MAME status update

Progress report on Project MAME.

• The controller pack has been ordered, no word yet on whether it's shipped (they probably have to build them since they're so customizable).
  
• The computer itself is here and I've taken it through basic Windows setup, just enough to make sure it all works.
  
• The wireless mini-keyboard is very cute and I suspect we'll be "borrowing" it to use with netbooks -- though that'll leave me one USB port short (the keyboard and mouse share one, and the controller will take three, but if I switch to a regular keyboard and mouse, I'm one short. Reviews said that hubs don't work well with this computer, but who knows if that's true when you're just using it for a mouse and keyboard?
  
• It includes a mounting bracket to allow it to be affixed to the back of an HDTV, which is cool, but I won't be doing that. Instead, that mounting bracket will also be great for mounting it to the inside of the cabinet, up off the ground, in much the same location that the computer boards are usually mounted in original arcade games, as it happens.
  
• The computer is absolutely quiet, and runs cool. It's ideal for this application. The Wifi seems to work fine too.
  
• I haven't spent much time on it, but so far, the video quality's not too good. I can't get the built-in video to support the HD resolution that my monitor offers, which is odd -- the monitor supports all the 720 and 1080 resolutions, and the computer has an HDMI port as its default output, so it ought to be plug-and-go.
  
• I haven't installed MAME on it yet, or really done anything but walk it through the twelve billion Windows updates, enough to be sure the computer itself is okay. (Don't want to leave it in a box for two months and then find something's wrong when it's too late to return it.)
  
• I can't finalize the case plans until I have the controller, so for now, I'm just stuck waiting. I should have ordered that controller before going to the UK.