Recommended keyboard and mouse encoders?

[enigma]

Which keyboard and mice encoders are of better quality?

Ultimarc's or Happ's??

Once again a simple question, with a complex answer!!

I have plans on going with a ultimarc I-Pac and Opti-Pac, but does anyone recommend something else??

[Minwah]

The most popular keyboard encoders I believe are:

Ultimarc's IPAC
Groovygamegear's Keywiz
Hagstrom'  (can't remember the model no)

The only optical interfaces I know are:

Ultimarc's Opti-Pac
Hagstrom's (can't remember the model no again)

Personally I have an IPAC & Opti-Pac, partly due to it's great reputation, and partly because Ultimarc is UK based and so am I

From what I've read the Keywiz may be a cheaper solution, especially if you are in the US.  I suggest you check them all out and make a choice, there are many threads on this board about them all.

Note I didn't mention Happs - I wouldn't even consider these, they are no doubt overpriced, and I'm sure not a patch on the ones I mentioned - which are made by people who actually USE them...

[mahuti]

If you aren't going nuts with the amount of controls, the new mini-pac looks like a nice all-in-one solution with regular encoder, and trackball. If you want a lot of controls, it won't be enough.

I like the iPac for a few reasons

Andy Warne (of ultimarc) frequents this board and is very helpful. There is wide spread support and interest in the iPac (mac, pc, etc) and Andy seems to be very aggressive at releaseing new and excellent products where there is a need. The shift key function is nice, and the software is very easy to use to program the iPac.

I don't know that it is better than other models, but for the average person, I think it is unquestionably an excellent purchase. Somebody has a big comparison of all the encoders around here... don't know the link.. it might help if someone posted that again.

The one drawback that the iPac has is that it doesn't support key-macros. I don't need them, but I could see them coming in handy for others.

[SirPoonga]

ultimarc just came out with the mini-pac, and all in one solution for your keyboard and mouse encoding needs.  you might want to wait until the 36 input version.

I will be selling an IPAC2 and 2 mice hacks (one for tball and one for spinner) soon.

[Tiger-Heli]

Which keyboard and mice encoders are of better quality?

Ultimarc's or Happ's??

Once again a simple question, with a complex answer!!

I have plans on going with a ultimarc I-Pac and Opti-Pac, but does anyone recommend something else??

I did the big keyboard encoder comparison -

http://www.fraggersxtreme.com/arcadepanels/encoder/

Note the KeyWiz Max 1.5 and Mini-PAC came out after this article and still need to be added.

Regarding mouse interfaces - There's the Opti-PAC, the Hagstrom ME4, and OSCAR www.oscarcontrols.com sells a hacked USB Mouse for like $12 or so.