First Bartop = Questions

[acevedor2]

Hey guys,
I have to admit - it's been a while since I've been on here.  Years in fact. In truth, once I finished my Mame cab, I got more heavy into dedicated original machines.  I now find myself in a position that I want to build a couple of bartops for family.  These will not be sold, they will be gifts.  Because of that, I'd rather not spend an arm and a leg.  This is my first bartop build so I have some questions and thoughts as about what to put in it. 

I am fairly certain these will contain 60-1's.  The biggest reason is cost and ease of install and configuration.  Since I won't be around to repair these and troubleshoot them, I want them to be fairly rock solid.  I can actually get PCs on CL for really cheap, but again, there is the whole configuration and maintenance thing.. So this is what I'm thinking:

Games: 60-1-iCade
Power Supply: Switcher or standard ATX (most likely ATX for form factor)  And from what I understand, the new iCade's can be power by the four prong plug from the ATX supply.
Monitor: LCD (17" or 19") - VGA - found a lot of these on CL for between $10 and $25.
Jamma Harness
Single Joystick - 3-6 buttons
Trackball
Led strips for Marquee

How are you guys rigging a power solution?  My initial thoughts are tie everything into the ATX PS and then use a switch on a power socket - like this - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ME5YAPK?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A2Y736KGZ14HTQ

I was thinking I could run the monitor directly to the prongs of that power socket. 

For sound - what are the best options?  getting standard 12v car speakers won't work because they will be way underpowered I would think. PC speakers might work - but to be frank - not sure how they would connect with the 60-1.  And they would need to be powered as well. 

Any thoughts?  Thanks!

[paigeoliver]

Ok, if you want to build an icade right then here is what to do.

Display has to be a CRT, the icade has significant native input lag and pair poorly with LCD monitors as they have their own native display lag. Get a craftymech slg. I heard he was discontinuing them, beg him until he sells you one. That add on makes or breaks the icade board.
Power is almost not even relevant. They only use the +5 volt and they draw almost no current. I have mine running on a broken Jamma type power supply that won't run any real games. I have seen others run them off wall-wort type power supplies.
Joystick. Needs to be a 4-way. Select between these 3, the Namco Reunion replacement stick, the Happ Universal in 4-way mode or an original Midway Pac-Man stick if you can find one.
Buttons, you only need 2 as you will be turning off Gunsmoke. Get leaf buttons if you can, otherwise just make sure you are getting genuine Happ. The 50 cents you save on crappy buttons can make or break a project.
Skip the trackball, none of the games on the icade have the sensitivity set properly. The trackball games just don't play right.
I normally use an under counter light fixture as a marquee replacement on games that need it.

When you put this together you are going to throw all the 8-way and analog games under the bus. Turn them all off. Better to have a 38 in 1 that works pretty good than have a 60 in 1 that is 35 percent garbage.

A standard set of cheapo PC speakers or a single 4" speaker wired up to the jamma harness are all you need for speakers.

[acevedor2]

Thanks Oliver. It will definitely be an LCD. Simply not cost effective to put an LCD In and more importantly would make the bartops Much heavier than I would like. I hadn't heard of the issues with the iCade 60 in 1 s. Are there better or other boards?  Why can't I put an eight way stick in it?  Do the 8 way games not work right?

Trying to find the person that built this one so I could maybe get the dimensions. I really like it. Almost looks like something spacies would do.

[JDFan]

Thanks Oliver. It will definitely be an LCD. Simply not cost effective to put an LCD In and more importantly would make the bartops Much heavier than I would like. I hadn't heard of the issues with the iCade 60 in 1 s. Are there better or other boards?  Why can't I put an eight way stick in it?  Do the 8 way games not work right?

Trying to find the person that built this one so I could maybe get the dimensions. I really like it. Almost looks like something spacies would do.

Similar but better build that includes layout -- ( http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,128666.msg1315226.html#msg1315226 )

Paige is a bit of a purist and believes anything that isn't 100% true to the arcade versions is not worth building (even if most users would not notice !!) -- Hence the CRT and 4 way stick recommendations. An 8 way will work but for higher level players it can cause problems with timing on the turns etc. so many do not like using anything but a 4 way. If you are not that particular about gameplay they can be used fine.