Thinking of picking up this Samsung monitor

[EvanW]

Hi All,

I am still feeling my way through all of this and have pretty much decided on a monitor for my Golden Tee conversion MAME cab. I was in looking at this in Futureshop today:

http://www.samsung.com/ca/consumer/office/monitors/lcd/LS27EFHKUF/ZA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail&tab=specification

The price is pretty reasonable ($300 CND) and it seems to be a good size. There isn't much for CRT selection in Toronto that I can find. Starburst does sell a Mag tri-mode, but they want $600 for it. Just a little out of my price range. Can someone take a look at the specs and let me know what you think?

Thanks for any help.

Evan

[fredster]

Are you just going to make a box frame and tuck it in the cab?

It looks like it would work.  Price is okay.

[EvanW]

That was my intent. However, after intially "jumping the gun", this monitor is too wide for my cabinet. Not sure of the dimensions if I decase it? I may have to go with a an HP 25" The 2509B. Response time is a little slower, but I think this will work. I would really love a CRT, but as this is my first build, and the wife is minding the budget, I will have to go LCD. Thanks for the reply fredster.

Evan

[fredster]

If you are going to do that, don't.

A lot of the monitors rely on that frame to hold them together.  Some of the parts are mounted in the plastic. Besides, they make a 19" just for this purpose.  It has a frame that you just screw into a piece of plywood, no hacking required.

http://www.hollandcomputers.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=6003&idcategory=2071#details

It's VGA, and it's resolution is  EGA & VGA (1024 x 768).  It has a frame you can just mount in to a cutout, and you are done with a 15 pin connector and a generic video card.  Plus, it's only $219 shipped.  Most games are only CGA, and even the high end games are VGA.  This one will even work in a Jamma setup.  It's a 4:3 aspect ratio, which to me is better than a 16:9 for video games

Bigger isn't always better.  I have played pacman on a 25" monitor, and it's just not right to me.  This one will work just like a regular monitor.  I've seen this in games, and it's okay. The black level is a little weird, but doable. I never had one myself.

I've bought some multigames from these people, and they stand behind their products and know what they are talking about.  Call them and talk to them if you have questions.

[fredster]

I think it supports CGA As well as EGA and VGA. 

I saw one of these at an arcade auction and it supported 15.75 Khz up to 60Khz.  I haven't bought one of these yet, but I saw one on an older game. It's supposed to be able to be a direct replacement for old games from the guy that was selling it.

I built a cocktail table with MDF from plans years ago, and I stopped after I had such a freaking hassle getting a computer monitor mounted in it.  I was thinking of using one of these and putting a multigame in it.

[EvanW]

Thanks fredster,

Looking at the specs though it has a response time of 16 ms. Would a computer lcd not be better to prevent ghosting? Or am I off in a wrong direction?

Thanks,

Evan

[fredster]

You are out of my expertise there man.  I run my mame on a 1988 Mitsubishi monitor that still has the BNC connectors LOL.  I'm running windows 98 in that PC too. 

I built it in '04.  It sees Robotron more than any other game.

[Todd H]

I have a similar monitor installed in my machine. Works great. I bought a VESA wall mount bracket and installed it on a flat piece of wood mounted in the machine. Worked perfectly.

[EvanW]

Thanks for all the help. I solved the problem by finding a Makvision M3129 for the cabinet. This should give me a pretty great arcade experience. I am not knocking lcd, just Starburst in Toronto happened to have one new in the box. Well, new last year according to the manufacturing date. One step closer...