Monitor Decision

[Tricky]

Quick backstory:
Now that my HS is getting to a point where I'm playing on it more than working on it, I'm starting to toss around the idea of making my own cab. So far I've liked the idea of a Vewlix style cab which can be seen here (http://www.donovanmyers.com/2009/04/vewlix-tournament-edition-worklog-04/), one very much like the ones in the thread here (http://www.hyperspin-fe.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4671). My reason for going the newer arcade look route is for the fact that they seem to be a lot less work to make than a classic arcade and use a lot less wood. Budget is a big thing for me because of this starts to cost too much, I know my fiance will murder me.

Anyways, currently I have my system more or less set up as a HTPC playing through my R2D2 Projector (http://www.nikkor2d2.com/) and last weekend I did some tests to see what it would be like in high def. So I switched my res to 720p and started playing around and I was disappointed how much of the screen was lost on 99% of my games. So obviously 4:3 is really the way to go. This puts me at a loss because now I don't know which way to go for a monitor. Revert to making a classic cab with a 27' CRT? Vewlix with 21' LCD? Stick with a 32' 720p?

Any recommendations?

[Drakin]

Yea a hard decision....have you tried Craigslist? I had found my cab for $25 and the 31" CRT monitor for $40 off of craigslist.

I know if I had to do it over I would pick the Vewlix cab for:

1. Design and space it takes on the floor
2. Less materials to build which = less $$$
3. I really like the design :)

anyway I hope I assisted in some way.

[ckergald]

depends on what's important to you. I've been playing mame for years on computer crt's and then lcd screens and have never had the look I wanted. My first cabinet had a 19 inch tv, it came closer but the colors were not vibrant enough, and some detail was lacking.

My second cabinet started with a 25 inch tv, which I later converted to a cga/arcade monitor with a chasis I purchased from 8liners. very happy with this solution. Converting a tv to a arcade monitor is relativly cheap, and looks great. it's pretty easy to do, but there is high voltage inside tv's and a chance for shockl (make sure you read and understand the procedure).

[StarControl]

If budget is a concern, go the TV route. Used TV's are practically free and if you end up not liking it and your money situation improves you can always upgrade to a real arcade monitor later.

The only reason to go high def is if you are primarily going to be playing PC games, vector games, or pinball (in which case you should be building a pinball cab). Arcade and console games are most definitely not high definition.

[ddigler]

Well, obviously its all a function of money but I personally built a classic style cab. Just to make it functional (I ran out of money towards the end of the project :)) I bought a 25" crappy CRT TV from Wal-Mart. Now, five years later and a bit more money; I decided about 6 months ago to buy an arcade monitor.

I can't describe how big of a dif it makes. I'm running it with Ultimarcs ArcadeVGA card and it looks incredible compared to my other TV.

Just my two cents but you can do it in stages possibly. Don't feel like its all got to be done at once!

[jtslade]

which arcade monitor did you buy