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Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
#291347 - 07/10/12 01:41 AM
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A friend and I are considering putting together a MAME machine in an old cocktail style arcade cabinet. We're aiming for the vertical style, and have come up with a list of roughly 30 games we'd like to include. So we have the cabinet, the list, and at least a good idea of how we'd like the controls to look (one of us is lefty the other righty so we compromised). But from there we're somewhat at a loss as to where to start. Are there any recommended monitors? How about the computer itself, I assume it doesn't need to be very powerful, but what about operating system? Does it have windows but just skips into loading MAME? And finally is there a company or website who's arcade inputs (joysticks, spinners, buttons) come highest recommended? Thanks for your time, and patience with this newbie trying to figure it all out.
MM
p.s. There are obviously things I'm missing here, if anyone feels like going through and explaining what else i need to have in mind, it would be greatly appreciated.
Edited by MaksMillion (07/10/12 01:57 AM)
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GatKong |
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: MaksMillion]
#291361 - 07/10/12 04:16 AM
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Try looking here.
As for interface, ultimarc is the industry standard.
How powerful a pc you require depends on the games you want it to run. MOST of the older games... not so powerful... and modern games tend to need more caffeine... although there are exceptions. Plenty of forum threads about sluggish DK, for example. You won't find specific specs... some overdrive threads can be searched int he forum if you're curious... try bringing mame on a thumb-drive and test drive the pc and game combo in question before you spend the cash.
If you're going with a pc, any pc monitor will do, in a cocktail even LCD is ok in my opinion, and is the easiest plug-and-play option... and you can always enable MAME's scanline and screen-burn options to crap-up the lcd image to look more authentic. But if you really want true authenticity, you'll go arcade monitor, which will require the appropriate interface depending on the model etc. IMHO an arcade monitor in a mame cab is overkill authenticity... but that's just me. My opinion is that the LCD better captures the pixelated image as the designer meant it to be... the poor quality of monitors at the time was a limitation, not a feature.
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| yaggy |
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: GatKong]
#291402 - 07/10/12 03:44 PM
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> My opinion is that the LCD
> better captures the pixelated image as the designer meant it to be...
so all along they wanted their 256x240 display to be blown up to 1920x1080 and have each dot grossly oversized? interesting. there are tradeoffs between LCD & CRT, pros and cons.. but in no way is rendering low res onto a high res canvas a good thing. it's a rotten compromise. a fixed pixel display is only good at one resolution. CRT will always be the go-to technology when it comes to multiple resolutions.
hey no hard feelings, i just got a thing about CRTs and i hate to think they'll become rare soon, and mostly just because of their larger footprint.
good luck on the mame cocktail, original poster person!
i like your ideal of a limited game list. i do a similar thing.
the longer that list is, the more time you spend on it and not playing games.
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| R. Belmont |
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: yaggy]
#291514 - 07/11/12 06:29 PM
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> hey no hard feelings, i just got a thing about CRTs and i hate to think they'll
> become rare soon, and mostly just because of their larger footprint.
I don't have a thing about them exactly, but I do have a 16:9 HD CRT set (much to the dismay of the movers, heh) and 1080i on it out of my DirecTV box looks amazing. If you're used to LCDs you forget what actual black levels and shadow detail look like. Plasmas are decent but they use a lot of power and are unreliable, OLEDs (not to be confused with LED-lit LCDs) have similar image quality but aren't available in large sizes yet.
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: R. Belmont]
#291522 - 07/11/12 07:23 PM
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> > hey no hard feelings, i just got a thing about CRTs and i hate to think they'll
> > become rare soon, and mostly just because of their larger footprint.
>
> I don't have a thing about them exactly, but I do have a 16:9 HD CRT set (much to the
> dismay of the movers, heh) and 1080i on it out of my DirecTV box looks amazing.
Pioneer? My dad's had one for 15 years or so. It needs serviced, sadly, but aside from that - ended up buying an HDfury3 box for it so he could guaranteed get a nice 1080i signal out of their LG BluRay player. It refuses to die *knock on wood*
- Stiletto
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| yaggy |
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: R. Belmont]
#291530 - 07/11/12 08:01 PM
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> I do have a 16:9 HD CRT set (much to the
> dismay of the movers, heh) and 1080i on it out of my DirecTV box looks amazing. If
> you're used to LCDs you forget what actual black levels and shadow detail look like.
