Best place to get monitors?

[Timstuff]

I'm in Connecticut, and we don't have alot of arcades out here, much less ones that are getting rid of stuff alot. I'm really not sure what the best way to get a monitor for my cabinet is. And don't worry, I won't even think about installing one until I'm completely familiar with the safety procedures.

So, any links to online dealers, or tips on how to find places in my area that might have them? Happ controls had pretty lousy prices IMO.

[JoyMonkey]

Betson has offices in NJ and MA, you could try giving them a call and see if they have any old or refurbished monitors sitting around.

[SirPeale]

Unless you're looking for new, drop a post in RGVAC with what you're looking for.

[Timstuff]

What are his prices like? After looking at Betson Amusement's catalog, I don't think I can afford to go with a new one. And, that's all assuming I can figure out how to hook up a PC to a monitor without shelling out $100 for a special video card.

[JoyMonkey]

Peale was referring to the usenet newsgroup here:
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.games.video.arcade.collecting

[Lilwolf]

There was a guy selling brand new 19" happs monitors shipped to your door for 200 bucks on ebay.

I thought it was a good price.  Had some Bensons for cheaper.

If your interested in that price range, I can look at home for the guys name and see if hes still selling more.

[JoyMonkey]

ArcadeShop.com has 19" VisionPro monitors for $179 plus shipping.

[Timstuff]

I'm working with a limited budget, and anything around the $150-$200 range would be considerable. But I'm still gonna need to figure out how to connect it to my PC without buying a special video card.

Depending on how much things end up costing, it may be cheaper and more effective to just go with a TV and one of those $50 cables to connect it to the PC. If it means having a larger screen for the same or a cheaper price, I might do that. But I'd like to see what kinds of authentic monitors are avalible too before I go out and spend all that money on what's one of the most important parts of the cab.

[SirPeale]

Go with a real arcade monitor.  You won't be sorry.

What size are you looking at?

[Timstuff]

I don't want to go any smaller than 19", but the cabinet I build will probably be sized to house one that's about 23"-25".

Also, is there a way to connect a monitor to a PC using a normal video card? If I can subtract that extra $50 that I'd be spending on an adapter cable, I could more easily justify spending that extra money on a monitor.

[Timstuff]

Hmm... Maybe I will eventually end up buying Ultimarc's ArcadeVGA card. It's $100, which is expensive for me, especially considering I already own a Geforce 4 MX. But the MX doesn't even have video out, so I'd end up having to buy a $50 adapter cable anyway. And at the price that a decent sized TV costs, I might be just as well off looking for a refurbed or used arcade monitor.

But, connection concerns aside, that still leaves open the question of where the best place to buy one is, and if I can get it at a good price relative to it's size. For those of you who have gotten your monitors locally, how did you know when an arcade or arcade machine vendor was getting rid of an arcade machine or parts? What's the best way to approach them about parts?

Also, more links to websites that sell used/refurbed monitors would be helpful.