Looking at a few cabs as well! (and finally got one)

[Guavaman]

Hi everyone... I'm Guavaman from Canada and I'm really into arcades! I have built and repaired a few console joysticks and I think it's time to move on the real deal. I'm currently in that exciting stage in life where you're very close to getting your first cab. Of course being a first-time buyer and pretty new to all this, there is a lot I do not know. I've read the noob wiki and went through xheezy04's thread of similar concerns . Here is my situation...

I'd like a Blast City or an Astro City to connect my Xbox360 for SSFIV and some beat 'em ups. I've been in email conversations with a local arcade owner for the past 6 months and finally have an opportunity this coming weekend to see a few machines. As I've learned from SuperPang and others, the monitor is the most important thing so I will try my best to be on top of that. The roughstimates for an Astro are about $390.00US, and about $870.00US for the Blast. How do those prices sound to you?

He's recently contacted me to say that he has a much better selection of cabs without monitors. Is getting a monitor-less cab worthwhile? What would you pay for an Astro or Blast without one? I'm willing to be patient and not get stuck in a crappy situation.

When I head to the guy's storage I will take as many pictures as possible, post them here, and hopefully you bunch of knowledgeable folks can help me out.

Many thanks for any help!

[davewellington]

Do you plan to only use only with a Xbox 360? Is the arcade feel (scanlines etc) important to you? These are important questions as to which cabinet you get. If you get a cabinet with a 15KHz monitor, you'll probably have trouble reading text in 360 games as they're intended for 480p+ resolutions.

[Guavaman]

Do you plan to only use only with a Xbox 360? Is the arcade feel (scanlines etc) important to you? These are important questions as to which cabinet you get. If you get a cabinet with a 15KHz monitor, you'll probably have trouble reading text in 360 games as they're intended for 480p+ resolutions.

Hi dave. For what it's worth, I've been gaming on a tube for the last 3 years. This one to be exact:http://www.nextdayofficesupplies.com/Ca ... NCT27SL14/. I've never really been able to read anything on it but it doesn't bother me as I don't really care much for games that need me to do so. I just know that Street Fighter 4 running in Blast City's at the arcade look secksi and that would be an ideal display for me.

[davewellington]

Well if you're happy with the low-resolution display, then an arcade monitor would be the way to go. It also gives you the oppertunity to get some boards later along the line. Which cabinet to get, and what other gear you'll need to hook the 360 up to an arcade cab, i'll leave up to the pros

[grantspain]

being in Canada without a monitor is the best place to be
http://www.niemandisplays.com"

[Guavaman]

Thanks for the linker, grantspain. I contacted him right away and he replied saying that pretty much all monitor manufacturers including himself, are out of most sizes of CRT's and that my remaining option may be to get an LCD instead. SAD FACE.

[grantspain]

you can still pick up crt from betson and happ controls in the U.S

[tmcleroy]

$390 sounds like a really good price for an Astro. I paid $350 for mine and it has some minor cosmetic damage. Keep in mind that Astro's have dualsync monitors and blasts have trisyncs.

[Guavaman]

Awesome, thanks! I'll gonna look into Betson.

tmcleroy, thanks for chiming in.

Super excited for tomorrow.

[tmcleroy]

Congratulations on your first cab, I was so excited when I got mine.

[tmcleroy]

Oh, and one thing that you may or may not already know. If you get an Astro you'll have to also buy a J-pac or JammASD so you can plug your 360 in with a VGA cable. I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be necessary if you got a Blast.

[Guavaman]

So I went to check out the cab. Beautiful Blast City. Great condition. The guy is throwing in a 2P - 6 button layout. $600 US.

Just gotta go back with an SUV for transport and that's it. Almost there, guys. I can taste it.

[thomj]

Great price. Have you checked the screen thoroughly?

[Guavaman]

I went back today to look at the monitor. It was an active, arcade floor machine housing Beach Spikers. The corner edges had small strips(few pixels wide) of blue, green, orange, red. There is no distortion in the display, and no noticeable burn in. The color however seems slightly muted, causing it to appear more blurry when compared to the other machines at the arcade.

Is it difficult to tweak color and sharpness?

[MajinHurricane]

you wouldnt happen to live in vancouver would you?

[thomj]

You should have a good look when it's turned off (in bright light, sunlight if possible)to check for burn in.

[Guavaman]

Majin, I am indeed from Vancouver.

thomj, I'll be sure to check the burn in. It'll be at night so I'll grab a flash light.

Thanks for the help so far, everyone!

[MajinHurricane]

Is this e-spot? I'm going tonight to check out the cabinets. IF not where are you getting them from? I'd also like to pick one up. You can PM me if you like.

PS: If it is e-spot. Scoped it out last night (even though I'm meeting with him tonight) I figure the machines are not in that good condition, from what I was seeing. If it's priced right though I'll pick one up. If not I think I'm going to construct a vewlix clone.

[Guavaman]

Is it safe to assume that tweaking the CRT can do a lot? I pick up tomorrow. The display isn't actually that bad at all, just kinda making me nervous.

Hey Majin, I PM'd you.

[Guavaman]

Thanks to this forum for the informative reads. Thanks to davewellington, thomj, tmcleroy, and grantspain for answering questions and giving suggestions! I think I got a decent machine

Will start doing the do once work settles down