Posted by Mike on January 18, 2002 at 13:36:56:
In Reply to: Re: I-Pac or keyboard hack? (I-PAC!!!) posted by Chazz on January 18, 2002 at 12:40:58:
You need to go with the IPac. The biggest issue I found wasn't with ghosting but with the keystroke buffer. Most Standard keyboards can only support 8 simulaneous(spelling?) keystrokes. The IPac can support 16. Eight is enough most of the time but for example if your playing Street Fighter against someone who doesn't know any moves and just starts pressing buttons when more than 8 keys get pressed you'll overflow the buffer and none of the keystrokes will be read. If you want to play games with 2 buttons(2player mode) this will never be an issue but with 3 or more buttons it can become a problem. Plus by the time you buy solder, a couple of terminal blocks, maybe a used keyboard, and the extra buttons. You probably have spent $20 already. For a little more you'll get something that will work better and save you a lot of time(Except waiting for it to arrive). Plus the guys at Ultimarc are pretty good and will get the IPAC shipped within 24 hours. Also if price is a big issue to make up some of the money you spent on the IPAC don't order from happ controls get your stuff from www.wicothesource.com That saved me like $30. So it pretty much took care of the IPac.
That my 2 cents
: : OK, this is going to be my first panel and I have some questions about which encoder to use. I'm going for a two person street fighter style layout. So the questions are:
: : 1. Are there disadvantages to keyboard-hacks (not counting ghosting)? Would it be less versatile?
: : 2. Are there real advantages to USB connections, because a USB keyboard isn't much less than a USB I-Pac. But, if ps2 is sufficient, why drop coin on either?
: : 3. If I choose to expand in future (swappable panels, etc...) will I run into trouble w/ the keyboard?
: : I've read many opinions, but they start to blur, which is why I ask here. And thanks to all who post to this board, it rocks.
: : -Guy