newbie needs advice

[Brian]

Hello all.  I am attempting to plan out a cabinet and need some advice from the experts.  After reviewing most of the examples on this site, i see many folks using 2 8-way joysticks AND a 4 way.....
     1a.  Is using a 4/8 way switchable stick really that horrible where a dedicated 3rd stick is needed?  Hoping to free up cp space for a trackball, need to know before I order parts....OR
      1b.  If a dedicated 4-way joystick is the ONLY way to recreate pac-man, DK, etc, does the I-PAC need to be reconfigured to recognize when the 4 way is used??  (sorry if i sound confused, but if you wire up your 8ways to the default MAME 1 and 2 player up/dn/l/r, where do you wire in the 4 way joystick??
       2.  Opinions on best tv out video card support?  Hoping to run MAME32 with windows, maybe arcade fx.  

Thanks, Brian in Buffalo (sorry if long winded)

[neuromancer]

8 way sticks don't "feel" like 4 way sticks. As you move the stick quickly from left to up (for instance) it has a tendency to keep going, and move past up to up-right. You either need a 4 way, or a oscarcontrols.com restrictor plate. You can either configure the 4 way as different inputs, or wire the switches in parallel with the 8 way. The only problem there is if someone fiddles with the switch that's not in use. A quad pole double throw switch would take care of that problem.

Bob
South Carolina

[Gorre]

1a.
If it is a good 4/8 way switchable you can go with one, the only problem is that for (except the ones from ultimarc/I-Pac, but I don't know how good they are)  you have to loosen four screws underneath the joystick turn the restrictor plate and fasten them again. So this remains a bit of a hassle (removing CP and screws everytime you want to switch from 8 to 4 or vice versa).
So ... for ease of use I installed 2 8-ways and 1 4-way joystick.

1b.
You don't need any reconfiguration.
You hook the 4-way stick to player 1 of the I-Pacc
You hook one 8-way to player 1 the other 8-way to player 2.
Just remember that you best don't use the 8- and 4-way joystick of player 1 together.

2.
I've used a Nvidia RIVA TNT 2 and thought it was total crap.
Now I'm using a PC - TV converter
(I'm very pleased with the result and quality)