High five. Yeah, I'm running 52" RPTV @ 1080i and it feels way more cinema than LCD. That said, its footprint is killing my living room and I'm on the verge of cashing out my chips and going with a smart plasma, I'm just miffed that to get 1080 you have to go bigger than 42" since they discontinued every model out there that did both. You either get 42" @ 720 or 50"+ @ 1080. I bet it's a marketing tactic all the big boys agreed on.
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| Stiletto |
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: yaggy]
#291539 - 07/11/12 08:54 PM
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> > I do have a 16:9 HD CRT set (much to the
> > dismay of the movers, heh) and 1080i on it out of my DirecTV box looks amazing. If
> > you're used to LCDs you forget what actual black levels and shadow detail look
> like.
>
> High five. Yeah, I'm running 52" RPTV @ 1080i and it feels way more cinema than LCD.
> That said, its footprint is killing my living room and I'm on the verge of cashing
> out my chips and going with a smart plasma, I'm just miffed that to get 1080 you have
> to go bigger than 42" since they discontinued every model out there that did both.
> You either get 42" @ 720 or 50"+ @ 1080. I bet it's a marketing tactic all the big
> boys agreed on.
I doubt that, it's more likely that because there's.. what, one plasma panel mfg still in business, it's just consolidation.
Near as I can determine there was only one 42" plasma model that was 1080p native that came out in 2012.
Panasonic Viera TC-P42UT50 42" 3D 1080p Plasma TV
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-P42UT50?t=specs
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P42UT50-42-Inch-Plasma/dp/B00752VKTQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1406618/official-panasonic-ut50-series-discussion-thread
It's sold out now, discontinued, and very difficult to find online (of course you're talking to ME - found a few, but not terribly reputable online stores)
Here's a few links that looked interesting:
http://chucksaudiovideo.com/product/5058...TC-P42UT50.html
http://www.e-digital-electronics.com/pan...co-p-44454.html
http://www.gibbyselectronicsupermarket.c...t50-p-7671.html
http://www.aztekcomputers.com/TCP42UT50-PANASONIC-2851273.html
http://www.seaboom.com/scripts/product.asp?PRDCODE=1090-TCP42UT50-KIT220&REFID=PG
Also, the AVSForum thread says rumor is some Sears have limited stock on it now.
Also, I don't believe it's a "smart TV" - it has SOME features - but you can solve that with a Roku or something.
Else, you're buying new old stock, like a LG 42LK530 or Panasonic TC-P42ST30:
http://shop.panasonic.com/shop/model/TC-P42ST30?t=specs
http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-VIERA-TC-P42ST30-42-Inch-Plasma/dp/B004M8SBPW
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_12?r...rnid=5092207011
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: R. Belmont]
#291551 - 07/11/12 11:47 PM
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> I don't have a thing about them exactly, but I do have a 16:9 HD CRT set (much to the
> dismay of the movers, heh) and 1080i on it out of my DirecTV box looks amazing. If
> you're used to LCDs you forget what actual black levels and shadow detail look like.
> Plasmas are decent but they use a lot of power and are unreliable, OLEDs (not to be
> confused with LED-lit LCDs) have similar image quality but aren't available in large
> sizes yet.
I'm still satisfied with my 27" Toshiba CRT SD TV. For the longest time there was something about HD that didn't look right to me. In the last year or two, it seems much better. I'm 46 now, so my eyes aren't as good as they used to be.
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Re: Questions on getting started on cocktail cabinet MAME machine
[Re: Stiletto]
#291552 - 07/12/12 12:44 AM
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> Pioneer? My dad's had one for 15 years or so. It needs serviced, sadly, but aside
> from that - ended up buying an HDfury3 box for it so he could guaranteed get a nice
> 1080i signal out of their LG BluRay player. It refuses to die *knock on wood*
Panasonic. It's one of those sets that's early enough that it doesn't recognize 720P so I can't use it in the living room (PS3/X360 both really greatly prefer 720P), but it continues to work really well. I also have a '94 Panasonic SD set that works as well as the day I bought it.
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