Welcome to the addiction club! I would start out with something in your price range that interests you. Try to enjoy it, clean it and make it better. Save money along the way and sell your first pin, add some of the money you saved and get something slightly better. Rinse and repeat until you have owned them all at some point

Good luck and have fun!

Kevin

Is it true that EMs are easier to work on? I really dont know but I only have space for one machine and would consider getting an older game

Addiction club, that's an understatement

Go out and start playing some games and make a list of the ones you like, no point in just getting one and not liking it. Then start watching for one to come up for sale in your price range. Before you know it, you will be looking for a larger apt that will hold more pins!

You have been warned, the addiction begins.

I really, really, really wanted a pin. Didn't want to spend a ton of money, but didn't really like EM's that much, so I assumed I needed something from the DMD era. After stalking craigslist for a few weeks, and realizing that DMDs were out of my price range - there was a really worn out High Speed for sale for cheap. I hemmed and hawed, and when I finally decided to do it, it was gone. A week or so later, another one popped up and I bought it.

I had never played High Speed before, but knew it was well regarded. It was nerve wracking though because it's an older game and wasn't sure if it had enough replay value. But I needed something to have in my house that I could play all the time and build skills on - and so I could stop obsessing about it.

Long story short: I've played over 1200 games on it with no signs of slowing. My advice is that if you can find something for a good price, just buy it. Enjoy pinball at home! Practice skills for free, learn to fix and maintain it. Maybe you'll get tired of it in a few months. Just sell it or trade for something else. Plus, by then, you might have a better idea of what you want. As long as you didn't overpay, you don't have to worry.

Pinball seems to be alive and well in Denver area imho.
You should be able to find several reasonable deals in the next month or so.

Look through the Pinside Top 100 list, and the list for #101 - 200, and the E-M Top 100 list.
Look at gallery pics of various machines, read ratings comments, etc.

Another idea is to work on building your Pinside "Wishlist" which is a section of your Collection.
When you click on a linked name of a machine, you go to a screen of info for that particular pin.
Further down that page there is a field you can click on to add that pin to your wishlist.
As you figure out which pins you really like and can afford, then add it to your wishlist.
Actually going out and playing pins, is one of the best ways to help you decide if you actually like a certain pin.
Don't make a wishlist of 130 machines you might want.
Just make a list of say 12 or less to help you focus in on what you want for your 1st pin.

Welcome to Pinside, and have fun cleaning up and playing your 1st machine when you get one.

I work on both EM and SS and they both have their + and -.
EM are a whole different animal but fun to work on when you learn them. The good part a out them is the parts are all there and you just have to figure out what switch is not working to screw things up.
With a SS game there is a lot of testing because its no obvious e by looking why little piece if crap is not functioning properly. Lol But once you get the hang if it it not that bad.

Welcome and you have a great source of information in this forum and a bunch of good peoe to help you along the way.