I have decided that I want to buy my first pinball machine. I have a few questions, hoping I found the right place to ask. First question is what the least I can expect to pay for a machine that is fun to play and works well? What level of maintenance is to be expected? Where do I start?
Thanks!
way to vague of a question to ask, too many pins to choose from. if you can narrow down what pins you may be interested in getting, then a price range would be alot easier to give.... otherwise the prices could be from 500 to $20,000. if you own a pin, you will need to maintain it. cleaning the playfield, replacing worn rubbers is basic, but its a pinball machine, its going to break at some point..... and again it depends on the machine, older ones require more work.
you have come to the right place 
check out the top 100 pins and in addition the 'bang for your buck' page
Any Particular brands that you would recommend looking for and/or staying away from. Also, what do you consider to be an "older one"
I am looking for a more simple machine that is still a lot of fun to play but doesn't need to have a ton of stuff going on. No more then $1200, hopefully less.
thanks!
At that price point, your best bet is probably a Williams System 7, 9, or 11 machine. Go to the Internet Pinball Database (ipdb.org) and you can search all the machines using those parameters to see if anything catches your eye.
You will be looking at a machine roughly 25 years old. You should be able to buy one that works 100% for that price. If you play it, it will break on you at some point. There's simply no getting around that.
It's a great hobby, but you do need to be prepared to do maintenance and repairs. There are no secrets and it's not rocket science, but you will need to put the time/effort into learning how to fix/maintain your machine. Otherwise, a great hobby can turn frustrating very quickly.
Welcome to Pinside, good luck.
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