Who wants to build a micro bartop?

[JimmyU]

Just saw this computer.  Only a 4.5" screen on that sucker.  I was thinking you could a bartop that resembled the old Donkey Kong tabletop game:



If you wanted, Happs has a 1 1/2" trackball for it.   Any thoughts or suggestions?

[patrickl]

Not sure how you could actually improve on that.

A few years ago I made a micro Galaga cabinet with an iPAQ PocketPC inside PocketGalaga

[whatzcrackn]

for 1 G......................ouch.      Looks kool tho

[JimmyU]

Not sure how you could actually improve on that.

A few years ago I made a micro Galaga cabinet with an iPAQ PocketPC inside PocketGalaga

That Pocket Galaga looks sweet.

for 1 G......................ouch.      Looks kool tho

The next one the product line is $2500, but it comes with a solid state hard drive.  Just wait a year and this model should be between $400-500.  I never played the Donkey Kong table top growing up, but i did have this Pac-Man one though:

[patrickl]

I have a T-Mobile Ameo. This is a Pocket PC with a 5" screen (640x480 resoltution so non widescreen). Maybe that would be easier and cheaper (although not by much) to hack into something.

Actually it has a detachable keyboard so it should be easy to slide it in and out of a Micro cab and hack a keyboard for it. Actually it accepts USB keayboards, so maybe even an I-PAC will work

[JimmyU]

How powerful is that Ameo?  How is MAME on Windows Mobile?

[patrickl]

Ah well  I don't think MAME runs very well on a PocketPC. Haven't tried it recently though. I used a SNES emulator for PocketGalaga

[leapinlew]

Not me... at the end of the day it needs to still be playable. The last one I made came in at 18" and 11" wide. I wouldn't dare go any smaller, unless your just looking for a novelty item.

Here is a pic of my wifes friend playing the arcade:

[Encryptor]

Not me... at the end of the day it needs to still be playable. The last one I made came in at 18" and 11" wide. I wouldn't dare go any smaller, unless your just looking for a novelty item.

Here is a pic of my wifes friend playing the arcade:

Lew got any plans? Pics? What's inside it for guts?

Encryptor

[Green Giant]

You could always use a GP2X.  Supports multiple emulators, has a docking station that has usb ports, and should support a control interface that shows as keyboard inputs.  Also has tv output on it.  And best of all its cheap.

I have thought about making a portable, two player control panel that has a slot in the center for the gp2x to sit, completely hidden except for the screen.  This would make it a battery powered arcade that could interface with any tv very easily.  You would only need power and a slot for the video coming out of it. 

[gonzo90017]

Great idea Green Giant. 

[Green Giant]

Great idea Green Giant. 

Yeah, its on my evergrowing list of projects.  Why can't my apartment have a garage I can work in, 

[patrickl]

Yeah after I found that the only ROMS that will work with MAMECE or MameCult are the GP2X roms (MAME 0.34) I was thinking about a GP2X too. They are a lot cheaper.

Again though, the form factor of the GP2X is much more playable then a home made bartop cab. There is not much point in making it. Other than for the fun of it of course. Which is why I made my PocketGalaga.

[Green Giant]

I was thinking something along the lines of this, see below.

Have a portable control panel like some have made with computers in them, but it would be much smaller.  There would be a space in the middle where the trackball usually sits but the gp2x would slide in there to a possibly recessed window so the screen shows but the rest is hidden.

Then have it connect into the usb interface board below.  With that you could have ports for a tv, gamepads connected to Happ controls, and it would be battery powered.  All this would make it a cool portable arcade, but the integrity of the GP2X wouldn't be compromised so it would still be good on road trips as is.

Once I get around to making my jukebox, this will probably be next on my list of things to do.  I toyed around with using a small laptop with the screen built into the control panel, but power would always be a concern, along with size.  This would allow for extremely small size and still very playable.

Other than for the fun of it of course. Which is why I made my PocketGalaga.

I actually started thinking about this after seeing how your pocketgalaga used the palm but didn't destroy it.

[whatzcrackn]

GP2X-F200  seems real kool!

[DonkeyKong]

A few years ago I made a micro Galaga cabinet with an iPAQ PocketPC inside
http://arcade.laweb.nl/PocketGalaga/

Great job on the Pocket Galaga!  It's a real work of art.

And nice trick photography shot - I was caught off guard at first.  If the depth of field was larger it would be very deceptive.

[Encryptor]

leapinlew - Do you have any pics or plans of the one you built? What did you use inside?


Encryptor

[polaris]

leapinlew - Do you have any pics or plans of the one you built? What did you use inside?


Encryptor

in his signature

[leapinlew]

Yeah - I don't really use plans...

If I used plans I would still be on my first cabinet. 

[Turnarcades]

Depends how functional you want a cabinet to be.

If you only want a few games, you could hack one of those multi-game-in-a-joystick things and just buy a small in-car screen from ebay or something. That lot would fit into any size cab you wanted. Alternatively, if you wanted multi-functionality in a permanently installed cabinet, start looking at Mini-ITX or Nano-ITX boards.

The cabinet's the easy part as far as most of us are concerned. Sort out your hardware first and just build around it. Bear in mind though, going to your average Bar-Top size is easy and cheap. Start going any smaller and the complexity and cost goes up as you move into more advanced micro-architecture for your electronics.

