Posted by Lilwolf on 27, 2001 at 12:44 PM:
In Reply to: Which monitor once and for all? posted by grips on 27, 2001 at 11:32 AM:
: 1. Wells-Gardner U3000 27' - I know someone who has a unit that is currently
: not working. He will fix it and sell it for around $325 cdn. I think it
: only does 640 x 480 and has a vga connector. I assume this would be plug
: and play but not sure. Does anyone know if this monitor is capable of
: 800x600? Also, if only 640x480, what games will not work/look properly. Any
: opinions?
Best option to what I've heard. I'm not sure if the quality looks as good as a true arcadepc, but it should be. If you can get one for that price (good price btw) then I would probably do it.... but make sure the guy can actually fix it.
: 2. Eygo 27' vga monitor.. VGA connector, 640x480. I have heard than many of
: these monitors suffer from fading or ? in the lower left/right corner.
: ~$300cdn
What I went with and I like it, but wouldn't do it again. If you've seen the pictures between using a real arcade monitor in spy hunter and a VGA, this one looks like a VGA. Shipping problems all around, it's a little to big to fit in any cabinet I've ever seen without removing the metal braces (but not a huge deal... but annoying). But it does a great job in windows and a everything looks great to me in mame, impact, s11, ect ect. Also, happs 27" bezel fits it like a glove (I hear... haven't bought one yet) so making it looked finished should be easy.
: 3. 27' TV with svideo input. I already have a ati video card with svideo
: output.
: Not sure how the quality will be and whether some tv's will work better
: than others. ~$350 cdn
This is what I would do if I could start over. Why? warranty on the tube (one thing) but I would go 25" so I can fit it in the cabinet without removing it from your box. Also, I think it has better output then the EYGO monitors (from pictures). Last it will be nice to be able to hook it up to a XBox, PS2, PS, ie, you can do more with it.
: 4. 25' arcade monitor... My cabinet (NBA JAM) came with a 25inch phillips
: tube monitor. I'm not sure the model, but I know it is not a vga type. I
: could pick up a Jpac and connect the monitor, but worried that the
: resolution options would be very limited. Cost: ~$75 CDN for jpac.
This should be the best looking of the bunch. There wasn't a jpac with I started, and I might have gone this way (but I only had a 19" monitor... but it would have been done eons ago if I had. If you do, the video card is important if you want to run windows. Trident or G400 seem to be the options. But you wont want to run windows, but you can for configuration stuff. Best output in mame, but I don't think you will get anything good out of a windows emulator.
: 5. Wait... Use my current setup and hope something better comes along.
I don't think anything much better will come out. Someone might write some drivers for a good video card to work with jpac.
:
: I need to make my decision over the next couple of days. If I go with the
: WG monitor, buddy needs to begin to repair the unit. The Eygo monitor may
: or may not be available in the next couple of days. So If I want one of
: these monitors, i need to act fast.
Again, I went EYGO and would do the svideo or jpac solution if I had to do it again. If you have an arcade monitor that you know works, go jpac. It will be cheapest solution. If you have to go windows, then svideo...... but if you can get the guy to fix that monitor for you... that will be your best solution by far (better looks then an EYGO, getter compatibility and same looks a the jpac solution, better looks and compatibility then the svideo (and you can run pure dos)
good luck