My MAME machine is TOASTY...need advice

[vader]

Had a small little fire around the house and the mame machine and missile command are now firewood.....I miss my track and field and want to get up and running asap.  I don't have the time right now to build from scratch so I was considering arcadedepot.com kits.....what is your opinion on them, price not withstanding ?

Tim

btw....does anyone know the shipping cost of the unassembled ones

[Chris]

Yow... so sorry to hear that...

If price isn't an issue, be the first on your block to own a 1UP Spincade!

http://www.spincade.com/



--Chris

[vader]

lol...price  isn't a issue within reason......hehe.....I'd prefer to got the cocktail route this time.....I enjoy playing Galaga sitting down than standing up....beside.......cocktails serve double duty during holidays.....place to put food...hehe


Tim

[Stingray]

I don't really have any advice to offer, but sorry to hear about the fire. I had a house fire back in June, we're still not 100% back to normal. Lucky for me, the fore was at the opposite end of the house from the game room, so none of my toys were damaged.

-S

[shawnzilla]

Methinks you just need to convince your wife that a Spincade is within your budget! ;-)

Arcadedepot has really nice kits, and so does Dreamarcades.  Also, Mameroom. Their cocktails all have a different look from eachother. I'd say if you're going for the classic "Ms. Pac Man" look, then you may want to consider Arcadedepot. They're all good.

But seriously, consider the Spincade..... :-)

[NoOne=NBA=]

I haven't used one, but the construction on them looks solid.
My only complaint is that the CP's on it are too small for my taste.

[SirPoonga]

I plan on using arcadedepot's kits.  Reasonable priced.

I won't know until I get one and can play around with it, I', thinking of making swappable panels.  Just like 2 or three.  Will have one panel as joy with 4 buttons.  One would be spinner.  Last one would be tball.

I'm thinking if I pick up cheap USB gamepads and put a USB jack where the CP goes over I can make easily swappable panels.  Just a matter of figuring out how to mount them.  That's why I;d have to wait until I get a kit.

[JoyMonkey]

I've bought two of them in the past and I'd definetly consider ordering from them again. The kits go together very easily and are very solid. Well worth the meney. I bought them a couple of years ago and had to order bezels, glass etc. from other sources, but it looks like they've got a one-stop-shop going on now with everything you'd need.
They respond to emails very promptly too.

That's two monkeythumbs up.

[JoyMonkey]

I haven't used one, but the construction on them looks solid.
My only complaint is that the CP's on it are too small for my taste.

The kits I bought came with the standard Ms.PacMan sized 9" wide panels, but ArcadeDepot have since added an option for 11" wide panels. I know they've done custom work in the past too, and I'd imagine larger panels wouldn't be too much trouble for them.

[vader]

Thanks for the response guys....I was hoping I'd get the answers I was looking for.  I'm just going to the head to head CPs simple......joy and couple of buttons each.....coin and starts of course......and the the third panel option SF setup, maybe small TB in the middle....my next question is....I want to go plug and play as possible....what are you thoughts on the 19" visionpro......I know it won't do arcade resolutions, but does it still do a good job ?  other options ?....>I will add a arcadevga to the mix eventually


Thanks

Tim

[NoOne=NBA=]

Will a trackball FIT in their existing CP's?
Based on a 9"/11" length, the depth looks to be about 4-1/2 to 5".

As far as monitors go, I'm partial to PC monitors because arcade monitors won't do vector resolutions for the most part.
You can ugly up a PC monitor to closer simulate an arcade monitor (adding scanlines, etc...), but you can't GAIN resolution that isn't there on an arcade monitor.

[vader]

They offer a TB option in their layout selection, so I am assuming it would fit but I did email them earlier to verify.  As far as monitor selection....the VisionPro is a hybrid monitor that will do 800x600, I guess that would be sufficient for vector games, just wondering how true the arcade look would be even if I did dumb down it with scanlines...


TIm

[NoOne=NBA=]

It's completely a matter of preference.
I always thought arcade monitors looked pretty bad to start with, so I don't mind the image being cleaned up a bit.
I usually run mine with anti-aliasing turned on, but scanlines off, so that it smooths the pixelization inherent in the PC monitors rendering.

Oscar has a comparison of different monitors on his website.

[RayB]

Whoa whoa WHOA!
The Vision Pro won't do arcade resolutions?? Where'd you hear that? Please clue me in because that's what I bought (but I haven't taken it out of the box yet).  You have me worried...

I got this one: http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/49132900.htm

"CGA" resolution is the same as "standard" resolution. No?

  Ray B.

PS: This may sound a bit perverted Vader, but do you have pics of your burnt cabs?

[JoyMonkey]

I'm putting the finishing touches to an ArcadeDepot cabinet right now. Here's what its looking like. By far the most difficult thing about these sytle of cabinets is getting your monitor mounted correctly. If the monitor doesn't sit at an exact right angle, then the cabinet won't close correctly. I used a WG D9100 monitor, which was never intented to be mounted like this, so it took a few hits and misses before I got it there.

[vader]

I'd love to have some pics for you RayB, but digital cam went with it.......had the cab next to a socket which I had bare wire stripped and I thought I had power cut to the outlet....but uh no.....doh......cam was on table next to it.......cam physically looks ok...but will not power up.......gonna borrow a battery and hope that is what took the dump...I'm gonnna look a that link Ray......I didn't read the specs carefully...but now I will.....let me know how it works out once you hook it up....if you do it soon....I'm hoping to order by Friday...

Tim


Edit :  I'm looking at the one that does vga/svga resolutions