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What's the appeal of a bartop machine?
erictrumpet:
I don't get it. With no disrespect meant to all the people who have built the many great-looking bartops I've seen on these forums, I simply cannot understand the appeal of a tiny little tabletop machine. I love the mini-cabs, you know the kid-sized standup ones -- those are awesome for pint-sized gamers (or midget BYOAC'ers, if there are any!) But if the machine is meant for full-grown adults and space is a big issue, why not build a cabaret-sized cab? No one ever seems to build a cabaret from scratch. All I see are full-sized cabs, cocktails, or these little bartops. Just wondering if there is something totally awesome about a bartop that I am missing.
Eric.
brophog:
Half of this hobby is doing something different. 3/4's is doing it just to ---smurfing--- do it.
Practicality is at a bare minimum, as it should be.
Roughy:
They're cute like puggles with some kick-ass functionality and they impress your friends. Unfortunately, they don't impress the ladies (usually), but still...
Add a kegerator and a poker table and if someone wants to sit out a hand or two, there's a tiny little PacMan cab for you. Whee.
missioncontrol:
because if your sitting at your home bar it gives you something to do while drinking....
plus the advantage of a bar top is you have all that space to put your empty cans while you continue to play....
DrewKaree:
You're seeing this as a "space-in-general" issue, instead of a FLOOR space issue. Putting something on your bartop is so insignificant. Putting something in your room that takes up FLOOR space can be a big hassle. Picture the guy who has a game room with a bar in it. Let's say they have a pool table, and putting even a cabaret in there could and would get in the way. Having a bartop solves that problem while still allowing gaming goodness. Then, you've got the folks who DON'T have a gameroom, would like a cab but just flat don't have the FLOOR space in their house, the wife doesn't want a machine that takes up that space, they want something they can bring out at parties, or they just flat out hate a laptop/desktop CP and figure they'll create something right in that middle ground.
There's TONS of reasons and situations people would build a bartop. They obviously aren't an issue for you, and for others such as myself, who have a full-sized cab in their living room and a wife who tolerates it, but they clearly are a solution for a minority of cab builders.
Why build mini cabs for kids who are going to grow and make that cab unuseable? Like many things we do, it's BECAUSE WE CAN! ;D