Buying an arcade cabinet

[LaundroMat]

I've been thinking of buying an arcade cabinet lately. Most cabinets are sold (on ebay and ebay-ish sites) for something between ?400 and ?1000. There's this one cabinet being sold for (wait for it) ?1. One euro. And it has Superman and Columns with it too.

The seller says it's in perfect condition and the monitor (19") is in the package too, together with the money collector.

Apparently I don't know enough about cabinets, so I'm asking you lot: what could be wrong with this cabinet that it's being sold for so low a price?

[mr_0rga5m]

Its prolly just a starting price and has a reserve that needs to be met otherwise its not sold.

[spiff]

LaundroMat
Cabs are _Heavy_ so transportation is both unsafe and expensive as **** most of the time.
You really should try some of the local places first. Go to a arcade/bar check with the machine vendor or service guy, there's usally a sticker with a phone number on the side.

Also most things on a cabinet can be fixed or replaced with parts from bobroberts or happ controls (or PC at(x) psus).. apart from the (monitor) chassie card that controls the screen.. if that's broken replacing it will prol cost more then a new cab. So skip any cheap "monitors broken but the rest of it works cabs"

[gary]

Also note that the monitor may work but not very well. Alot of arcade machines are left on for long periods of time which usually results in the static images burning into the monitor screen. I've also come across monitors that have defects such as a permanently bent or stretched screen which is no longer square.

If I was in the market for a low cost cabinet I would try looking locally first and be prepared to lug the machine back to my place myself. Are there any old machines sitting unused in an old arcade or shop? If so make an offer, you may find a shop owner that would be glad to get rid of an old machine (provided you take it away yourself)

All good advice you've been given.

I've seen people pay £100 or more to have a cabinet shipped to them, only to find them smashed up, monitor damaged etc...

I'd also reiterate the point about the monitor - unless you know a fair bit about monitor/television repair then a cabinet with a faulty monitor is going to be next-to-useless to you.

The rest of the wiring/joysticks etc is relatively easy to sort out. What is it you're intending to use the cabinet for? Any game in particular? Or just to use as a generic JAMMA cabinet? Or maybe for MAME?

I managed to pick up a Moon Base cocktail cabinet a few months ago, put a new monitor in it, and wired up a SCART socket so that all my consoles would work on it. I've also put an old P3-450 board in it running AdvanceMAME for playing the older MAME games - works really well.

[Djay]

a m8 of mine, restores arcade cabinets... he's a right jammy git, he picked up a virtua fighter 2 (seat version) for next to nothing.. the machine itself is in top condition...

he also has a empty chassis with a pc stuck instead and a tft where the tv should be... it looks the nuts... it also has a wireless mouse/keyboard combo, with a pull out shelf just under the joystick panel, he's done all the wiring himself (joysticks to usb conversion)... when you open the backdoor a neon blue light comes on, it isn't in a ATX case, its mounted straight to the cabinets... ITS SOOOO NICE!!!

i'll get him to send me some photos...


here a few at his url... hmmm a link

[LaundroMat]

Well, in any case it is being sold for EUR 1. The seller lives pretty close to me, but thanks for the tips. I'm afraid I'll have to have a really close look at it before I buy, esp. the monitor.

In any case, what's a euro eh?