I love my HotRod, but the thought of putting it in my cab never even crossed my mind because from pictures I've seen it doesn't look very good. I dunno, I think the Hanaho ArcadePC looks like a GIGANTIC HotRod, and not anything like an arcade cabinet.
Anyway, I paid $189.00, and I still consider it a bargain for the amount of joy that it has brought me. It was also the perfect reference to use when I started building my own stuff.
As a portable standalone controller for Mame, the HotRod is absolutely wonderful. It's solid. It's made with quality parts.
One flaw with it is that it's not programmable. You can't purchase 2 of them and use them side by side because they're not programmable like a homemade controller or the XArcade.
The other great thing about the XArcade (aka the bad thing about the Hot Rod) is that it can be adapted to consoles.
However, the XArcade uses lower quality joysticks and costs more (these days).
The bottom line for me is that the HotRod has all the features I wanted - no more, no less, so it was perfect. Depends on what your needs are.