BoomBox757

This is what I'm going to do.

Right now I have a screen and an Xbox in my car. I'm not sure if all of you all have heard about it, but some companies make a mod chip to turn your Xbox into a computer. It would have an OS and everything, I would have about 200 games on a hard drive when I get it done, and I'll also have a wireless connection to my house so I can put MP3s on it too.

I know people that have the chip for their Xbox in their house, and its awesome

Let me know what you all think

johnnyicesae

if your into running Linux then go for it. your not going to be able to run Windows on that. Sure it would get the job done but i know there can be issues with linux and there is no one to call for help

cad455

meh.

build a mini-ITX setup instead. that xbox isn't saving you any space.

aseuss

[quote="cad455"
build a mini-ITX setup instead. that xbox isn't saving you any space.[/quote]


I agree with this I'm working on mine atm.

johnnyicesae

Can't argue with the Mac Mini when it comes to size. Price isn't too shabby either.

SuperCrunchyAction

As far as I know there aren't any Mac Mini power supply solutions made yet for 12 volt applications.

VtScionGuy

So hooking up a power invertor ain't going to be enough juice?

SWiSS

my buddy has it done. Its SWEET! not legal, but SWEET!

OMAC

Modded XBox sounds like a great idea.

Fujiz_xb

the mini apple in ur ride would be the best IMO.

Max

It's only not legal when you pirate games. Modding the box is legal, since you bought it. Kinda like a car, you bought it so you can do whatever you want to it.

SWiSS

pardon.. the first second u burn a game onto your xbox.. its not legal. but if i had the money, i'd do it.

BoomBox757

yea, well I have a xbox in my car, space is not a problem and this will cost me less than $50, instead of the 500 for the mini mac

cad455

the mac mini would be a bad idea.

that overpriced shoebox isn't very versatile, people.

liquidscion

wow

johnnyicesae

Having the modded Xbox just for games isn't a bad idea. Thinking your going to be able to easily have a carputer doing it is a bit much. A touch screen would be very hit or miss based on the fact you'd be running linux on it. It might work but chances are your going to be pulling your hair out to get it to work properly. The other option would be a wireless keyboard and mouse, and that would do nothing but add clutter to your car (you might not mind it but i would). There are alot of other factors to consider then it COULD run an OS(Linux, probably not what your used to) If it ran Windows or Mac it would be a different story.

Months ago i thought it was great to get all the DVD/TV/PS2/XBOX etc... Now i don't spend nearly the same amount of time in my car so it's lost it's appeal. Again this is just my opinion. It's your car and your money do with it what you want.

Chimmy3

my dream has always been to make some sort of laptop pop out of the glove box area. Or just some sort of laptop docking area. That way you could run you choice of software/OS/Games. Emulators and controller adaptors can turn any laptop into almost any kind of console. Heat and power requirements wouldnt really be an issue either, since laptops are made to run in those conditions mostly.

The tiny Sony Viao is a great candidate. Last time my friend and I played 4 hours worth of NFSU2 in my xb off an inverter on our two dell laptops ... I think I burnt like 3 gallons of gas or so though... but there's just something really cool about playing a car game inside a car... but I digress

Laptops are more upgradable than that mini mac is likely to be also.

Oh plus you may also want to consider the amount of shock your HDDs will take. Normal HDDs (the kind found in shoebox pcs) aren't able to handle bumps like laptop ones especially while in operation.
Technically its pretty bad for laptop hdds too, but they are made hardier (but they'll still die eventually).
Don't really know what the minimac uses.. probably laptop hdds though.

You probably wouldn't want either on while the vehicle is in operation. The only real way around this is to use solid state devices (like flash cards) see below.

I'm guessing true carputers like drivesoft use solid state memory (firmware) to store its info.
As much as I love shoe box pcs I would definately not install one in a car, too many of the parts simply aren't made for that kind of constant wear.

if I were to make a carputer I would consider the following:
1. Tablet PC!! (actually the more i think about it, it'd be my top choice. they have touch screens and they fold up in such a way that you can just use it as a screen).
2. The 12"? sony viao (actually might be 10 inch, I forget, its the small one with the swivel camera on top). Unfortunately its a little small for games, but still bigger than car monitors.
3. Fujitsu lifebook, my friend has one, its as small as the sony. same drawbacks.. but I think it cost less and doesn't have a camera if you don't find that necessary.
4. Any regular old laptop... great for the large screen and can be had for relatively cheap.. some now are even super thin.
5. A desknote (basically a desktop pc built with laptop parts and form factor and has no battery). This can be a money saver if you plan to wire the pc permanently to the car's power supply, laptop batts die within a year or two anyway and cost around 100 or so to replace). However, even a "dead" laptop battery acts like a built in UPS for a few minutes so it might be worth it.

