NooB! Looking For A MAME Cabinet, Need Buying Advice ASAP!

[hevnsnt]

NooB! Looking For A MAME Cabinet, Need Buying Advice ASAP!

After checking out a bunch of MAME sites, I have decided that I have to have one!

As far as starting out, what kind (condition) of Arcade cabinet should I buy?

1) The cheapest I can find w/o any electronics (I found one for $50)
2) A cheap one with electronics, but it doesn't work (I found one for ~100)
3) A more expensive one, but it works.. (I found one for ~250, original Donkey Kong)

I have found a place where I can get these, and I am not sure which will suit my needs the best.. Of course I would love to make it as cheap as possible, but I am not sure if I am going to need any of the stuff..

Is there anywhere that shows you what to look for when selecting a cabinet?
I guess that I probably wont keep the screen that comes with it right?, so maybe the cheapest is the best? The working one is Donkey Kong, would I be able to sell off the components? And finally how much $$$ should I be expecting to spend to finish this thing?

Thanks for all your help!

[Auntie MAME]

It would be a bad thing to MAME a fine old vintage cabinet in working condition.

[hevnsnt]

yes I understand that.. But to answer my question, should I look for a cabinet with working monitor and everything, or buy a empty one, which would be cheaper in the end?

[CitznFish]

it all depends on what you want to do. what are your main goals for this project? you need to plan, plan, and plan some more. do a lot of reading first and you'll be better off deciding for yourself what you need.


Read the FAQ (first post in this forum) to get yourself started down the right track. also look at ALL the cabinets in the examples section. just read, read, and read.  It's the only way to do this sucessfully.

Good luck!

[Jakobud]

If you have the skills you could even build your own from scratch, as many of us have.  Doing this results in a final product that is exactly as you originally designed it to be...therefore quite rewarding

[Auntie MAME]

It depends on how deep your pockets are and how much work you want to do.  The easiest thing is to get an empty cab (cheap) and put a PC monitor in it.  

If you have more time and money get a new or used arcade monitor.  You can't beat the look of a real arcade monitor.  The configuration is more complex, but arcadeVGA for Ultimarc has made it a bit easier.

There is no quick fix.  You need to spend time doing some R&D.  

[Nailz]

Don't buy the Donkey Kong if you are just going to sell off the components.....

Buy an empty shell of a cab and go from there.  Finding a monitor and all that is fairly easy.  You could also just build a cabinet yourself, there are a TON of plans out there for just that purpose.