“As soon as received and 3 hours later, the Kit was up and running.
Very surprised that evrything worked at the first boot of my Recalbox even the detection of the stick and buttons.
Now, I'm waiting for the availability of the 12" screen to upgrade it ;)”
“This kit is just amazing really.
The quality for the money you pay is great. You'd be hard pressed to bring all the components together yourself and produce something of equal quality for less.
The finished product looks the part and to be honest you'd put a lot of hours and extra materials into those ВЈ80 bartop enclosure kits on ebay to make them look anything like as good.
The simplicity of the kit makes it an absolute pleasure to put together, as others say just two screwdrivers are required. If you can cope with a bit of flatpack furniture and can follow simple instructions then you can put this together.
Real attention to detail in the way everything is packed as well. I've got a few ideas of custom mods I want to make, but in terms of what is supplied here I don't think I can fault it.
Oh...ok one tiny tiny negative comment, just in the interests of balance.
I didn't bother with the video parts of the instructions (it's simple enough that you don't really need them unless you are confused on something) The written instructions tail off a bit when it comes to connecting the screen.
It's all obvious enough except that the power connector could potentially be plugged into the spare header on the screen driver PCB which may potentially cause damage. I think a wiring diagram for the screen in much the same way as the one for the controls would be a nice addition for less technical users.”
“Was looking for a project to use up one of my Pi computers and came across this gem.
Nicely packaged, easy to follow video guide and good quality components. The screen is very good.
Build time takes a couple of hours using only basic tools and the finished product looks and plays great. Well done Pimoroni”
“Really easy to build... Looks great and everyone will want one till you tell how much you payed for it... I believe it is priced just right and I dont regret the purchase at all and neither does my son... Pac Man is calling me Peace out and Thanks Pimoroni for an awesome product...”
“A great fun project - the kit arrives with pretty much everything you need, save a raspberry pi, power supply, and a coupe of screwdrivers (one cross head one, and one (really small) flat head one).
The instructional video is excellent, and shows you everything you need to know, although I did have to rewind some parts to check what was being done. The whole build took me about 3 hours, there's no cutting, soldering, gluing or anything else required, just screwing it all together. Probably the most time consuming part is wiring up all the buttons and joystick.
The only two fiddly bits are putting the ribbon cable into the screen (take your time and don't force it) and screwing the two screws that hold the control panel in place (tricky because you can't see the underside of the control panel and have to do this by touch).
The whole think was up and running (retropie) in about 3 hours.
Of course the whole thing is designed to be mod-able, and if you are anything like me, you'll then want to tweak it. So far I've replaced the artwork, added a marquee light, replaced the front buttons with illuminated ones, and am about to fit a powerswitch. You may well spend more time tinkering than you do playing games! But that's half the fun of a project like this.
Before buying I worked out the price of buying all the components separately and the Pimoroni Picade comes in a fair bit cheaper - so why bother doing anything else?
Fantastic well thought-out kit at a good price.”
“Just want to say what a great little kit, good value for money and service provided.
I ordered the Picade on Monday evening and it arrived on Wednesday morning in a well package box.
I was planning to build it on the weekend but after opening the box, I couldn't resist the temptation and it had to be done. I do recommend that you have at least a minimum of 3hrs lol...
Lastly I want to say thank you to Mark from the support team who was very helpful and even help me out with a replacement screen driver board after I accidentally damaged the first one”
“Everything about the Picade - from how it was packed to how it works - is incredible.
I ordered the Picade with the 8" screen at the end of November. Even though the folks at Pimoroni must have been busy with Christmas orders, the Picade arrived at my door (in the middle of the U.S.) in 5 business days. I don't know how the order arrived so quickly.
The Picade came packed in a sturdy box, with plenty of protective material. Inside, I found the components, two quality plastic storage boxes (which now serve another purpose), and a signed packing slip (thanks, Richard!) verifying the contents had been reviewed.
Following the instructions (with the helpful build video), I had my Picade up-and-running in 3 hours, using nothing more than a screwdriver and tweezers (to hold the nuts). It truly was fun to build!
Using my pc, I installed the RetroPie SD-card image (v. 3.3) to a micro-SD card and edited the /boot/config.txt file in a text editor. Clint Siebert is spot-on with the 4 things you'll want to change in that config file:
1. Uncomment hdmi_force_hotplug=1
2. ADD disable_audio_dither=1
3. Uncomment config_hdmi_boost=4
4. ADD max_usb_current=1
With those edits, I run the Picade, the 8" screen, a Raspberry Pi 2, a PS4 controller, a wi-fi adapter, and a keyboard all from a single 5V 2A micro-USB power adapter.
Even though I've never heard an American use this phrase, I describe the Picade to my friends as a "nice bit of kit" (in the best British accent I can manage).”
“Due to the Christmas period, it took a bit longer for my Picade to arrive, but once it did, it was out of the box and on the build table quicker than you can say 'RType'
Case build was a doddle.
Fitting the screen was a pain - Be warned, secure the two black clips by using a set of needle nose plyers and some gentle force (Do not squeeze too hard or you will damage the clip) - I had only pushed the clips in with finger pressure, and go not video signal at all! Once I had used the plyers, the screen came to life.
I have used a V2 PI as recommended on most of the retro emulation sites with a 16 GB San Disk memory card, Realtek RTL8188CUS wifi adapter and a SanDisk 8GB USB memory stick formatted as Fat32 and stuffed with Roms.
I have also added extra bits into my case.
1 x 2 way power block, with black power cable
1 x powered 4 port USB 3.0 hub
The screen, 8 gb memory stick and the Picade Board are powered from the USB Hub and the wifi adapter is connected directly to the PI, along with the USB Hub.
This configuration seems to work well as the USB hub has a 1 amp PSU so provides enough power for all devices. I could probably power the PI from it too, but I am content with how I have it now.
Changes to the config file have been made, as have changes to the es_systems.cfg file to point all the emulators to the USB memory stick - FSTab has also been changed so the drive auto mounts.
Plenty of retro treats for all the family over the Christmas period. - Epic!”
