My frothing demand increases

[Truz]

Well i have been hanging around these boards for a while now, just dying to have a mame cab of my own. I am all over the place with which way i want to go, and ive been thinking lately that maybe a cocktail cab is a good place to start.


The thing really got me sailvating for one, was i just recently started fooling around with an old laptop of mine (pentium mmx 266 mhz) and i put mame on it just for the hell of it. The i went a step further and hooked it up to a 19 inch crt i have laying around and set it up vertically on my desktop.. GAAHHHH. It was so cool. And to think for all this time i have been playing ms pacman horizontally.

So this is why a cocktail cab has really peaked my interest. I could throw the old laptop in there (nice and small) with that same monitor. It would save me the money/space that a full size upright would cost. Sure i would love to have a full size upright (i love fighters, MVC!!) but maybe somewhere down the road i can get one.

So now i am starting to look at my options and i came across this site http://www.arcadedepot.com/
That sells a flat pack kit for 195. What do you guys think of this? Any experience with it? Also i would have to buy controls because this doesnt come with them, which route should i go?


Also note that i have basically no woodworking skills at all that is why i am looking at a kit. Anyone know of anything better than this site. Also how hard is it to wire controls and everything. I dont know how to soder or anything but i do have experience with building/upgrading pc's if that is of any help. What do you guys think?

[PacManFan]

Howdy,
Pacmanfan here,

I suppose a flatpack is a psuedo good deal if you don't want to construct one from scratch. Another good option is to go to a local auction and pick up a dead cabinet for a great price. I just got a beautiful 19" generic jamma cabinet with everything except for a board for 20$. That includes the control panel, coin door, 19" monitor, isolation Xformer, jamma harness, etc...

I'm not sure what a flatpack includes beside the wood. You'll probably end up spending a bit on hardware, latches, coin door, monitor, etc...

I've also has success in going through the phone book and looking under "Amusement Devices" to find local arcade operators. Most ops have a few cabinet they'd like to get rid of. I've picked up quite a few nice cabinets that way for 50$ (including a really nice dig-dug.)

Also, you'd better brush up on your soldering skills. Head off to Radio Shack and get yourself a soldering starter kit (solder iron, tips, solder, braid, snips, etc...) for like 20$, and practice soldering and desoldering on an old MB or something.

just my .02$

-PMF

[SirPeale]

PMF:

He's looking for a cocktail.  Try getting an operator to let go of one of those cheaply.  At least the ones around here don't.  Because they're very popular for their customers.

[Tilzs]

I looked at those kits when I was planning out my cocktail. IMO they look like the best cocktail kits out there from what I have seen. $195 is a fair price as well considering those kits are made out of hardwood plywood and all the time it'll save you and tool cost.

You don't really need much for soldering skills if you use quick connets on your buttons/joys.

[Nailz]

I have heard nothing but good things about these kits, and Scott, was extremely helpful in answering questions I had.  they will do custom control panels if you want, they will make cut's specifically for your coin doors, etc...