Anyone have experience with WG d9800 arcade monitor?

[nickmas80]

Does anyone own this or has anyone seen it in action? I want to buy the Wells Gardner d9800 arcade monitor from X-Gaming and have been looking around the internet for reviews but haven't had any luck. I plan to run the oldies up to the newer Golden Tee and Big Buck Hunter.

Thanks

 

[FatTrucker]

Should handle anything you run on it without any problems. Not used one but looking at the specs for it, its a full range multi-synch so should handle any scan rate, freq or resolution that an arcade game will throw at it.

 

[Jay]

Recently, I purchased Project Arcade: Build Your Own Arcade Machine from Amazon. The author (John St. Clair) mentions the Wells Gardner d9800 on page 296, but opts to go with a 27-in Vision Pro arcade-VGA hybrid monitor. He refers to both of these models as similar to one another, implying it might have been his second choice. I also reviewed the specs and I'd say you'd be happy with it if you're looking for an authentic experience. If you just want a quality picture go with a computer monitor. Then there's a comprise solution, a television. It looks similar to an old style arcade monitor (scanlines and whatnot), but comes at a much cheaper price. You can use the money you save to bet a bigger screen! Anyway you go, I'm sure you'll have fun.

Try some of these sites, I bookmarked them from the CD-ROM that came with the book:

• Arcade Paradise.org
• Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ
• Build Your Own Arcade Controls Wiki
• Frostillicus
• Jeffs ULTIMATE MAME Cabinet Project
• LuSiD's Arcade Flashback
• MameStation
• Russ Mame Cabinet

I've been doing notes and sketches for sometime now and hope to start my project soon. It's just so damn expensive. It was even more expensive for me because I bought the tools instead of borrowing or renting them, but I wanted to do more than one project and also to be able to take my time. Anyways, I hope this helps you.

Peace,
Jay

 

[nickmas80]

Thanks everyone, I feel confident in the WG D9800 now. I wanted to make sure I didn't buy it and then hear from someone online about why not to get it. Thanks for all of the links, I saved them for future reference.

The monitor is expensive at about $430 after S&H but if I'm doing this I may as well do it right. My concerns were that I couldn't play newer hi-def games or a music program to double the arcade as a jukebox. I think the amount of low-res games I play will far exceed the amount of hi-res games so this will work great. Also, iTunes is fine in 800X600 so this monitor will suit the majority of my needs. One factor in my selection is my cabinet size. I have an old Block Out cab which is about 24" wide so the bare-bones frame of an arcade monitor will be much easier to fit with little modification. I should have held out for a bigger cabinet but I'm a noob and jumped at the first available one.

Good luck with your project. My problem is that I don't have expertise in any of the BYOAC areas. I bought an old cabinet ($160) because I don't trust myself making one of great quality, I bought the X-Arcade Tankstick ($200) to use as starter controls until I learn more about wood-working and control/button wiring, and most of all - unfortunately I'm not a super computer tech so hopefully that side of it doesn't cause me too many problems. I will learn it eventually, but doing this is something you can't pass on. It's just too awesome.

Thanks again!

 

[nickmas80]

Oh yea, check out this thread from ArcadeControls.com. The LED work this guy did is pretty cool.

www.ArcadeControls.com

 

[Zach]

Personally if it were me, I'd just buy a nice $200 range 19 - 21" LCD. They run a lot coolers and you can always turn scanline filters on in MAME and others that support it. But I also respect going with actual hardware more suited to the task. I guess it comes down to how much you're willing to spend.

 

[Jay]

My concerns were that I couldn't play newer hi-def games or a music program to double the arcade as a jukebox. I think the amount of low-res games I play will far exceed the amount of hi-res games so this will work great.

The 27-in Vision Pro arcade-VGA hybrid monitor I mentioned earlier is built just for the purpose of running arcade games using authentic hardware, but still being able to run hi-res pc games, jukeboxes and the like. It even comes in the bare-bones frame.

My problem is that I don't have expertise in any of the BYOAC areas. I bought an old cabinet ($160) because I don't trust myself making one of great quality, I bought the X-Arcade Tankstick ($200) to use as starter controls until I learn more about wood-working and control/button wiring, and most of all - unfortunately I'm not a super computer tech so hopefully that side of it doesn't cause me too many problems. I will learn it eventually, but doing this is something you can't pass on.

I would certainly recommend the book, I got it for $13 in the used books section. The seller was a library so it was in great shape. It comes with plans, supply lists, step by step instruction, pictures, and much more. I plan to build my own cab, but after buying the tools I had to stop and save more money. I'll probably do do like Neco said, use a computer monitor and emulate the scanlines. That way I can play new games too.

