Mini-Pac vs. IPac2

[lovespicyfood]

I'm a little confused...

I'm in the planning stages of my cabinet build.  I would like to build a cab w/ a two person cp consisting of 2 joysticks, a trackball, spinner and buttons.

It seems to me the Mini-Pac would be the way to go since I *believe* it will handle all my inputs.  I was originally thinking that I would need an Ipac2 and an Opti-Pac.

Is there something I'm missing?  Is the Mini-Pac what I should purchase?

Thanks for your help!

[cholin]

Minipacs are really misunderstood in my opinion.  They are the *perfect* arcade interfaces!  They can do the trackballs and the inputs you need all in one REALLY small board!  The problem with that is that people dont like to wire it themselves, but Andy also offers a wiring kit.  Buy the minipac -- more functionality than the iPac, the feature of the iPac that sells is the simplicity of hookin up wires...

[Grasshopper]

And the Mini-Pac is significantly cheaper than the Ipac2.

In my opinion, weighing up all the various factors, the Mini-Pac is the best encoder currently available. The only reason not to buy one is if you need more than 28 inputs.

Also, I think the screw connectors are overrated and not worth paying extra for. It's just as easy to hack an old IDE cable.

[lovespicyfood]

Thanks for the replies!

It definitely seemed like the better deal, however, I thought I was just not seeing something about it.  I'll be ordering one very soon!

Thanks again!

[PCtech]

I have used the Mini-pac in the past and they are great.

If this is your first one, or you don't like to hack cables, buy the harness, but be sure to get the one that allows for the kind of trackball you plan to use.  The harness is kinda expensive, but well worth it to save time and trouble.  The software is pretty easy to use, but you don't even need it unless you plan to re-map buttons.

I have not used the other encoder, and it is probably a good product too, but I had the same CP setup, 2-layer, buttons, trackball, and spinner, and the mini-paq worked flawlessly.

Good Luck!

[miles2912]

I'm a little confused...

I'm in the planning stages of my cabinet build.  I would like to build a cab w/ a two person cp consisting of 2 joysticks, a trackball, spinner and buttons.

It seems to me the Mini-Pac would be the way to go since I *believe* it will handle all my inputs.  I was originally thinking that I would need an Ipac2 and an Opti-Pac.

Is there something I'm missing?  Is the Mini-Pac what I should purchase?

Thanks for your help!

I was in the same boat you are in a few months back.  The mini-pac seemed too good to be true.  It works like a champ.  I went with a USB spinner but my Happs trackball is hooked up to the mini-pac and it works great.  Here is a pic of it wired to the track ball



Don

[Rando]

Sorry to Necro an old topic, but I have the exact same question.  Is all the feedback above still valid?

Looking to build a basic 2 player CP:
2 Joysticks
6 buttons or so each
player 1/2 buttons, some coin inputs and maybe an admin button or two

Once I got all that working and was happy, would probaby add:
trackball
spinner
maybe a tron type stick in future

Mini-Pac the way to go to keep it simple?

[BobA]

Still works well.  Integrates trackball and spinner into the interface.   You can save alot by using drive cables and wiring your own harness but the ultimarc harness works well if you do not want to make your own.

[Blanka]

The harness is the most important reason to go for the Minipac! It is so simple with that to wire your controls. Not the most beautifull, some people here like to make art of their wiring, but it is SUPER EASY. Go buy Minipac+harness!!
1 thing: the old iPac had mouse buttons wired, the new one (relabeled UHID) has not. Use a very small screwdriver to pop out 2 wire clips from the connector (for example the A and B button ones) and add them to the trackball harness for mouse buttons.