What's going on everyone?

[katuuuz]

what's up my game ex gurus? it's been a while since i came through to drop a line, and i wanted to tell you after long gaming hours my gameex, and arcade are running beautifully. i've taken it upon my self for the fun of building my first cab to produce another. i'm setting the goal to make it as small as possible. one person can lift it and as space efficient as possible. it'll run off of a laptop vs. a pc, and i'm thinking along the lines or a 13" tv, or smaller. shouldn't be too expensive and i'm thinking it will be fun. i will keep you posted with pictures on my new expedition.

[ourgrace]

Hey katuuuz

Nice to hear from you again, the new cab sound cool make sure you post pics, I'll be looking forward to seeing them.

Ourgrace

[bkenobi]

How about a suggestion...

I've been toying with the idea of using a laptop for a cab as well. Here's what I was thinking though. Since the laptop already has a nice high res screen, why not remove the screen from the hinges and mount it AS the monitor. That way you get the small size of the laptop and don't waste the nice screen that came with it. You could get one that has a 13" display that matches your specs and it would be easy to mount and light!

One other advantage about lcd's is that they are flat, so if you want to make a bezel, it would be super easy. If you just want to mount it flush with the glass, you could use a piece of foam core or poster board without needing to do anything fancy!

Anyway, that's what I would do if I had a spare older laptop sitting around (I wish).

[Will]

The only problem is that most laptops these days are widescreen, which would be a waste on most games. I would think you could still get PC parts and an LCD cheaper. Not to mention that (unless you took the laptop mostly apart) it would get pretty hot being in an enclosure and having the cover parts on. MicroATX board on a motherboard tray would be my bet. Either way, I can't wait to see pics when you are finished no matter which way you go! Good luck!

Will

[emphatic]

Here's a nice small cabinet if you need some inspiration at this point:

It's Italian made professional JAMMA cabinet. It houses a 14" CRT rotatable arcade screen. It's a bit tight for two people to play the whole night, but for at game or two, it works. Best of luck.

Emph

[katuuuz]

How about a suggestion...

I've been toying with the idea of using a laptop for a cab as well. Here's what I was thinking though. Since the laptop already has a nice high res screen, why not remove the screen from the hinges and mount it AS the monitor. That way you get the small size of the laptop and don't waste the nice screen that came with it. You could get one that has a 13" display that matches your specs and it would be easy to mount and light!

One other advantage about lcd's is that they are flat, so if you want to make a bezel, it would be super easy. If you just want to mount it flush with the glass, you could use a piece of foam core or poster board without needing to do anything fancy!

Anyway, that's what I would do if I had a spare older laptop sitting around (I wish).

along with being widescreen, high resoloution is actually a drawback to games if you are looking for the nostalgic arcade. no 80's arcade machine had high res screens. i think the tv screens work best, aside from an actual arcade monitor. . . nice cab emph!

[Brian Hoffman]

Great idea I too myself am thinking of making a portable arcade I can take to friends houses.

What I want to do is very similar to arcadeinabox. http://www.arcadeinabox.com/Scripts/default.asp

I think MINI ITX MB would fit nicley inside one of these.

And Gameex of course would be the front end.

[bkenobi]

It's a tradeoff that's been discussed in detail many-a-time. The advantages and disadvantages are to some degree a personal preference with TV vs. arcade monitor vs. computer monitor (and now vs. lcd display). I have a TV in my finished cabinet and it works fine, but of course setting things up is a bit blury in windows. An LCD could be slow refresh and thus look poor. decisions, decisions...

[katuuuz]

It's a tradeoff that's been discussed in detail many-a-time. The advantages and disadvantages are to some degree a personal preference with TV vs. arcade monitor vs. computer monitor (and now vs. lcd display). I have a TV in my finished cabinet and it works fine, but of course setting things up is a bit blury in windows. An LCD could be slow refresh and thus look poor. decisions, decisions...

well i have my tv hooked to my arcade via a s-vid/rca cable i bought online. also, i have my monitor's vga plug still in my video card and i have my pc monitor on an end table on the side of my arcade for windows/troubleshooting. not a fan of playing games in high resoloution though.