New Cabinet - PC build - Which FrontEnd

[eezeetee]

Hi All.  I've built a Hyperspin box for my office before and while that 5 year old system is still working nicely, I want something to use in my bar area.  Something that I can just turn on and it works..

I bought a Chewlix machine that came with a Pandora device. My plan is to remove that and put in a mini PC...

In summary

Beelink 5600U PC
Zero Delay Controllers
Arcade Cabinet
+ 2 controllers (generic)

The system will boot directly into the Front End. I"m just not sure which one to use? Batocera or CoinOps or similar?

The systems I'd play mostly is MAME (Arcade Games), some of the older console systems, NeoGeo, Atari, etc. I don't really plan the new PS2++

Any recommendations on what I should use? The key things i'm looking for is Easy, visually appealing, and less prone to things breaking (Ie I'd like it to not be run on Windows that I need to maintain)

[meyer980]

I haven't heard of either of the front ends you mention - and I've built at least 10 MAME machines. That's not necessarily a bad thing but probably not a good thing either.

Batocera seems to be for Linux only. Are you building a Linux machine? You do mention not running on Windows (or wanting to maintain it). I prevent that by keeping my machines off the Internet. Boom - no issues. CoinOps looks interesting.

I like AttractMode for its customizability. Others like LaunchBox for its ease of use.

If you're doing Linux, I think that'll be a major factor in your decision.

[eezeetee]

Thanks for the note Meyer980.

The reason I was looking at Batocera is beucase I've build a few mini-systems for family using PI3B+ boards.  They work ok for the games they plan (basic Mame)

But I'd like to add a little more CPU intensive systems on there too if I can..

Maybe a Windows-capable machine is overkill but the price point for a decent system has come down so much to make it reasonable to put a decently powered box inside the cabinet..

Coinops runs on Windows and so i'd need to maintain that.  Suppose I could just keep it offline and not worry.. 

[Fursphere]

Launchbox / Bigbox has recently added an option to replace the windows shell with BigBox, so it boots directly into the front end.   You can set a PIN to prevent accidental exits too.