ION iCade cabinet - worth doing anything with?

[MartyNg]

I just picked up an ION iCade cabinet at a garage sale - brand new in box for $10! I got MAME running on my iPad - it works reasonably well except for a slight lag.

Is it worth doing anything with this cabinet? Such as installing an LCD monitor w/Raspberry Pi or something along those lines? (I do have a full size MAME cabinet I built years back but I wouldn't mind selling it if I had a mini version around the house!)

[roabe]

A buddy of mine owns the same thing. He doesn't have an iPad, but he bought it because it was cheap ($15 at a thrift shop) and loves anything to do with arcades. He also intends on eventually modding it into a MAME cab, but wants to build sort of an "extension" onto the bottom, which will house a mini ITX motherboard and other components (if they're small enough). He's not even close to starting on it, but it sounds like a fun concept.

[Unstupid]

If it were mine here is what I'd do... Find a 10" 4x3 LCD monitor... Hey look there is one right here: http://www.amazon.com/PLVW10IW-10-4-Inch-In-Wall-Mount-Monitor/dp/B00118EM1S/ grad a 60-in1 board, a small speaker and a power supply.... Stuff em all in the box and you have an instant cubicle distraction for your desk at werk!

[roabe]

I looked at some pictures of the insides of an iCade, and apparently it uses standard micro switches in the buttons and joystick. Which I was surprised at, because I was expecting a proprietary control interface that would have needed soldering or replacing entirely. So that part should be easy to mod-- just plug the wires right in to a KeyWiz or the like.

[ark_ader]

Rip the Bluetooth module out of it and get yourself a Kade. 

Should fit nicely, and snag a cheap 7inch  ICS tablet with USB OTG and you will have a capable system. 

[TGov]

Mame on iPad?  I am assuming it is a jail broken iPad.......