1069-in-1 Opinions

[jvendryes]

Looking for some opinions on the 1069-in-1 JAMMA board

[BobA]

Boards with a lower number of games seem to have the preference although that could be because of cost.   I have heard that the 2 board constructs have not been as reliable or as good for performance. 

[endrien]

Expensive. May as well build a mame setup for cheaper.

[Ginsu Victim]

Yep, just use MAME. It's cheaper.

[FrizzleFried]

1xxx-in-1 boards are simply computers running MAME badly... make your own.

[jvendryes]

I heard that JAMMA reliability is better than MAME, is that true?

[Ginsu Victim]

JAMMA is just a connection. In this case, it's connected to a crappy computer running MAME.

[DeLuSioNal29]

I believe the board you mentioned only works with arcade monitors:  "Supported Video Modes; CGA Standard (15kHz), PAL (15kHz), Medium (24kHz), and VGA (31kHz)  "

A normal computer monitor runs at 60KHz.  So you'd have to obtain an Arcade monitor for it to work.  Something you may want to consider.

I think those boards are made for people who already have an empty jamma cabinet with controls and arcade monitor and don't want to be bothered with buying the necessary hardware to MAME it.  (Also avoiding the software headaches with a front end and MAME).

I had been looking at this vertical 465 in 1, but then decided against it.  <link removed - sorry about that!>

I may have done it if the price was cheaper, but for now it's too expensive.  I had wanted to build a dedicated Vertical Cab that was capable of not only the classics, but shmups as well.

To sum things up, I love the concept of these boards, but the price points doesn't make them worth it... at least for BYOC'ers, who know better.

DeLuSioNaL

[RayB]

A normal computer monitor runs at 60KHz.  So you'd have to obtain an Arcade monitor for it to work.  Something you may want to consider.

FAIL

[Franco B]

Come on DeLuSioNal29, you know better than to post links to multi game boards

[Ginsu Victim]

Come on DeLuSioNal29, you know better than to post links to multi game boards

I even sent him a PM to that effect.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Oopsy... removed link.  Duh!  Thanks guys!   

[Ginsu Victim]

We all make mistakes from time to time.

At least, that's what my dad said when I asked, "Where do babies come from?"

[u_rebelscum]

I believe the board you mentioned only works with arcade monitors:  "Supported Video Modes; CGA Standard (15kHz), PAL (15kHz), Medium (24kHz), and VGA (31kHz)  "

A normal computer monitor runs at 60KHz.  So you'd have to obtain an Arcade monitor for it to work.

You're mixing screen refresh with CRT horizontal draw rate.

A) "kHz" is 1000 Hz
B) Most PC monitors run at 60 Hz to draw one whole screen.
C) VGA is 640x480 @ 60 Hz (with a horizontal draw rate of ~31 kHz*, or 31000 Hz).  Practically all PC monitors can draw this.

So, it will work on PC monitors with the "VGA" setting.

*Math:  60 Hz * (480 lines drawn + ~32 virtual lines to cover vblank) = 60 * 512 = 30,720 Hz = ~31 Khz. 
(Still a simplification; can go into more depth if anyone cared.)


Back to OP:
Agree, better to BYO, but I might be a little bias like the rest of this board for some reason.  It couldn't be that this is BYOAC forum, could it? 

[getnate]

What OS do these All-in-1 boards run? Could I install it on generic PC hardware and avoid using Windows?

[DeLuSioNal29]

I stand corrected about the monitor issue.   

As for a generic version... I would imagine that you can't run it on a "generic" PC.  I'm sure it's a modified Pentium 4 machine with special rom chips somewhere on a daughter board.  But that's just a guess.

D

[femartinez13]

I think if you have the extra cash to spend on one of these you should, I just purchased one couple months ago and these things are awesome.  They are indeed a little pricey, but I think they are great for someone who doesn't know a lot about computers or if you are a little on the lazy side.  But yea I know a little about computers and I originally went the mame computer route before with the arcade vga and all that crap and compared to the 1069-1, my old setup was a pain with setting up the front end and then trying to find all the roms and stuff like that, but with the 1069-1 everything is all setup and ready to play.  Like the other guy said these boards are great if you have an arcade with everything in there already, like your monitor and control panel.  another thing I like about these boards is that it just feels more authentic knowing that its a jamma and you never have to see a freaking mouse cursor.  And the games look exactly like the originals too (only if you have an arcade monitor, please don't hook it up vga, its a disgrace). By the way I think it runs a Chinese version of Windows 2000 if I'm not mistaken, but you don't even notice because it boots up really fast and goes directly to the games list screen.  Also, try to get the best one they have, like the upgraded version that way you can run some of the cooler newer games.

[Haze]

They're all just illegal hacks of MAME running on severely underpowered hardware.

I've seen ones with the PSX / 3D games on with hardware barely enough to run them at half speed, they default to frameskipping and awful broken sound.  The numbers are often boosted by lame hacks of the same games too (think of all the pointless MAME builds that have 50 'boss hack' versions of every neogeo game)

Most of them are also build on old versions of MAME, sometimes with severe bugs in games that have later been fixed.

Quality control on them is rock bottom, they're absolute garbage and entirely illegal.

There is no legal option for a multigame cab with that many games (despite the claims of the various manufacturers), nor any one which will offer a decent level of quality.

Obviously I may come across as rather biased because it's MAME these guys are ripping off and they're selling them for us 'on location' (and I've had my dealings with these chinese bootleggers trying to treat me like an unpaid employee and assigning me emulation bugs to fix!) but really, avoid them.  I'd also probably avoid Ultracade until there is a clear outcome of the ongoing court case as it's possible you'll just find yourself paying over the odds for something no more legal if you go down that route and it is then decided that they never had licenses.

You can build cheaper and better yourself without funding people who are ripping off MAME and making a profit out of the work of others.  Obviously you're liable to get into legal trouble if you use the machine for commercial use regardless tho.

[Lilwolf]

The other problem is you would put the board in, and you would be done...

what fun is that?!?!

I spend WAY more time fiddling with frontends, writing software for, and rewiring my cabinets then actually playing games...

I thought that was the point

Seriously...  The only advantage to the 1k boards are the form factor.  They are embedded computers in a single form factor.   Or you can have a box in your computer instead. 

And I would like to see one of those boards handle hyperspin... seriously aint gunna happen.

[Dexter]

To the best of my knowledge you can upgrade the CPU on these boards to P4 2.8 or thereabouts, but it only makes economical sense if you have a spare P4 cpu lying around really as you can just use a standard PC and run multiple emus in your cab with a decent frontend.

[southpaw13]

Get an old computer.....and run mame .84.....
This will give you more than 1069 and will probably cost less...