Hi all! I just joined the pinside forum today after hearing about a Mini Cabinet setup thread for iPhone/iPad on the Coast 2 Coast podcast Episode 10. I'm very excited about this subject because I finished one for myself in June. Since then I've spent many, many hours of my free time working on these in my garage.

I have completed a few more since I made the original version. The cabinet fits all iPad's (Original, 2, 3, 4 and yet to be released 5). The cabinet was made specifically to run 'The Pinball Arcade' iOS app. If you aren't familiar with it the app has iCade compatibility built into it. The iCade is a bluetooth game controller which can be used to play many games including 'The Pinball Arcade' on iOS over bluetooth.

I started out months ago by modding my iCade Core to include side buttons to play 'The Pinball Arcade'. Here is a link to the instructions to mod one at pinballarcadefans if you're interested:
http://pinballarcadefans.com/showthread.php/4182-Modded-iCade-Core-with-side-buttons

The Mini-Cabinet utilizes the iCade's circuit board. Button response time is great and I'm very happy with the way they have turned out. Gameplay on 'The Pinball Arcade' app is a lot more fun and feels realistic and natural. They're pretty bulky at over 10lbs without the iPad so they have a really good solid feel to them and there are rubber feet on the bottom so the cabinet "clings" to the table.

The cabinet features a genuine lockdown bar which I have cut down to the smaller width. I've installed them in the original (shiny/chrome) finish, a buffed down/polished finish and painted black (for the modern Stern look). I've also installed the aluminum side-rails in both the buffed down/polished finish and with a black speckled paint finish.

I thought about doing game specific artwork for the translite but I decided to just go with generic artwork instead so it wouldn't be tied to a specific table. I could easily change it though. It's just a matter of printing and cutting a new one.

All of the iCade's buttons are mapped to buttons on the cabinet so you don't need to touch the iPad while playing the game:
Red buttons on the sides are flippers. The black buttons just behind them are nudge. The black buttons in the lower areas of the sides are the 'Specials'.

Also, on the front of the mini-cab are:
round blue: Start
round red: Ball Launch + Menu Down navigation
red mini-button 1: pause/unpause
red mini-button 2/3: left/right diagonal nudge up
red mini-button 4: nudge up

There are two 'Specials': left and right. There are currently only two tables in 'The Pinball Arcade' which utilize them. Black Knight: left/right magna save; Harley Davidson: the pop-up post in the center drain area.

Here are some pictures and a quick gameplay video which I originally posted at pinballarcadefans:

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For my original cabinet I cut out a space in the rear of the backbox to slide my Jambox Jawbone bluetooth speaker in. The speaker faces forward. The notch pictured on the left side allows me quickly access the speaker's on/off switch.
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Pictures of my original and my second mini-cab.

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This is the third one which I recently completed. The iPad isn't sitting in the cab in the pics.

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I don't get the cat reference. LOL

Thanks everyone I really appreciate the compliments! After I have finished one of these bad boys it feels really great to see what I accomplished. Yes, I'm building them and selling but I'm doing it on my free time so my output is very limited.

Quite a few have asked for pricing so here goes... I'm fairly certain that it's going to be higher than most would expect but please read on as I explain why. I'm going to be transparent with my costs as I'm not trying to hide anything. The parts and materials costs currently total to $157 (it's actually a bit higher because I forgot a few items when I added everything up). Some of the larger cost items are: iCade $30, Lockdown Bar (it's a real one cut down to the smaller width) $28, Buttons $28, Custom cut plastic (acrylic for translite, ABS for faux coin door, plastic bezel which covers iPad) $19, Laminated Wood $15. Then there's a bunch of smaller cost items.

Now that I've ironed out the kinks I've got the total build time to 20 hours (the first one took me much longer). One of the reasons it takes so long is because I'm pretty obsessive about the build quality. I want people's first impression to be that it was purchased in a store, not made in a garage! I'm asking $355 plus shipping to cover the parts and my labor. As is, I'm only benefiting less than $10/hour for my time and labor.

