[gsearles]

Anyone with experience with these guys? I want a MAME machine but don't want to DIY (insufficient skills or time). These seem to be the best looking pre made cabinets I can find. Seem like a better option than Arcade Legends? More game flexibility it seems. I am very collier savvy so I don't mind looking after the computer side of things. May get the full system like this or may opt for cabinet and controls and add my own PC. Thoughts?

http://www.mameroom.com/Products_UAII_System.asp


Greg

 

[elmalloc]

I live in Cleveland so I went to their warehouse and picked up a display cocktail unit for 1K IIRC.


It's a lot of fun, but you need kneeling chairs or something to be comfortable playing for extended period of time. Everything was ready to go, I just needed to plug a PC in with VGA/USB/audio out capabilities. Speakers/LCD/Cabinet was included.

 

[gsearles]

Yeah that one is nice. I've decided I'm going to get the full sized cabinet and control panel from them, bezel and coin door from Happ, then add my own PC and 27" CRT TV. Can't wait!!!


Greg

 

[mutheater]

I'm in the process of building my own cocktail cabinet. My all in price will be ~$400 excluding the CPU which I had in my scrap pile of electronics in my basement. It has been impossible to track down a 19" CRT monitor on Craigslist. :-(

 

[chemicalviper]

Building one myself atm, but if you are going to spend 2-3k for it predone. I would find a mame cabinet builder that using the HyperSpin front end (google video of it) - that setup just completes any mame. Mameroom doesnt use hyperspin, which imo, lacks polish.

 

[gsearles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chemicalviper Building one myself atm, but if you are going to spend 2-3k for it predone. I would find a mame cabinet builder that using the HyperSpin front end (google video of it) - that setup just completes any mame. Mameroom doesnt use hyperspin, which imo, lacks polish.

That much better than Maximus arcade is it?


I've decided to but the cabinet and control panel from these guys, but will be adding the PC and monitor myself so can use any software...


Greg

 

[elmalloc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by chemicalviper /forum/post/20889556


Building one myself atm, but if you are going to spend 2-3k for it predone. I would find a mame cabinet builder that using the HyperSpin front end (google video of it) - that setup just completes any mame. Mameroom doesnt use hyperspin, which imo, lacks polish.

Huh? You have full access to the PC they install.


I put windows and hyperspin on mine.

 

[mutheater]

I'm trying to gather the last of the pieces necessary for my cocktail cabinet. For me, this is more like a hobby and I enjoy hunting for the parts...I have also met some cool people in the along the way.


However, getting the glass cut for the cocktail has not been fun. One place didn't want the job so they said $100...better yet $150. So I walked, the next place quoted me $58 and when I went back today it magically became $85...so I walked again.


Ok, now I getting mad. Tried a third place in a "rough" section of town...nice guy that owned the place and he quotes me $55. Perfect! I should have my glass next week.


Side story....last night, I needed a monitor so I met the owner of vending machine business at his storage facility. He agrees to sell me a trivia type game in an upright cabinet with a 19" cga monitor, coin door, power supply and other parts for $50. We are getting ready to load the game when he notices it still has the $1 bill acceptor on the coin door.


At this point, he apologizes and says he needs to remove the bill acceptor if he is going to sell the game for $50. Fine, I have no problem with that...so he pulls off the bill acceptor and the plastic cage behind it. The cage falls to the ground, pops open and a large stack of $1 and $5 bills falls out.


I almost got paid to take the game off his hands. Still, I'm happy to get the monitor for $50...and I can resume building this weekend.

 

[elmalloc]

all that driving around could have saved you the $30 needed to buy the other vers

 

[mutheater]



Quote:
Originally Posted by elmalloc /forum/post/20995819


all that driving around could have saved you the $30 needed to buy the other vers

Normally, I would agree with you....however, it was a matter of principal. You don't change the price less than 24 hours after giving me a quote. It just seems like people have been jerking us around lately on quotes for everything from the arcade, lawn care and work around the house...in some cases by as much as $25k or more. So, I have bug up my arse.


Second, I had three glass tops made. One for this project which I plan to sell, one for a cocktail I'm building as gift for my brother and the third is for my keeper machine.


You can also take my earlier post and replace "the glass" with "the underlay artwork". I got quotes starting at $85 and some exceeded $100. I happened to drive past a "high-end" design studio and their primary service is marketing brand and campaign design, not printing.


I explain to the manager what I want done, he places a call to the sister company that does their printing and he quotes me $35. No hassle, no arguments. I ask if he needs a down payment. Nope, you only pay upon delivery if you are happy with the end product. Perfect


I'm starting to wonder if my recent experiences is a reflection of the slow economy. Companies have so little volume that being the low price solution is not viable due to a lack of volume so they are trying to grab higher profit margins on whatever business comes in the door - an all or nothing approach.

 

[mattcandraw]

what systems are you guys running on your machines. I read alot about hyperspin and was wondering if thats the emulator of choice or is there something different. I was planning on getting the 4 player control panel and am a little nervous that it is as easy as they say "Plug in and Play" and help, thoughts or comments would be appreciated


thanks!

matt

 

[mattcandraw]

Chemicalviper,

i just went on their site and just recently they added Hyperspin as their front end with every prebuilt system. At the beginning of the year when i was researching these companies they didn't and turned me off to buying one from them. but now they do.


matt

 

[sullender]

So are the ones on North Coast Customs worth it if you don't want to build out yourself and just want an out of the box MAME machine?

Or should I look at somewhere like arcadesrfun for a hyperspin machine?

 

[StratMangler]

I'm currently in the process of gathering the funds to assemble a cabinet as well.

Although the North Coast stuff looks great, the limit of a 27" monitor kind of bothered me. I found Rec Room Masters which have cabinets that support up to 32" LCD TVs! That's more like it. In fact, I'd like an even bigger TV but 32" will do just fine, especially considering how close I'll be to it while gaming.

https://www.recroommasters.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RM-XT-32-PRO-EE

I'll be commissioning some artwork for it as well so it looks like the real deal. I'll also be replacing the coin door as I don't like the one it comes with.

Since I have a connection with somebody who already has a fully working HyperSpin setup, I'll simply make a copy of it and configure it for my purposes. Although it'll take some time to nevertheless ensure that it runs smoothly, I'll definitely eliminate tons of time by going this route.

 

[StratMangler]

what systems are you guys running on your machines. I read alot about hyperspin and was wondering if thats the emulator of choice or is there something different. I was planning on getting the 4 player control panel and am a little nervous that it is as easy as they say "Plug in and Play" and help, thoughts or comments would be appreciated

HyperSpin isn't an emulator. It's merely a front-end. In plain English, it's basically just a nice menu interface that ties all the emulators together. It doesn't actually emulate anything.

There are alternatives although they aren't as sexy. If you aren't familiar with configuring XML files and aren't keen on doing lots of configuring withing it all, I'd suggest sticking with something else that will allow you to be up and running in a much more timely fashion.