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| ark_ader:
--- Quote from: LoyalistRevolt on February 21, 2008, 07:09:13 pm ---So your saying it would be cheaper to make a CPU cabinet Really I just want to know where to start! --- End quote --- Start small. I believe if you have a good design you can make it small. Big cabinets are OK if you are going to play on them daily or have a big house to put it in. Small cabinets like bartops are great as you can put it away if the wife objects or you had enough of it or you want to use the smallest space. Its never easy figuring on a design as there are so many examples on this site all with different sets of skills. I might be offending some on this site and go so far as to say: read Saint's book on the subject, but don't take it as verbatim with building a cabinet from scratch. I found the book informative but only as a casual read. I learnt more reading the threads on this site. The best examples are found in Project Announcements. An old arcade shell is cheap but can get daunting quick if you are new at using tools. I did the same thing and bought a old cab from a distributor, fixed it up and it just sat there. I made my own and I still play on it now. :dunno What ever you choose as your design, I look forward to seeing your project take shape. :cheers: |
| BASS!:
--- Quote from: TelcoLou on February 21, 2008, 07:57:34 pm --- --- Quote from: LoyalistRevolt on February 21, 2008, 07:09:13 pm ---So your saying it would be cheaper to make a CPU cabniet Really I just want to know where to start! --- End quote --- Here's how I started: • I installed MAME command-line version with MAMEwah as a front-end on an old laptop. • Hooked up an old 17" CRT monitor. • Got a cheap ($10) set of speakers. • Got 2 Logitech Precision USB joypads. • Set everything up on a small, wheeled TV cart. • Set up Windows to boot into MAMEwah. After playing for a few dozen hours, I got the urge to put it all in a real cabinet, then scoured around and with my lovely Wife's help, found a local guy who was selling old, gutted cabinets in need of some TLC; picked up one for $50 and got busy. It all depends on your level of woodworking skill, how handy with wiring you are, and your dedication to "Building Your Own" I also recommend getting the "Project Arcade" book; it's got a wealth of info that helped me out with making my decision :) --- End quote --- Similar to how I started. I installed mame on my desktop and went out and bought a x-arcade dual. After getting comfortable, and getting all the roms I got serious and started googling arcades. I found this site and just read hundreds of posts, read users pages and soured everything I could find out about roms, emulaton and arcades in general. When I made the plunge I just lurked on craigslist and ended up putting a post in that I wanted to build my first mame and that I needed a cool cabinet in ok shape for under $100. I ended up getting a gutted, old beat up Xenophobe cabinet. The next few months I took figuring out how to build my controls, how to restore the cabinet, how to configure the computer, how to mount the screen and how to get it all done for a small amount of money. When it was all said and done my first machine cost me only around $500. When I first read your post I thought you were saying: What is a kick butt mame machine cost and what should I use. I didn't realize that you were asking where to start. Start with looking through the project examples and reading up on this site. Ask questions if you can't find the info. And last but not least. Good luck and welcome to the hobby ;D |
| LoyalistRevolt:
Should I use a laptop or a desktop computer..? |
| yalborap:
--- Quote from: LoyalistRevolt on February 23, 2008, 02:52:28 am ---Should I use a laptop or a desktop computer..? --- End quote --- Depends on what you're doing and what you can get your hands on. In a big cab, desktop all the way. They're cheaper, more powerful, and upgradable. Bartops and other miniature rigs, though, you're looking at either a mini-ITX board or a laptop for sheer size concerns. |
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