I am collecting a deposit of $157 to cover parts/materials and the remainder due when it's ready to ship. The shipping weight is 12lbs and I'm located in N. California Bay Area if anyone wants to pick up locally.

I can cut down on a couple of things to bring the cost lower:
1) Laminated wood: I'm using laminated wood because the spray paint creates a very nice effect when applied to the sanded laminate. I have tested particle board and it doesn't look as nice when sprayed. I can probably reduce the price by about $10 if I were to use particle board instead of laminate. I will need to check the hardware store's pricing to confirm.
2) Power switch: It's not totally necessary because the iCade circuit board will power itself off automatically after 5 minutes of inactivity. I can reduce the price by $3.50 if you don't want the switch.
3) Battery compartment: I'm using an enclosed battery compartment which is housed inside the cabinet. Instead, I can cut out and use the existing battery compartment that is in the iCade. The plastic battery compartment is built into the iCade case so it won't look nice when I cut it out but since I'm installing it inside the cabinet the only time you will see it is when the rear door is open. I can reduce the price by $2.75 if I use the iCade's.

Also, someone has proposed to me that I come up with something different for the lockdown bar to further reduce cost. I can't think of anything that will look good but I'm open to ideas.

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The following two pictures are closeups to give you a better idea of what effect the paint has when it adheres to the laminate. When I get more paint I'll post pictures of what the painted particle board looks like (not anywhere near as nice!).
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Here is a closeup of the battery compartment I'm using (instead of cutting out the one built into the iCade).
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There is a black plastic bezel frame that completely covers the iPad's bezel. All you have to do is slide the plastic bezel up a bit and you can press the iPad's home button to turn it on.

I can build a no-frills version of just the main cabinet section out of particle board. I can even ship it "in the raw" without spray paint if you don't care about aesthetics. The question is what to do about the lockdown bar? You can play without it but in my opinion it really conveys the feeling of playing a real table.

Here is a picture I took of a work in progress a while back. A no-frills version would look similar to this picture. However, in this picture it's the laminated wood instead of particle board. Also, I probably wouldn't include the rear door, the black plastic bezel that frames the iPad, and the ABS plastic that's mounted behind the front 4 mini-buttons. Obviously, this is also painted.

It would drop the costs significantly.

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If I were to exclude all the front buttons and only include the 3 on each side it would further reduce my parts cost by $11.75 and approximately 2 hours labor.

Hey now! I said $355, not $400.

I assume yours is an original iCade since you mentioned a coin slot. I know someone that tried to play The Pinball Arcade with an original and he indicated to me that there was a flipper lag over the bluetooth connection. I don't know if he just had bad luck with his device or if it's indicative of all original iCades. You should test it out first to check. There are no flipper lag issues with iCade Core units. I have personally played/tested with 4 separate Core units.

This is an iCade Core. I purchase these and yank out the circuit boards. I'm not saying that your original won't work. I just suggest that you confirm there is no flipper lag with an iPad. By the way, the buttons are dreadful on these.

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I experimented with many different button types and the one's I settled on feel very realistic. With the design I'm using there isn't clearance for leaf buttons for all of them and I didn't want to use two different types of buttons.

My cabinets have solid rubber feet on them to avoid movement. As for legs it depends on how high the surface is that you place it on. I typically play with it on a table which is 30" high or kitchen counter which is 36" and both are fine. Any higher or lower and it wouldn't feel realistic to me.

I want to clarify two points because there's been a bit of confusion from people that have contacted me about purchasing this week.

1) Price: For the cabinet that's pictured it's $355 plus shipping with $157 deposit.
It got confusing for some people because I listed a few things I can skimp on to reduce the price for people with sticker shock.

2) Speaker: The Jambox Bluetooth speaker that's featured in the first set of pictures isn't included!
If you have the same speaker that you'd like to use with it I will cut out the opening in the rear to slide it into the backbox.

Thanks for all the kind words everyone has sent me.

Here's the latest one I just completed for a fellow pinside member:

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