should i leave my arcade machine running all the time?

[robot8319]

wanna know if its ok to leave my arcade machines runnning 24/7....

well?

[FunWithFire]

Is there a reason why you would need to? The startup really isn't that long that a 4am craving would go unfulfilled if you had to wait the 60 seconds for bootup. Do you leave your TV or computer on 24/7?

[FrizzleFried]

You ask two questions.  In your TOPIC you ask "SHOULD I leave my arcade machine running all the time?" whereas in the body of your message you ask "Is it OK..."

Is it OK?  Yes.  Do you need to or SHOULD you (as in is it BETTER for the unit?  No)

Depending on the unit however,  you will be contributing to screen burn-in unless you have a screen-saver or wire in a switch to turn just the monitor off.

[Texasmame]

If you're talking actual, original games - I would say no simply due to the potential fire hazards.

A MAME cab - I guess you could do so safely, but why put the extra hours on your monitor, etc.?

[leapinlew]

I don't leave mine on during the week, but on the weekend (friday night when I get home from work) I turn the cabinet on. During the week, I might be lucky to play 1 or 2 games a week. If you feel you might play them more often - leave them on.

During the week I'll want to play the occassional game of robotron, defender or some other quick game and it isn't worth booting up the arcade. On the weekend though, I love popping into the gameroom for a couple of quick games.

[lloydcom]

I used to run my arcade PC 24/7 as it was a server and a multimedia portal.  Guess it depends what you use it for, and what kind of electricity bills you can afford. 

Before you guys jump me on the pennies vs PC usage issue, I'll say its a cheaper way to warm a room.

Wear and tear is a factor, but I'm from the old school of computing where the PC SHOULD be on 24/7 365 days a year, as the turning on and off actually wears the computer down.

If your arcade cab is powered by a Via C3, then I would run that 24/7 definately, but if it is a heat generating AMD monster then I would leave it up to you.  Properly ventillated should pose no problems.

So there you have the Should and Is it OK? answer.

Just ask the elecky bill payer first....

[unclet]

My 4 computers are on 24/7 365, unless the power goes out and I need to wait until it returns 

For my personal computers, I like being able to go over and simply check mail or scan the web without having to turn it on or off.

For my arcade PC, since I have young children, they can simply go over to the computer and start playing games whenever they want ..... even early in the morning when I am still in bed   

[CheffoJeffo]

For actual machines (which it what I think you are asking), don't .. fire, burn-in and big electrical bills.

Cheers

[daywane]

My kids PC's are on 24-7
monitors are off but PC is running for months on end

[CheffoJeffo]

I agree about PC's ... all of mine run all of the time ... but since at this point (and TMK) the OP only has 3 "real" arcade machines, I think that those are what he is asking about.

As so ably pointed out in this entry to the RetroBlast Motivational Poster Contest:

http://retroblast.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=575

Cheers.

[RayB]

Personally I never leave my PC on unless I'm "actively using it" due to the fan noise.

[Ken Layton]

I say turn off when not in use.

[ChadTower]

Vids - turn off when not in use.  Little risk of much happening even if you turn it on and off all the time.

Pins - the threshhold gets higher... so many more electronic points of failure on startup that it's better to power cycle it less than a vid.

[_) (V) (-)]

I say you should be playing your arcade machine all the time.

But then again, I say a lot of things, and most of them are dumb . . .

If it were mine, I'd shut it off if not needed for more than a few hours.

[ahofle]

I never really understood why people leave their PCs on all the time (unless they are servers obviously) for fear of them 'wearing out faster'.  Do they leave all the lights on in the house 24x7 to extend the life of the lightbulbs too?

[kelemvor]

Back in the "Olden Days" it was generally accepted as better to leave PCs on all the time because the components went through a lot more wear and tear during the boot up process and something could fail.  However these days it really doesn't matter.  I turn my PC off when I go to bed and back on in the morning unless I'm downloading something.

No reason to leave it on all the time unless you just can't stand to wait a minute before getting into a game but overall it won't hurt the PC.  But I'd definitely set it to turn off the monitor after XX minutes and things like that to help against burn-in and anything else.

[ChadTower]

I never really understood why people leave their PCs on all the time (unless they are servers obviously) for fear of them 'wearing out faster'.  Do they leave all the lights on in the house 24x7 to extend the life of the lightbulbs too?

If you pay $500 for a light bulb, I have a box of them I'll sell you cheap.

I leave my primary PC on all the time because it is generally doing work while I'm not using it.

[Brogner]

I think its best to turn off.  Unlike a newer computer, these machines are prone to faliure.  You would hate it if a board "smokes" in the middle of the night and you werent around to stop if from becoming worse.

[ChadTower]

You would hate it more if your Sega vector monitor caught fire and burned your house down.

[torez]

I would turn off real arcade machine, if not in use for longer period of time.  My computers, however, are on 24/7.  I invested money into quiet psu and computer case (more than $150 each after taxes and shipping) and cpu cooler to make sure it is quiet.  Will go the liquid cooling route with my next puter upgrade.  Anyway, my computers are always at some work, so checking my mail or a quick game is just few seconds away.

Try leaving your machines for a month the way you want and see how much more you have to pay for it.  Then you can decide, if that's what you want to pay every month.