Dropout question

Hi guys
i'm pretty new here, and new to fixed bikes in general, but am thinking of taking the plunge and converting an old road bike. first off need a old bike/frame, right? read alot about how important no vertical dropouts are, my question, how horizontal do they have to be,seen alot of bikes with half way between vertical and horizontal, are these suitable?? bearing in mind i am quite new to this and want to keep things as simple as i can.
thanks for the advice
S.

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read
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_dr-z.html#dropout

Semi-horizontal dropouts probably will work. You might find you need to take links out of chain and add a half-link to get the tension good, especially if the dropout is quite short (and so won't give you much room to move it back or forth).
Suck it and see, basically ...

The other solution is go Eccentric... these are bottom brackets (or hubs?) that can be adjusted so the dropout-type isn't important to get good tension. They're a bit pricey, so if its a cheap conversion you probably won't want to go there.

...or go budget off-the-peg for your first bike so you at least have some mobility, then take your time with a serious decent build. (I haven't got passed the off-the-peg stage yet.....after nearly 2 years!)

eccentric hubs boycotts the rear brakes, and they are way waaaaaay out of order at the price that they are.
you can easily buy a horizontal drop-out frame for the price of such a hub. thats my rant over!