My wife and I got to play the Vertigo cabinets at SFGE and really enjoyed them. Additionally seeing some old arcade games running on them, like Time Pilot, hit my Nostalgia button really hard. Brad was helpful and friendly with all of our questions.

My main concern with these machines apply to all of this style of in-home computerized systems:
These are basically a computer (Windows in this instance), attached to your local WiFi at home. Most of the companies deploying these systems know little about configuring OSs in a mature and secure manor. Additionally, most of these companies tell you in their documentation to *not* apply updates to the OS. Look at their docs. This is asking for a time-bomb down the road. The #1 rule in owning a computer is to keep your software as up to date as possible at all times.

These machines could be protected from your home network with some additional configuration & equipment, but this isn't even on the radar of the companies deploying them. Nor is it in the skillset of most home users/collectors. Perhaps this leaves some room for after-market manufacturers to create a router/firewall device that would keep these machines in their own sub-net?

All in all, I like what I saw but am concerned about the maturity of these products. They seem a bit beta, at least in regards to security of the platform.

Thanks for the reply Markmon.

I understand that they are headless, and stripped. That's a necessary first step. Do they auto-update themselves? What happens once deployed and new security updates come for the OS? Does anyone know which version of Windows they are deploying?

Perhaps my concern is directly related to my lack of knowledge about the platform itself. That is completely my fault. I need more access to determine exactly what they are doing. In no way do I mean to spread FUD. I like these guys and wish them success.

But if you are telling me that because the machine isn't used to 'browse the web' it is 'secure' then I remain concerned.