Moving an arcade machine

[Cinder6]

I've searched the forums, and while people say to move an arcade machine upright, I'm still wondering which is the better case here.

Tomorrow, I'm picking up a Neo Geo, and it will be an hour-and-a-half transport. I have two options: the first is to lie it down in the car, and hope that the monitor's okay. The second is to use a trailer. I've reserved a 4'x6' trailer tomorrow, and we are going to wrap the cabinet up in packing material, movers mats, a blanket, and strap it all down. Even so, I'm worried about it being jostled.

The benefit of transporting inside the car is that there's more cushioning and shock absorption than in the trailer (which has none, aside from what we might be able to implement). Of course, monitors being front-heavy, that's not ideal. Is it simple to take the monitor out and transport it that way, or am I just thinking about it too hard?

Sorry for posting something that's (probably) been discussed to death. This is my first arcade machine, and I want to make sure it gets home safely, so I'm finding myself a little paranoid :) Thanks for any and all advice.

[WarLordAG]

I've moved them both ways.

It's best to keep them upright.
However it's not going to hurt it at all to move it laying down.
The only reason it's not as viable to move laying down is you have to make ABSOLUTELY sure that everything, especially the monitor is secure.

If everything is totally secure and nothing loose is in the cab, you're more than fine to move it laying down.

[Postermen]

My Playchoice 10 and Baby PacMan were both moved lying down without any problems.

[Captain Wrong]

My Missle Command was moved laying down in the back of an SUV and it was fine. It was also moved upright in a moving truck to it's current home and again, no problems.

[qbertandernie]

ive done both ways and not had any problems. if you have a thin matress or sleeping bag, put that down under the cab and it shoudn't cause a problem. my issues with upright prior to buying my current vehicle was the rocking back and forth - even if i tied the living hell out of it.

best of luck!

[GunPanther]

When in doubt, add more packing material, in this case, more blankets so you can cushion whatever area of the cabinet you need to.

In my experience, I've helped an old friend move about 15 arcade cabinets from one warehouse to another, using a bobtail truck. Each machine was upright, strapped in and covered with a padded blanket. They were quite secure and we even went on a couple of roads which were less than smooth, but the machines still came out fine.

Contrary to what nervousness you may feel, it's totally understandable, as this is your new 'baby', which you've invested your hard earned time and money into, but rest assured that these arcade machine cabinets are pretty damned sturdy and can usually take a lot of punishment before they cease to operate. Think of it this way- If they're designed to take abuse from people kicking it, shaking it and doing whatever else to it, it'll probably survive a trip on the back of a truck, even if the road gets a little bumpy.

Don't sweat it. It'll be fine.

Now if you overturn the truck onto it's side, that's another story. :P j/k

[Cinder6]

Thanks for the reassurance, guys. We'll probably just lie it down in the car, then, so we can save the $40 rental and drive full speed :)

Just out of curiosity, does anyone have the dimensions for the standard MVS dedicated cabinet (below)? I won't be able to talk to the guy I'm buying it from until after the rental yard closes. Thanks.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f345/KeithDigital/Arcade/Neo%20Geo/CIMG4522.jpg

[blue lander]

Supposedly putting any CRT face down could possibly warp the mask in the front of the picture tube. I've never heard of it happening, though. If you were going to remove the monitor you'd have to discharge it first, which can be scary if you've never done it before.

[Vectorman0]

Moved to Arcade Alley.

Just to reiterate what everyone else has said, as long as everything is secured, transporting it on its back should be fine.

[Kevin H]

Just make sure you double and triple check the monitor. I bought five arcade games and one slot machine last week and made sure to check the monitos. If I would of laid one down in particular it would of destroyed the monitor as it was loose and actually used mirrors to project the image instead of sitting the normal way.

[Peale]

Supposedly putting any CRT face down could possibly warp the mask in the front of the picture tube. I've never heard of it happening, though. If you were going to remove the monitor you'd have to discharge it first, which can be scary if you've never done it before.

You never discharge a monitor just to remove it. Only when you're going to do work on it.

[Cinder6]

Well, it's all a moot point, anyways, as it turns out it won't fit in the car. Oh well, trailer it is.

*looks forward to tonight*

[Cinder6]

Alright, just got it home a couple hours ago. It works great, and is a lot more fun to have than I'd imagined (and I'd expected quite a bit out of it). Got the following games: Metal Slug 2, Samurai Showdown 2, King of Fighters '95, and League Bowling (which I'm finding surprisingly addicting).

It also came with the memory card reader (not installed) and marquees for Samurai Showdown 2 and Bust-A-Move (which will be the next game I get). Also, speaking of marquees, is there one that is just red and says NEO GEO on it, without places for game mini-labels? That would be cool.

For moving it, we laid it down in the trailer after putting tons of padding on the back, sides, front, etc. Went without a hitch. Of course, we have to rent a dolly in order to get it up the stairs. Stupid stair landing :|

Finally, would you guys recommend getting a UNIBIOS? It seems like it'd be a cool thing to have, but I'd like the opinions of others before going for it.

[XYXZYZ]

That's a nice MVS 2-25, I have the same kind. I thought about a unibios, but I really don't need one. The US version of the games is fine, and none of the games I have offer anything more in console mode. I think the unibios also gives you cheats, but you don't want that, do you?

But I do highly reccomend adding a pause switch, I made one and it's incredibly handy!
http://hardmvs.com/html/pause2.htm

[Cinder6]

Actually, that's not the MVS I bought; just a picture I found online. Mine looks similar, except it has a heavy duty latch installed over the coin panel, which will actually be a handy way to semi-lock it when my nieces are over.

As for that pause switch, that looks like more work than I feel like doing :P And the UNIBIOS pause feature doesn't require you to do any cutting or anything (using the coin release buttons). Eventually I'll probably go that route, but for now, I'm good.