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Mac mini in a Volkswagen
Posted by
timothy
on Sat Mar 12, 2005 09:10 PM
from the ultraslick dept.
from the ultraslick dept.
pyramis writes "Matt Turner has installed a Mac mini into his Volkswagen as an integrated audio/video system. He's distributed the I/O ports around the cab for convenient access and installed a remote power button right into the dashboard. Cool pics of all of this, plus a detailed article on that cool power button."
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Oh no... (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps... (Score:5, Funny)
Peace
Parent
Re:Perhaps... (Score:5, Funny)
>It should be called Geek My Ride!
Whatever, as long as it isn't Pimp my Geek.
Parent
Re:Perhaps... (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.dashwerks.com/dw_geek_my_ride.php [dashwerks.com]
The foreword was written by none other than Steve "Woz" Wozniak.
Re:Oh no... (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually the main problem that he's going to discover is that if he allows anyone to eat in the vehicle, the media ports are going to get full of crumbs.
Even if he doesn't allow eating, having the ports facing up like that is just going to get them clogged with dust or cleaning fluids. They need to be put in horizontally somewhere, or at least have a cover put over them.
Otherwise it looks like a nice job.
ender-
Parent
What next? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What next? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re:What next? (Score:3, Funny)
Gotta have an iPod Mini hookup too.
Slogan would be, "I'm reverse compensating!"
Where's the obligatory... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Where's the obligatory... (Score:3, Funny)
Oh yeah sorry that was my pitchfork.
Yours
--The Devil
Puns (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Puns (Score:3, Funny)
> Searching NewsPost
> Generating AutoComment
> Printing
I, for one, welcome our cool remote power button overlords.
> Exiting Program
Hard drive problems? (Score:5, Interesting)
You'd think a notebook HD would be alright. I assume that's what the mac mini is using?
(article slashdotted)
Re:Hard drive problems? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Re:Hard drive problems? (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't see the grammar foul here. If I had ten cents in my pocket, could I be "almost penniless"? If I spent too much time on slashdot analyzing grammar and my wife started packing her bags, could I be "almost spouseless"?
The mini has a single fan and it is very quiet. Happy now?
Re:One question... (Score:5, Informative)
THE CNX-P1900 DUAL OUTPUT 140 WATT INTELLIGENT DC-DC POWER REGULATOR
Compatible with the Mac mini, as well as P4 system cases from Travla!
The retail price of the P1900 is $99.95. Target availability is April 2005.
Parent
Re:One question... (Score:3, Informative)
Hibernate works ok on Windows, however the mini mac's sleep mode does not power the system down. If you can maintain ~800mA max drain on your battery forever, then this might not be an issue - but if you can't, you'll get stuck really quickly.
I currently run a Celeron 2.4Ghz with 512Mb dial channel DDR ram, Radeon 920
Re:Hard drive problems? (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Well, this may be a problem... (Score:5, Funny)
Article Text / MirrorDot (Score:5, Interesting)
--ARTICLE TEXT:
GTi - MacMini
Well, it kept me from posting regularly, took about two weeks to plan and occupied nearly every night for about three weeks, but the big project I've been promising to post on is done...finally. I actually finished it last week, but wanted to make sure I had covered all the bases and that everything was working properly before putting the car back together and photographing it (thanks to Ryan [lighttight.com] for the quick shoot).
