Can I MAME an "old style" cocktail ??

[MAME nut]

I've got an opportunity to buy an old style (metal T feet)Ladybug cocktail cabinet.  It is missing pretty much everything except the exterior shell, but the price is right.  My question is.....is there enough room in that type of cocktail to put a computer for MAME??  It seems like there is less than 1/2 the space as there is on a PacMan style cocktail.

[menace]

yep, decase the computer and use a smaller atx board if you can--i put the hard drive and board etc on one side and the power supply on the other--i had to extend the power cables and such but it worked quite nicely.  check out rayb's post in project announcements regarding a school desk project.

[danny_galaga]

at last, a reason for my site!

i've listed other peoples projects on my site:

http://dannygalaga.com/mame.htm

[Wade]

Yeah, I did it with a Taito Space Invaders style cocktail table.  It took a little thought to get the stuff to fit properly but it worked out.

Wade

[Shape D.]

This thread is so dissapointing I was hoping to find a cocktail with an "old style" logo on it.

[Magnet_Eye]

use a Mac Mini and macmame.

[danny_galaga]

Yeah, I did it with a Taito Space Invaders style cocktail table.

[Wade]

That's Dave Dribin's "Game Launcher".  I like it because it is simple.  Although I'm starting to think I'd like something a little fancier, that resembles the Multigame boards more.

Wade

[Grasshopper]

This is slightly off topic, but can someone tell me what's the biggest size monitor that can be fitted to a school desk style cocktail?

Visually I prefer them to the Midway style, but I'm put off slightly by the fact thet they always seem to be fitted with tiny monitors.

[chablis97]

Having just finished one of these, the hardest parts of the project are, in my opinion:-

1.  Getting rid of heat.  Make sure you put in at least a couple of fans.  I put an 80mm intake fan on the bottom and a 120mm exhaust fan on the side.

2.  Assuming you're using a PC monitor, finding a suitable place to fit and attach the monitor control board is difficult.  I struggled with this for a long time and I'm still not 100% happy with how it ended up.

3. Room in general.  I had to ditch the coin box and the inside of the coin mechanism.  ( see pictures at http://www.adam.com.au/ronghezzi/main.html , let me know if you need more pics of any part in particular that isn't clear

Next time I do this type of project I will:-

- Save room by using a Compact Flash Card to IDE adaptor instead of a 3.5" HDD.
- Buy a PC monitor (a second hand 14" PC monitor drops right on the existing mounting bosses) before any other parts and work out where the monitor control card best fits.  Then fit everything else around these components.

Has anyone found a good solution to mounting a PC monitor and control board inside one of these cabinets??  I'd like to get some ideas on this before I start on my next project.

Don't let any of this put you off.  They are great cabinets and you wont regret the end result.



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[Wade]

I'm not sure what the biggest monitor that will fit is, I'm sure it would vary on which desk style cocktail you have to work with.  Mine came with a 13" B&W and I stuck a standard 14" decased PC monitor in it.  Slight adjustment at the mounting holes but that was it.  I think the size is just fine, versus the 19" Midway style cocktails.  After all, the Midway style is placed longways so you are actually a bit further from the screen (and at a greater angle) than the desk style.

I thought there was plenty of room for components, but it would have been a lot easier if the drive cables were longer.  One whole side of my game is empty except for wires.  I had no problem finding a place for the 3.5" hard drive.  The worse part to deal with was the power supply, since all the other parts are pretty small.

I mounted the monitor first.  I can take some pictures and attach here if someone is interested.  I basically left the monitor boards in the same position they started in.  To secure them I ran a piece of aluminum bar across the game attached to both wooden sides, and bolted the boards to that.  The bottom just has a couple small blocks with a groove in them that the board rests in (basically, just to keep it from "swinging").  It is plenty secure.

Wade

[elvis]

use a Mac Mini and macmame.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge Mac fan (iBooks rock my world).  But Apple gear just isn't worth the price for emulation.

MAME is CPU/MHz bound.  A Mac mini at 1.25GHz with 256MB RAM for US$499 isn't my idea of value for an emulation project.  You could build yourself a 2GHz+ x86 microatx system for half that, and play almost all the non-3D/STV games at full speed.

The saved money could go towards something more important like hardware for another project, or beer!