I tate my cabs fairly often. Usually when hosting game parties to cater to which type of guests I'll be having over. If its a bunch of neo-geo freaks or puzzlers then I like to have a couple set hori. If its a shmupper crowd them a couple set vert.. Its just a nice option to have.
Not sure what crank you're talking about. To tate an Egret2 monitor, you just remove 4 wingnuts, turn the monitor (no crank) then screw the wingnuts back in. The monitor shroud is harder to tate than the monitor but only because the front plastic is hinged and cannot be easily removed like the Astro so you are forced to tate the plastic shroud in place. Tating the monitor a piece of cake and done in less time than the Astro and doesn't require feats of strength to do so. I'd have to pull my astro out, remove the front plastic, lay the cab on its back, remove the nuts then lift and tate the monitor. Not too hard to do, but probably more than most people want to deal with.
It comes down to a matter of taste. Alot of people don't like the new Astro styling, especially the boxy speakers and colors. It took me a little while for it to grow on me, but I do like them. For some reason, I've noticed scratchy sound on every sega new astrocity I've owned or played. Most noticeable on games featuring explosions. Not a deal breaker but annoying nonetheless. Which is why I have a Sega astro2. Molded Bose speaker enclosures..super sexy, heh. Too bad Sega didn't make more of them. I've heard people call new astro's the equivalent of a honda civic as far as candies go. Egret2's are definitely Beemers, lol. Blastcities are just plain weird looking and out of sorts with the huge marquee holder.
If money is not an issue, the Egret2 is the sh1t. Love everything about the cab. Including having the cab on 4 wheels to easily move around instead of having to lift to manuever the cab on 2 wheels like most candies. Taito got everything right with the Egret2. A shame they didn't include the tate mechanism on their Egret3 or Atomiswave. But you can definitely find 2 new Astro's for the same price and have a dedicated vert and hori so you'd never have to tate (theoretically) again. Or Christoph can splurge and track down 2 Egret2's ;P
Tom
then again I'm a wimp and usually don't have the luxury of having an extra hand around when I need one. Laying the cab on the back to tate is the easiest way when doing it with one person. Totally removes the awkwardness and risk of damaging the monitor or bolts. I don't tate that often because i have 3 candies (used to have 9) and don't play games much anyways. But if I see little risk of tating regularly if thats what ya want to do, as long as you're careful. But having a dedicated vert and hori is definitely the way to go, if you have the space 
