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Some questions on building
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Centipeed:
Hello all, I am new to the board...

I have always wanted an arcade cabinet, so I think I am going to try and build one... However, all of the resources I have come across have been in america, and I live in England... I have the following questions:

1. Where in England can I buy a control panel, preferably a relatively cheap one for two players?

2. Where can I find plans for a kind of mini cabinet? I would like it to be able to support a large enough TV (Something like 19"?), but I don't have much space, so I wanted to build a mini cabinet, that nevertheless stands high enough for a person that's 5' 8"

3. I am guessing all I need for the PC is something with a decent enough processor (I am only going to be running MAME on it)... Will an onboard 32mb graphics card suffice for all MAME roms, or does it need to be more powerful? Will an onboard GFX card have Video Out?

4. If you run a keyboard through a control panel, then can you also use the keyboard whenever you want to?

5. Does anyone have a list of what exactly I'll need for building it? I can think of the following things:

Cabinet
Control Panel
Computer tower
19" TV
Speakers

That's all I can think of... Any additions.


Thank you all for the time, and sorry for such a long post... I am just eager to try and get started..

Centipeed
spystyle:
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paigeoliver:
One thing about cabinet size.

There is little practical difference is square footage eaten by a mini cab or by a full size cabinet, minis are a couple inches narrower, a few inches shallower and often a lot shorter, but they are still a big honking box.

Just don't make the mistake of buying/building a cocktail in order to save space, as they take 3-4 times the square footage.

Now there are SUPER minis, which ARE really small. They are basically built just big enough to shoehorn in a 13" monitor vertically. I owned one that was Space Firebird (mamed it, sold it at Superauctions for $400, not bad considering I only spent $100ish on the whole project).

I have also seen super minis as Turbo and Monaco GP.

Centipeed:
Thanks for the answers so far, how about answers to 1, 3, 4 and 5? I really need somewhere in england to buy a cheap two player control panel... Also, if it could be relatively compact that would be great, because I have decided to build a super mini cab...

Thanks

Centipeed
DaveMMR:
The answers to questions 3, 4 and 5 can be found in the FAQ thread on the top of this main forum.  There were also other threads that covered this so run the search.

But some quick answers:  (3) Your needs vary.  If you're running classics - a low end computer will be fine (my 7 year old P166 ran old early 1980s games quite well).   (4) A lot of keyboard encoders have a pass through cable that allows you to plug in a keyboard (or you could always get a USB keyboard) and (5) don't forget tools, wires, optional artwork, etc.  It's almost impossible to make an all inclusive list because you'll always find yourself running back to the store or ordering something else.  But check the examples - sometimes they post their shopping list on the site.

For question one: you can always check eBay (a little risky at times but the most versatile).  Or you can just build your own.  

One suggestion: you could always build a bartop to save tons of space.  Check the examples.  

Good luck and have fun.
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