Monitor Advice for the Mame Rookie

[jrmitch]

Hi folks,

I'm totally new to this sort of thing, so please forgive me.

I have a couple questions concerning arcade vga monitors for Mame. 

1) What monitor is generally recommended by the pros around here for ArcadeVGA?  I've see lots of people using the WG D9200/D9400, so I figured that I would go with that until I found this post:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=64564.0

The last thing that I want is to buy this thing and have it die on me one or two years down the road.  Does anybody know if this is still a major problem with the D9400 series?  Is there a better option?

2) Secondly, does anybody have an inside line on where to purchase a monitor from?  I was going to go with HappControls (I actually live 10 minutes away from their warehouse, so I could pick it up), but they're advertising a price that's $120 more than what's listed on the Wells-Gardner site (D9400).  I've seen some people on here picking them up for around $450-495.

Thanks in advance,
-Jeff

[ahofle]

From what I've read around here, stay away from the D9200.  I haven't seen enough reviews of the D9400 to know if it is an improvement.  I've read good things about Betson and Billabs multisyncs around here (I have the Betson).  Those seem to be the big 3 choices for multisyncs used with the ArcadeVGA and MAME.

[jrmitch]

Thanks for the input

I checked out the Betson website and it looks like they're pushing this guy:

http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT

Is that a monitor that has the capability of being hooked into a PC / ArcadeVGA video card? 

Does anybody else have this monitor and care to comment on the quality?

Thanks!
Jeff

[ahofle]

That's the one I have and it works great with the ArcadeVGA.  I am pretty happy with it.  I have a minor issue with some pinching on the extreme edges on certain resolutions, but overall I am very pleased.  Sometimes that monitor goes on sale (I got it for $369) so you may want to wait a bit.

[jrmitch]

haha, right.   So I bought the monitor... 

I called the company up to just to see if I could pick it up at their Illinois location (she said yes).

During the call she also offered me a $70 price break if I bought it right then, so I did.

Thanks for the advice!  It's nice to know that another active forum guy will be around that knows the ropes to my exact situation in case I run into problems.

Thanks again ahofle.

-Jeff

[ahofle]

No problem, glad you were able to pick it up in person (it costed me $110 to ship ).  Let us know how it turns out. 
Be sure and read this review and follow it to the letter:
http://www.retroblast.com/Hardware/Betson-Imperial-/-Kortek-KT-2914.php
The service manual link can also be found there.   

[jrmitch]

Do you know which Happ bezel is used to cover this particular monitor?  There are two listed on Happ's website that fit 27" monitors. 

49-0106-00    
   27" Monitor Bezel, Black Plastic
   29.5" x 29.25"    21" x 15.575"

49-1857-00
   27" Flat Screen Monitor Bezel, Black Plastic
   25.65" x 23.87"    21.19" x 16.13"

http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/49010500.htm

I'm pretty sure the tube isn't a flat screen, but I'm not certain why the regular bezel is almost 3" inches wider than the flat screen.  The reason I'm asking is that I want to make sure that my cabinet is wide enough to accommodate the bezel.  Do people normally cut them down some or no?  29.5" seems to be a bit larger than the cabinet plans I've been seeing around the net.

Further more it doesn't look like the inside bezel dimensions match the monitor dimensions:

# Height: 23"
# Width: 235" <--- says the website, but I'm guessing it's probably 23.5"
# Length: 25"

http://www.betson.com/products/IMP-44-4070-RT

This whole bezel thing is confusing!

Thanks!
Jeff

[rockin_rick]

I think that you want the first one.  I'm not certain that it will fit perfect, but I think that it is really close at least.  The tube is a curved tube, not flat.  The extra size of the bezel is the flat 'overhang'.  This is typically cut down.  I also picked up that monitor from Betson Midwest, and they were great!

I think that the measurements on the Betson site are overall dims, including the chassis and such.

Rick

[Pixelhugger]

You'll want the 49-0106-00. It fits my 27" Betson like a glove... curves and all.

As far as the monitor dimensions, the widest part of the monitor (frame and glass) is 24 3/8" (Betson's mystery measurement isn't very helpful)

[jrmitch]

Sweet!  Did you make your cab 29.5" or did you trim it down some?  If so is it pretty easy to trim down?  Thanks for that width.  That really helps me out quite a bit.

[rockin_rick]

I've never cut it, but I do have one.  It's just thin plastic.  I'd just use a straight edge and a new blade in a utility knife and lightly cut into it not too deep each time, but deep enough that it takes about 5 passes.  Perhaps even stopping just short of going all the way through and snapping it.

Rick