mac mini

Just wondering if anyone has a mac mini in their car as a carputer? It seems like its small and compact enough to do the job and it has dvi/vga out and 4 usb 1 firewire and audio/optical out

im sure i can find some way to power it and get a foldable keyboard/tablet to work in the car.

it would only handle mp3 and dvd duties, though not sure about nav

dimensions are 6.5x6.5x2 inches

costs approx $600

any ideas?

 

It's certainly doable, not sure if it would fit in the glove compartment particularly well. An interesting solution might be to run a slot-loading DVD-rom drive to it and mount it in the back near the trunk pass-through. Only concerns would be a) it's not made to run off a car battery, b) it's not made to be resistant to vibration, as a carputer preferentially would be and c) Well... if you just want it for mp3s and dvds, there are other options that are easier.

It's something I've thought about too, and I'm sure solutions could be found... like rubber grommets for mounting to cut down on transmitted vibration. As far as powering it goes, check out http://www.macvroom.com/taxonomy/term/19

I might go that route too, especially now that front row is out. I think it'd be a cool solution.

 

FYI - The mac mini runs hot.
Also, to my knowledge there is only one front end offered for mac. Compared to about 10 or more for windows machines.

 

oh yeah, don't forget the price of the $400 lcd.

 

The mac with duo-core has one advantage in that it can run both OS-X and XP. You could then use any GPS software that is USB compatible. Vibration for the HD shouldn't be too bad as it is using a 2.5" drive and most are designed for some vibration in notebooks. Not sure on the DVD portion.

This is one of my top contenders. The other would be to use a trunk-mounted laptop with dock. Then I can take it with me

 

The Mac Mini has a slot-loading DVD-ROM drive as an option, although it is not resistant to vibration, as you already pointed out.

 

Currently running Front Row and using the Belkin remote.
There are other frontends like AMP
For GPS there is Routebuddy, or run Parallels and a Win based GPS software.
The Mac Mini is in the boot. Audio is thru the HU via the Auxmod.
Using a Bluetooth mouse, keyboard for inputs.
Also a Rikaline Bluetooth GPS receiver.
The monitor was changed to a Lilliput touchscreen.
Power is by Carnetix P1900.

 

What I meant by running a drive to it was to mount a drive up front or in the center console flush like Rotary Rasp has with his carputer. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that.

 

i found a video about a similar system.

click me

 

Not sure if it was on this forum or not, but I saw one where a guy used a Mac Mini as a carputer and made a custom docking station for it. Essentially you just slid the Mac into a custom made metal sleeve and all the connections were placed correctly in the back, so he could take it in and out at will.

 

thats kind of cool

 

Funny you should mention the mini... I just saw this on Popular Science...

How 2.0 Carputer

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/d...cbccdrcrd.html