Electrohome Monitor vs TV?

[jfunk]

Well, I'm taking the plunge    I've decided to build my own cabinet.  My only concern thus far is the monitor situation.  I have a cabinet that I'm going to scavenge for parts.  It has the following monitor:

Manufacturer: Electrohome
Model: 10" Col Gam Mnt
Chassis: G07CB0
Product #: 38-G07904-00
120 V, 1 Amps/Watts, 50/60 Hertz

Don't know how much of that is important, but that's what's on the tag  

Anyways, is this a good monitor to use?  I'm planning on getting an ArcadeVGA card to use in the computer to interface with the monitor.  But I don't want to invest in that before I get some more info...

- This will _obviously_ play older games well..  It was running Twin Eagle.  But how about newer, more graphics-intensive games?

- Will non-vertically aligned games be playable?  I'd like to keep it in it's current, vertical, orientation, but that shrinks the horizonal viewing area quite a bit...

- Will this be hard to hook up through the ArcadeVGA card?  Seems pretty straight-forward, but was just looking for any 'gotchas'..  Like supplying power to the monitor?

- Would a 25"-27" TV be a better decision?  I just really like the idea of using a real arcade monitor for an 'authentic' feel  

Anyways, would appreciate any advice I can get.  I'll probably be posting control panel questions, next    If you'd like to see my bare-bones website, you can check it out for pictures and more details at:

http://www.e-funk.net/arcade/

[Ken Layton]

Once they've been rebuilt, Electrohome G07 is the most reliable commercial grade monitor out there.

[jfunk]

Well, "rebuilding" sounds pretty scary.  I'm guessing I won't _HAVE_ to since it works well in its current environment..?  I'm a programmer, not an electrician  

I've been reading another thread where the person was having sync issues with the ArcadeVGA and a G07..?  Is this typical?  Or just an problem unrelated to monitor type?

Just wanting to get all my ducks in a row  

[GrizzlyAddams]

I rebuilt my Electrohome GO7 entirely with new cap kit, a few new transistors, I did the sync upgrade, and had to rebuild the regulated power supply. The width coil and flyback transformer on mine were fine though. The monitor since then worked great with about 3 different actual JAMMA boards. But once I got the ArcadeVGA it just wouldn't sync either through the JPAC or through a breakout cable. I spent hours (read: 10 straight) trying to figure it out before I finally gave up and put a TV in my cabinet.

I'm not saying this will always be the case for the GO7, but in retrospect, while I love the JPAC, I would have been alot better off buying a higher end regular VGA card with TV Out. I found one other person with the same configuration as me. GO7, JPAC, ArcadeVGA, and claimed they had to use seperate H and V sync signals, and then it worked fine with a few minor tweaks. Unforunately that wasn't the case for me, as even after I tried that, H Sync was fine, but I could not get V Sync for the life of me.

So if you're planning on getting the ArcadeVGA anyway, it is worth a shot. In the end it's still $89 for a Radeon 9200. Which isn't too horrible. If you end up using a TV though, with your ArcadeVGA, be prepared to set up windows on a regular VGA monitor with a regular VGA video card, as the ArcadeVGA WILL NOT display BIOS, Boot, or DOS screens on a Television.

Edit: Also, if you're planning on using the GO7, and you think it's in good condition and don't want to do a total rebuild, at least do the sync upgrade.

[Ken Layton]

Remember that the factory made a goof in the sync section. That could be where people are having sync problems. Quite a few G07's got out the door with the wrong resistors installed!

Resistors R314 and R317 are each supposed to be 390 ohms 1/4 watt. Instead, somebody at the factory screwed up and installed 4.7 k ohm resistors. That's waaaayyy to large of value and would cut the negative sync signal way too low.