GameCube lacked commercial DVD movie playback functionality due to the use of the Nintendo optical discs format for games and the correspondingly small disc tray.
(emphasis mine)
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I did my own research about this because I knew that DVD Playback was not the only improvement. The new features and/or improvements introduced in the Panasonic Q compared to the GameCube are:
- RCA and S-Video outputs are present instead of the Analog AV Out port
- Uses a 100V C7/C8 connector for power instead of the standard Gamecube AC Adapter
- Is significantly bigger, due to the new internal components required for DVD Playback
- The disc mechanism is Tray-loading (a tray goes out and you put the disc there) instead of the Top-loading (the top of the device is opened for the disc) of the Gamecube
- The Controller Ports have a Blue Light so they are easier to find in the dark
- A LCD Display that shows the current mode of the device (DVD and GAMECUBE)
- A new set of audio enhancement profiles: Dialog Enhancer, Cinema, Surround and Bass Plus (useable on both DVD and Gamecube mode)
- Due to the size changes, a new Game Boy Player was released for the Panasonic Q