When the dimensions for the MacMini were announced, I immediately got to work figuring out what the best way to integrate one into my own car would be. If I was going to put a Mac in my car, I wanted to make sure it had all of the functionality that it would have in a home environment while still maintaining an easy-to-operate interface so that distractions could be kept to a minimum. So the researching, planning, sketching and disassembly of my cars interior (to see what would fit where) began. After taking the thought process to every extreme imaginable, I decided on the following equipment list:
- 1.42GHz MacMini with 512mb RAM, Superdrive, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme
- Xenarc [xenarc.com] 700tsv 7 USB touchscreen monitor with VGA and dual composite video inputs
- Cirque [cirque.com] EasyCat USB trackpad
- Griffin PowerMate assignable USB control knob
- Lacie 8 in 1 USB flash card reader
- Belkin USB 7-port powered hub
- Belkin USB four-port bus-powered hub
- Belkin Firewire 6-port mini hub
- Alpine PXA-H701 Multimedia processor with RUX-C701 controller
- MonsterCable MCPI300 300watt power inverter
- Female USB, Ethernet and Firewire ports
- 40gig iPod dock
- Griffin RadioShark USB FM/AM tuner
Over the next few days, I will be putting up a post on each general aspect of the install to more closely cover how I did what where and any problems I encountered, as well as the solutions I came up with for these problems as they arose. More detailed pictures of the process will accompany these posts as well, for those interested in the more technical aspects of the install - such as removing the power button and indicator from the MacMini and relocating them to the switch panel in the dash, extending the Apple power supply's cable to locate the "brick" in the rear side panel of the car, fabricating the brushed aluminum trim bezels and rebuilding the glove box interior to accomodate the MacMini. So, enjoy and please check back over the next few days to check out these posts and two new iPod dock installs from last week...
good site (Score:5, Interesting)
given the size of a Mac Mini... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:given the size of a Mac Mini... (Score:5, Funny)
Before the hack, it was mediocre. Now it's multimediocre...
Parent
I love the geek mind.... (Score:5, Funny)
Of course, eventually this leads to things like cloning carnivorous dinosaurs and destroying small planets, but that's what science fiction writers are supposed to worry about.
Re:I love the geek mind.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Site down... (Score:5, Informative)
Coral cache [nyud.net]
I can't wait for these things to get smaller (Score:5, Funny)
"I slipped the mini under my frontal lobe, so that latencey to the computational region of my brain is minimized, it is powered on my body heat, and the coolest thing, is that I have an IO port on my forehead so that I don't have to deal with the irritation of reaching around to the back of my head to plug in my peripherals."
Re:I can't wait for these things to get smaller (Score:3, Insightful)
Ports vertical? (Score:5, Interesting)
It isn't the hardware. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It isn't the hardware. (Score:5, Informative)
There is already aftermarket ECU reflashing software (e.g., http://www.giacusa.com/) for the 1.8T. However, it would be cool if he could rig the Mac Mini to switch between different performance programs. That would be a true hack.
Parent
Shouldn't be too hard... (Score:3, Interesting)
GIAC offers software and hardware [giacusa.com] to do the switching on the fly. Hook up a serial port analyzer and figure out the protocol that the win32 app is using and duplicate this on the Mac. Integrate (as someone else said) into a Dashboard widget (heh, a Dashboard dashboard...).
The air conditioning shouldn't be *too* hard if the controls are analog. It could probably be done with some sort of microcontroller that interfaces with the Mac via a USBSerial adapter.
Pfft... (Score:5, Funny)
Mirror (Score:5, Funny)
The web server encountered an error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. If this error persists, please contact the webmaster, and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
Matt Turner may have turned his Mac mini into a Volkswagen, but we've turned his Web site into a Yugo.
Oh, well, at least there's MirrorDot [mirrordot.org].
WiFi @ 70mph and iChat AV... (Score:5, Interesting)
Imagine having an iChat icon pop-up while driving, let's ignore the immidiate safety risks and think about the "cool factor," you accept and your friend is right there in real time staring at you. It seems like something out of a movie, huh? But it's a really possibility. Especially with iChat AV's adoption of H.264 as its codec of choice (less bandwidth and better quality).
I wouldn't think it'd be hard to figure out where to mount an iSight or to just make a custom case for it to be mounted stealthly in your car. You could even use it as a security system. If your alarm goes off it firesup and sends the stream to a police server. You could even have GPS installed to let the Police know where the crime is being committed.
I think the possibility for uses of the Mac Mini in cars is amazing and hopefully we'll see things like this in the near future.
Re:WiFi @ 70mph and iChat AV... (Score:3, Interesting)
http://www.evdoinfo.com/Tips/PC_5220/EVDO_iChat_2
An osx interface for such applications (Score:3, Informative)
The actual link (Score:4, Informative)
It would also be pretty cool to have Dashboard [apple.com] widgets on your dashboard...!