 

[nickmas80]

I originally wanted to use a PC monitor but one of my favorite arcade games is Big Buck Hunter and I think shooting games would be better off with a bigger screen so I decided to look at TVs. Then I read some projects in which people tried to use TVs but the picture quality was not very good so then I changed my mind to an arcade monitor.

Do you have any idea where he found that 27" Vision Pro?

 

[Jay]

I sure do, Happ Controls. Here's the exact page. For some reason they only list sizes up to 19in, maybe if you call them they can tell you about the bigger model mentioned in the book. It sure is one very expensive piece of equipment.

I also have a bunch of links to online stores that sell arcade machine parts. If you want I can post those links too.

 

[nickmas80]

Yea, I saw the 19" but no 27". I decided just to order the D9800. If higher resolution proves to be important for my use I'll upgrade in the future.

Please post those links. I've checked out Happ, Betson, and Ultimarc but those are all I know.

 

[Jay]

I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the monitor. Having an arcade monitor will make the experience very authentic.

I looked at the list of links and it's something like forty web sites and I don't wanna type them all. However, when I was setting up the Links section on my site about a month ago and I got half-way through the fourth category of links and decided to finish it later because there were more important things to be done. Luckily, the three sections I finished were all about building your own arcade machine from scratch! (the list is in alphabetical order and arcade begins with...) Which makes this unfinished section of the site perfect for the issue you're having now. You'll find the online stores I mentioned before under "Arcade Machines/Parts".

Later on when I finish the section I'll add any more that I can think of, but in the mean time here's about forty arcade cabinet building links. There's also a page full of links at the Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ, but many of them are out of date and give a 404. I may sort through them and add the ones that still work to this page too, if I can find the time.

 

[nickmas80]

The monitor came but the four monitor to frame connections are a little wider than I thought. I'd hate to cut/grind any of it down but I don't think I have another option. Oh well.

Thanks for the links. After I get this starter cabinet working I will begin plans for a future cabinet. I want to build a super-nice one some years down the road when I have more experience and research.

Are you going to document your build online?

 

[Jay]

I plan to post an article about it, but I've put it off indefinitly for now. Money is suddenly very tight around here...

How much wider is it? If you're using an old arcade cabinet and you grind too much on it that may be a problem. Most cabinets are really just sawdust and glue, so be careful.

 

[FatTrucker]

Most cabinets are really just sawdust and glue

And woodworm.

And mould.

And water.

And spiderwebs.

And dust.....lots of dust.

 

[nickmas80]

I think you forgot to add horrible smell, and the weight of it had me convinced there was a little concrete in there as well.

I wasn't talking about grinding the cabinet, I meant the frame mounts of the monitor as seen below.

The inside of width of my cabinet is 23-13/16". The monitor is small enough to fit, it's just the stupid frame mounts that stick out 24-6/16". So I need to "remove" about 11/16" total, 5.5/16" from each side. I have to check how far in the bolt holes are to make sure they won't be destroyed, otherwise I'll have to think of something else.

 

[Jay]

Is there anyway to take the monitor out of the frame? I've seen some cabs where they take apart computer monitors and tvs to get bigger screens to fit. I'm not sure if an arcade monitor works like this though. Seems like you should be able to take the screen and "guts" out of the frame and mount them inside the cab.

This may not work, I haven't messed around with arcade monitors really. I just thought maybe you could take the parts and screen out and reassemble them in the cab somehow.

Be careful, screens on monitors and TVs hold charge after they're unplugged and the shock could kill you even months after it's unplugged unless discharged by a professional. Don't touch anything you don't have to and watch for warning labels.

 

[Zach]

insulated gloves ftw

 

[Jay]

Yeah. You'd think I'd have recommended the gloves. I still wouldn't touch anything I didn't have to.

 

[FatTrucker]

I would never go into the back of a cab anywhere near the monitor without discharging it first - simple to do once you've done it.

AFAIK most modern units like the WD9800 self discharge when switched off anyway, but still wouldn't trust it without sticking a multimeter on there first.

Always, always without fail only ever go into the monitor one handed regardless, keep the other one in your pocket.

 

[nickmas80]

Ok I got it in, not mounted but in. I didn't know my monitor had self-discharge, thanks for that. Xgaming.com never sent a manual with the monitor and I'm waiting to hear back from them. The picture is slightly rotated so I need the manual to fix that as well. Towards the edges the screen gets a little blurry and I'm guessing that's because of the rotation.

I touched as little of the monitor as possible because I was quite scared. I would only touch the back-upper metal frame so that my hands were ONLY in contact with the metal frame. Thanks for the warnings though.

I drilled new holes closer in on the monitor-frame mounts, removed the old bolts, installed new bolts, and then band-sawed the excess of the mounts off. It's not the prettiest thing in the world but once it's covered it won't matter. Now I have to permanently mount it.