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Buy vs Build vs Buy & Build
Roughy:
Thanks for all the great feedback--I truly appreciate it.
I'm still sort of... unsure which direction to go yet.
As suggested, I'm not so concerned with getting so involved with the building of this project--there's a poker table I'm finishing, a bar, studding, drywall, drop ceiling, tile, and you get the idea... This is something I'd like to keep painless and all.
Hell, I guess I could come right out and ask it:
If I went with the UAII cab, without asking too much legwork (or for that matter with asking for a little legwork and the offer to make it worth your while or something like that), what would I need/want to play the most games? The savings are attractive--and to be honest, breaking up payments makes it a little easier to sell to the wife, ya know what I mean?
Thanks again!
daikiki:
Short summary:
Control panel has already been covered in some detail. Besides that:
Coin door: This takes a default size coin door. They're about twenty to fourty bucks used on ebay or a hundred new. An alternative would be a blank coin door panel, available from happ controls, You don't need to wire up any coin slots, since you can simply assign shortcuts to the control panel.
Bezel: Available commercially for about 15 to twenty bucks for a nineteen inch monitor. It's thin plastic that can be cut to size with a sharp knife and a straight edge. You could go with a plexiglass overlay if you want. Most suppliers will cut a 1/8" sheet to size for you. Expect to pay about 20 bucks.
marquee: Marquee holders will set you back maybe ten and can easily be mounted using screws or tacks, or even staples. Another 20 for two sheets of plexi, and fifteen for the marquee itself. You'll probably want a light in there as well. That's another fifteen or so.
Monitor. A nineteen inch vga will do the trick. Decasing it helps it sit flush against the bezel, but you could keep it cased, paint it black (or cover the visible bits with black electricians tape). If you leave it cased, you'll have to make your own bezel, but a two dollar piece of black poster board will do the trick. An arcade monitor or tv is also an option.
Computer running mame and a frontend. The only thing you have to worry about here is whether the video card will output what you need for the screen. A vga monitor is straightforward, but for a tv you'd need something with a video out. Mame will run most classic games happily with a fairly low spec computer. Some newer games require a bit more oomph in the processor department, but generally something with 800mhz and 256 MB of ram should get you a long way.
Buddabing:
There's also:
4) SlikStik arcade cabinets
5) 1UP arcade cabinets
These two are high end professionally done cabinets.
mahuti:
Both of which have a hefty cost attached.
RTSDaddy2:
--- Quote from: daikiki on December 01, 2005, 05:04:11 pm ---
Computer running mame and a frontend. The only thing you have to worry about here is whether the video card will output what you need for the screen. A vga monitor is straightforward, but for a tv you'd need something with a video out.
--- End quote ---
My two cents, for what they're worth (and not much probably)...you can also hook up to TV with a cheap scan converter as well, which is what we've done. The problem with that is that things such as light guns require a TV out hookup, so now I've got to consider buying a new vid card...because I thought this computer I purchased had a TV out!! ARRRGH!!
In other words, I agree go with the computer with the TV out hookup if you can afford it...I just wanted to offer the scan converter (paid $75 for mine) as an alternative here on this thread.
As far as buy vs. build....I wouldn't trade my hand-built machine for anything. ANYTHING.
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