[DeLuSioNal29]

How about this a mini PC (AOpen Makes one)
http://www.buy.com/retail/Product.asp?sku=204206689&SearchEngine=NexTag&SearchTerm=204206689&Type=PE&Category=Comp&Gad=0&dcaid=15894

Then you can grab one of those LCD screens that they make for cars and get whatever size you want.  It will be a lot cheaper and it will be a PC so it run MAME just fine.

~ DeLuSioNaL

[JimmyU]

How about this a mini PC (AOpen Makes one)
http://www.buy.com/retail/Product.asp?sku=204206689&SearchEngine=NexTag&SearchTerm=204206689&Type=PE&Category=Comp&Gad=0&dcaid=15894

Then you can grab one of those LCD screens that they make for cars and get whatever size you want.  It will be a lot cheaper and it will be a PC so it run MAME just fine.

~ DeLuSioNaL

Looks interesting. It looks like you need to add a processor, RAM and a hard drive which would increase the price to $500-$600.  It does have a TV out so that adds to your options.

[Turnarcades]

Yes but all these PC's are is a Mini-ITX board with fancy casing. Check out an all-in-one package that includes a motherboard, CPU, all your required ports for less than a hundred quid (or $200 if you prefer). VIA's Epia series packages are just the trick, with reliable graphics performance (it is VIA!), all your required in/outputs and a decent price. Check out either of these two links:

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=2#p1641

or if you want smaller hand have more cash:

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=26

All you need is an old power supply, a hard drive and a DIMM ram stick and off you go.

[polaris]

cant you ditch the hard drive and use a compact flash card, you can get ones big enough to hold mame and a load of 1-2 button classics, im sure ive seen that here a cf to ide adaptor or summat.

[ark_ader]

Whats wrong with using a cheap old laptop?

I did the exact same thing and got my sub-mini bartop operational with minimum of fuss.  ITX is a waste of money, MAMECE is a joke (pocket cult is much better) but a IBM old laptop boots from CF cards with a very small footprint.

GRanted it won't play the high graphic games but about 1000 other games including those PC/XT games like Star Control which still can play on this platform.

So I see we are spending $100 on a ITX mobo and $40 for PSU which a cheap laptop for $60 could do better...hmm

Lets see how cheap you guys can make a micro or nano bartop with a Jakks and a PS1 screen for.   

[patrickl]

Whats wrong with using a cheap old laptop?

That it's not really "micro".

MAMECE is a joke (pocket cult is much better)

I tried both and they both kinda suck. MAMECE seemed to actually suck slightly less for me. For PocketGalaga I use a PocketSNES emulator. Works much smoother (especially with sound)

[Grasshopper]

So I see we are spending $100 on a ITX mobo and $40 for PSU which a cheap laptop for $60 could do better...hmm

Yes, but where do you get a half decent $60 laptop from? I've been on the lookout for a cheap second hand laptop for ages and I've never seen one with a reasonable specification for anywhere near that price.

The price of new laptops is plummeting but for some reason the second hand ones are still holding their values pretty well.

[govee]

How bout these?

http://gumstix.com/

[pmc]

How bout these?

http://gumstix.com/

Never seen these before. Very cool. I'd love to see some arcade projects using these.

-pmc

[ark_ader]

So I see we are spending $100 on a ITX mobo and $40 for PSU which a cheap laptop for $60 could do better...hmm

Yes, but where do you get a half decent $60 laptop from? I've been on the lookout for a cheap second hand laptop for ages and I've never seen one with a reasonable specification for anywhere near that price.

The price of new laptops is plummeting but for some reason the second hand ones are still holding their values pretty well.

Ebay is my place for cheap laptops.  I get the IBM 365X for change from a tenner, then cruise your local computer show (micromart has them in the back of its rag) for the power brick, £5 for the CF card and reader - no HDD no Floppy google for the maintenance manual showing you all the parts to remove the screen (leave the plastics alone - trust me  ) and you have a working platform.

I did this with a bit of fuss and Im looking towards installing my IBM 240 (real small lappy) which I got for a £10.  IBM lappies are so easy to fix, most of the time its a battery for CMOS that needs replacing.

Scoot over to Randy's Groovygamegear for the encoder for your controls and buttons etc.  He is far cheaper than Ultimarc as Andy still uses DHL (HOK why...).

Anyway I made one submini and its smaller than that Galaga and it played 1000 games and old Skool games too.

Here it is in all its fuzzines.  I'm waiting to get a new place (just moved back to Las Vegas from the UK) and a workshop to complete my other sub-mini projects, but this worked:

http://www.geocities.com/ark_ader/Finished.jpg

I don't see the point making micro bartops if you cannot see the screen.  Or buy parts for it when you have plenty of old  floating around ebay and craiglist that can be used with a nice 12-14" vertical display for a fraction of the cash.

I don't know about those gumstix - they look like controllers for industrial machinery, and they don't look like they cost £10. 

But if you are rich and can afford to splash out - let us see your creation. 

[melarky]

I just finished my mini galaga machine:  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=68524.0

This was a really fun project, it's nice to see it finished, it turned out nicely.