I agree with your argument BUT I am refering to boards being repairable by hobbyists - SMT certainly is NOT.
Any hobbyist with a jaycar soldering iron and SMD tip(s) can service pinny boards.
It's not impossible, sure they next some practice, but it's VERY achievable at home, many electronics hobbyists i know all manage reworking SMD stuff on occasion and they're NOT experts by any means....
Perhaps you're suggesting the pinny community are retards Mike ??
![lol :lol](http://www.aussiepinball.com.au/Smileys/classic/lol.gif)
On the other note, SMD boards should be $20 so you buy a bunch as spares.
Sadly the big guys like Alltek & Rottendog churning out repro boards are still demanding manufacturers prices, not exactly helping the community, but simply helping their wallet.
At the end of the day, a pinny mpu should be nothing more than 1 FPGA chip, controlling a seperate FET/driver board.
25cents...