Actually in regards to the solid state storage... You can use a laptop's pcmcia slot(s) and/or reconfigure the boot sequence to load from flash memory cards or the ibm microdrives. The microdrives were made originally for cameras so can withstand a good amount of shock (though since they have moving parts they can still break down). with two pcmcia you should be able to get about 2-4 gigs of storage. enough for any os. loading an os there will cut down on hdd accesses and decrease the chance that you'll get caught with an hdd read on a bump. oh yeah get yourself at least 1 gig or so of ram if you plan on using a hdd (for like movie/game storage) that way the entire program/movie can buffer into memory and the computer will shut down the hdd most of the time.

BTW xbox's I'm pretty sure use regular size (desktop) hdds. which means you should be really careful with them inside cars. I for one would never put it on the floor for example. I think under normal use (game playing) the xbox doesn't really use the hdd much (except for game saves and maybe for a memory swap file), but when you turn it into a computer that most likely will change.

Anyhow whether or not you care about shock might obviously depend on your region and what kind of suspension you have. We have pot holes and road work all the time here, so...

anyhow just my 2 cents.

johnnyicesae

In what way would laptops be more upgradable? The Mac mini RAM is upgradable with Desktop ram(ie cheaper), Has a desktop HD(cheaper and easier to find but does suffer the problems you've talked about) Only things that can't be upgraded on the Mac Mini are the Video card and the Proc.

Now there are only a handful of Laptops out that allow the Processor and/or the Video to be changed. Off the top of my head i can name 2 that can be upgraded like that Apples old G3 powerbook(had to send it away but it could be done (proc only) ) and the Alienware (could have been voodoo) laptop (first laptop with upgradable graphics, no proc to my knowledege)

Now how exactly is a laptop more expandable then the Mac Mini? Or are you just talking out of your ___?

Chimmy3

whoa dude wtf is your problem with the sudden hostility?

one would think i said "likely" for some reason...
the reason being: I don't own or have any first hand experience with mac minis (considering how recent to market they are).

but my reasoning was as follows...
considering:

a) the mac mini is its own form factor (ie unique),
b) its relatively new to market,
c) apple likes to use propriety components

It stood to great reason to me to believe that laptops would be more upgradable. Especially since when making that statement I was considering the Laptops/Notebooks class as a whole.
The last I read, trends in the laptop/notebook market allowed more and more of its parts to be upgraded (such as recently allowing video card swaps...)
its highly likely that, in the future, laptops will follow this trend whereas the future of mini evolution is not quite so certain (tried upgrading a cube lately?).
I've even read articles which allow notebook mobo swaps (granted you gotta stick with the taiwan brands to do it) or for you to even assemble notebooks from scratch. This means there are elements of the notebook market which are pushing that same modular and standardized designs that the desktop market currently enjoys. Which to me means... if upgradability is the primary desired trait... notebooks are most likely the better option.

I've got nothing against apple (God knows they've done a better job with their OS than M$), and the mini looks like a hot product but I'll still stand by my statement. Apple could prove me wrong in the future... but I doubt it, their marketing strategy has never been one of upgradability, and for good reasons. Its the same reasons why they didn't allow their OS into the PC market way way back when (and thus birthing the need for windows). Its the same reasons they don't infiltrate the PC market now despite having a more solid OS. They can't handle the volume of the PC market and they have a monopoly on their own. Their brand is innovation and style, not modularity or upgradabilty.

Anyhow I find it odd that you try to flame me with my statement, yet you seemingly understand and point out the one definitive way in which the laptop is more upgradeable (and english lesson btw, upgradeable does not equal expandable). Yes, I do mean the video card.. A vital consideration when you consider what games (and future games) it'll allow you to play. Yes, only newer laptops have the capability, but nonetheless it IS out and that number willl grow as demand for game-intensive laptops rise. Oh and just so you know... laptop procs have been upgradable for at least 5 years now... with of course the same limitations desktops have (need bios update sometimes + same socket type). It just wasn't ever as easy as it is now.

And umm nearly all desktop HDDs will have shock problems... just read their warnings... I highly doubt the mac mini uses some sort of special shock proof hdd, last I checked macs use the same hdds as pcs. Granted some are made better and some have higher tolerances but desktop components were never designed with mobility in mind, they are pretty fragile (and chances are with the way the currrent hdd industry is skimping in areas that isn't changing). Chances are some people who use the hdds won't ever notice any problems.. but anyone who has suffered through a hdd failure knows the pain I'm talking about. The HDD costs nothing to replace, but data recovery is in the thousands.

If you think putting a mac mini in your car is good then by all means do so. I never said it won't work or it won't be good. I didn't suggest it cuz I've had no first hand experience with it... only a retard would recommend something they've never used.

Don't be such an a$$ next time. You could've simply asked for the explanation without the extra comments instead of playing the fool.

P.S. mods delete whatever you want

Placebo

I did a post about carputers
seems likes a pretty good setup to me
Since you obviously want to play games the mini mac and mini-itx would not be a smart idea because the graphics are not good so stick with the x-box