Parent
WANT TO GET WITH YOU (Score:3, Funny)
[Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.]
Great for when you're stuck in traffic... (Score:3)
Re:Slashdotted already... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:5, Informative)
Let me see if I can break it down for you:What's so goddamn novel about throwing an underpowered, overpriced Mac inside a dashboard?
Well for starters, its a very well done hack. Second, the poster shows that it can display maps, and quite probably can aide in navigation. Third, the mac can store a very large music library, and comes with the ease of itunes. Forth, he made a very nice dash/overall car mod to include a ipod dock, a power outlet, and many shiny buttons...
If one were interested in getting a portable media center for his car, he would have many options that involve spending less money and/or getting more bang for your buck. Why, for the $500 he spent on his fashion accessory that can't play games, he could've gotten a Dell desktop with approximately double the speed, and expandability to boot, plus he would've instantly been able to use the vast array of Windows and Linux software available.
The mac is shiny. And playing unreal at 94 mph along the freeway is not something I want to be doing...
Proof once again that Macs are nothing more than an item for trend whores and label sluts.
I had a Dell for one year before it fried. Bough another, same deal. The costomer service/documentation sucked. On the other hand, I have now had a mac Powerbook for the last two years, and its providing better functionality than any other machine I have bought. When you buy apple, you buy quality. Think of an apple as a Lexus, and a dell as a Ugo. Sure, the Ugo will get you from point A to point B, but it is made of inferrior parts, tends to fail, and lacks any style.
Parent
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:3, Funny)
Let's be honest here, a Dell isn't as
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:3, Funny)
Goddamn, I'd take a Yugo over a Chrystler any day!
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:5, Funny)
ObJoke: And driving a Volkswagen Beetle at 94 mph along the freeway is?
Parent
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:3, Informative)
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:5, Insightful)
Was your mother an Apple Lisa, and didn't give you enough love as a child?
Did a Powerbook kill your father?
Did you have an untimely breakup with an iMac?
Did Steve Jobs come to your house, kick you down the stairs, pee in the corner, and then burn all your childhood toys?
I mean, really. Apple is just a company and the Mac is just another computer. It works well for a lot of people, myself included. Why go insane over it?
Parent
Re:LOL WHAT A CROCK (Score:4, Funny)
Now you're just being a trend whore too... just because everyone else gets laid, you want him to as well.
Parent
Re:the only crock is the mac mini (Score:5, Insightful)
"I spent 150$ on parts for my 1.0ghz flex PC. It is not quite as small, and it is not quite as fast. Nor is it as -ahem- hip. But it was a fraction ov the cost."
So, let's see. You have a PC that's not quite as small or as a fast as a Mac mini. But you didn't pay that much for it?
I could get an old G3 iMac motherboard for $75.00. It wouldn't be as small and it wouldn't be as fast. It wouldn't have as much memory or anything like that. But it would be cheaper.
So I'm a little lost. Are you saying that you can get less machine for less money? I think the proper response, in that case, is "Duh."
"It is a fanless mobo design and boots a flash drive - cant get much quieter then silent."
True. But the cheapest Mac mini comes with a 40GB drive. Are you implying that your $150 PC has a 40GB flash drive? I doubt it. So your machine doesn't have as much storage, I don't know what it has for memory, it's not quite as small, it's not quite as fast, but it was cheaper.
"Yes, it runs linux."
So does the Mac mini.
Did you manage to fit KDE or GNOME or X-Windows or something that gives you a graphical interface on your flash card to go along with linux? Does it even have a graphics card? Or do you have a computer which doesn't have the same graphics capability, doesn't have as much storage, is not quite as small, is not quite as fast, but is cheaper than the Mac mini?
Heck, I have an old HP41C calculator that I picked up at a swap meet for $5. I guess that beats out the $150 flex PC, except for the running linux part.
Parent
Re:I shall pass on this until... (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm no pilot, but if you take your attention off the clouds for a couple of seconds at mach 2, you risk running into more clouds. If you take your attention off the road for a couple of seconds, you risk running into a suddenly braking car, or a pedestrian.
Even if there are factors I haven't considered, pilots are slightly better trained than licensed drivers.