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Putting a Mac mini in your car dashboard

updated 09:50 am EST, Tue January 18, 2005

A Mac mini in your car


A New York-based company has plans to install the , who was already working to install Mac laptops into cars, says the dimensions of the diminutive desktop "were just about perfect to fit into the space automakers allot for car stereos....What exactly anyone would do with a Mac in the car is not totally clear, but Benzaquen said there are lots of possibilities, from logging in to one's home network to playing music or movies. Equip the car with Wi-Fi, and it might be able to get Internet access from the parking lot of a Starbucks or McDonald's, he said. GPS navigation and voice-activated programs are other options," according to CNET News.com.


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Alric1

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    01/18, 11:05am | report spam | Reply |

    I have a CarPC!

    Currently its a windows system but as soon as it is viable I will switch to Mac.

    http://homepage.mac.com/alric/carpc/carpc2.jpg

    http://www.passatworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144643

  1. Voch

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Apr 2001

    0
    01/18, 11:17am | report spam | Reply |

    Uh...

    Shouldn't you people be driving instead of playing with computers? :)

  1. ebeyer

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2004

    0
    01/18, 11:18am | report spam | Reply |

    Turbo boost!

    KITT, you take over driving for a while.

  1. AllenHuffman

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 1999

    0
    01/18, 11:51am | report spam | Reply |

    Climate

    A friend of mine put an old Radio Shack Color Computer (CoCo) in his Toyota pickup (with speech synthesizer) a few years ago, but it was already nearly an embedded device (no hard drive, running from a ROM, etc.). Heat and cold would be my concerns. In Iowa right now, it's been below 0F for weeks, which would certainly be bad for a Mac. In Texas, where I used to live, 100+F in the summer is not uncommon.

    That's the problem I see with the idea. (I don't even leave my Garmin GPS V in the car due to worrying that the LCD will freeze and crack.)

  1. automorrow

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2000

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    01/18, 12:15pm | report spam | Reply |

    iPimp my iRide Part III

    Yes ... heating and cooling would be a concern .. and voltage regulation ( true DC power supply, not a inverter - which, by the way, can cause power supply damage and line noise if it is a cheap 'square wave' and no a true 'sine wave' inverter ) .... and potholes may disrupt the hard drive ( park the drive head when not in use? ) ... mounting a screen in the best place ( many LCD screens are very hard to see in dash in the sunlight ) .. and dual displays ( touch screen controls monitor #1 and Video + Display # 2 ... a hack needed? ) .. ... all of which need to be addressed.

    Anyone can say that they are going to install a Mac Mini in their car .. but there are many things needed to resolve to do it right...

    If you are considering installing one in your car, please email me at editor@automorrow.com .. I would like to add your project to the web site.

  1. Alric1

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    01/18, 12:30pm | report spam | Reply |

    Two years and going..

    My carPC has been working for two years with minimal problems. Just have had to re-install windows a couple of times.

    I live in Wisconsin so my car is subjected to temperature extremes. I used a dedicated in-car power supply/regulator that sleeps/wakes-up the PC with the ignition.

    For more about in-car PCs check out mp3car.com. There is now a MAc-specific forum in there.

    Cheers,

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    01/18, 12:42pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: uh

    Shouldn't you people be driving instead of playing with computers? :)

    Well, yes they should. In fact, I believe its against the law in some states to put those DVD players in the front section of cars/vans/SUVs (or maybe its just the respectable places won't do it because they know idiots will be watching movies instead of driving, killing others on the road). h***, even those navigation systems are set up to not allow input while the cars in motion. These things should be the same way. h***, I've seen myself get distracted too much just from trying to navigate my ipod for a few seconds. And people are already irritating the h*** out of me spending too much time dialing and yapping on their phones (man, don't you just love being cutoff by some b****** at the end of an off-ramp because he wasn't paying attention and realized at the last minute that this was the exit he needed to take, so he swerves over three lanes so he doesn't lose his precious time).

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