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A Big-Screen Mobile MP3 Console
psymaster writes: "I found the link to this mod over at hardocp.com; it's a car MP3 player mod, the guy ripped apart the whole center panel of the car to install it and did it all over again in fiberglass." This is dedication.
It would be really nice if it supported ogg files though. I would buy it then.
it may be a cool thing, it looks like crap! i cant believe he put more than 2 hours into this.
keep it simple.
Now all I need is a vehicle!! And .. oh yeah .. money :(
That's a very clean job that guy did. Nice!
the blood has stopped pumping, and he's left to decay
the me that you know is now made up of wires
At first, I read the headline as "A Blue-Screen Mobile MP3 Console", and the first thing that popped into my mind was: "that's what they get for using wince". :)
Will it come standard in a Cavalier?
// -- http://www.BRAD-X.com/ --
All I know is I want one. I don't care how. But I want it and one for my girlfriend's car too.
Tim Dorr
Owner/Manger
A Small Orange
Does the car crash if it BlueScreens?
Quite an impressive job but is it worth that much time/effort? How soon will it be until car manufacturers include PCs in the dash instead of navigation system? Just think of how many accidents will happen because of people trying to play solitaire on their way to work!
Scott
Oh, joy. Now we have some idiot with a touch screen panel in his car running Winamp. Like this guy won't cause an accident.
It looks cool, but image the first time he parks his car in the sun with the windows rolled up and the inside gets to about 160 degrees Farenheit.
Will he post pictures then?
"Hey, what's this big assed black piece of glass you got right here in the middle of your control panel?"
WOW I really like the idea. By running windows he is going to be prone to crashes but GPS and such will be easy. Now he needs a oronico wireless card and he is set to wardrive!
We are continually bombarded with stories of how someone put a in their car.
How much time does this take? In other words, do you want an MP3 player in your car, or work out a little and get a tan, thereby installing a gorgeous babe in your car?
...
His server. He needs to spend some time putting out the fire and rebuilding the server after this slashdotting.
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
Geez, that fast???
:(
How hard can it possibly be to write a small perl script, a few wget calls, and keep a running cron cache on links within stories?
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
how do you tell your insurance company
"My windows crashed!!!"
So when he gets pulled over do they call the RIAA for not purchasing his music in each format he plays it in? Policeman into radio: Uh dispatch.. we need a tow truck, code napster. MP3 owner: What did I do officer? Policeman: Just wait here a minute, the nice folks at the RIAA are here to help.
Have you hugged your Karma Whore today?
Jesus Christ! Look at the amount of information on that screen. I hope I never run into this guy in heavy traffic while he's talking on his cell phone and scrolling through his Jimmy Eat World tracks.
that one song that I heard the other week...
i think it was after this one...
no no, about 200 back from here (scroll...)
was it around here? maybe down a few... (tap tap tap)...
*incoming telephone pole*
ok now i've seen like 4 replies involving some sort of joke about how windows crashes all the time and all this blue screen crap. i have never once had any microsoft operating system crash on me for playing mp3s on it (i have used pretty much all of them). and as i posted before, attempting to make jokes about blue screens just isnt funny anymore.
As he was running M$ software, it reminded me of that BMW ad:
Our Hardware runs better without windows
It is getting rediculous - what use is Slashdot if 50% of the stories link to slashdotted sites? Many people have proposed potential solutions for this (such as /. providing a Google-like cache), but the editors always come up with lame excuses.
I would buy such a thing...
if it had a HEADS UP DISPLAY projecting on
my windshield and if it played DVDs and DivX
movies too, while I am driving long Arizona
and Nevada highways on cruise control.
And maybe the Windows PC could steer my car
through light traffic as well, using a webcam
taped to my center rearview mirror.
YIKES!
--- Eat my sig.
There's a webpage here. He did it with a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder, an older Mac Powerbook (utilizing Airport for file transfer), and a lot of ingenuity. His page also goes into detail, instead of just photos.
(I'm thinking about trying the same thing with my 2001 XTerra.)
blog |
http://www.ashleypowers.com/ ..this guy re-built his center console twice in his truck, then went again to do it in his new 300zx...
-mark
i wonder how he manages to drive and play q3a too.
(note the icon for it in the pictures).
There is a lot more inf on this at MP3Car.com, the user sites are a bit out of date, but the forum is excelent.
Also, it looks like Q-PC sells premade car computers, though I haven't seen any info about one.
I am building a car computer myself, that will completely replace my radio with a 8.4" touchscreen, running a custom program that does Radio, MP3's, DVD and GPS navigation.
Twostep
There are 10 different types of people in this world... those who understand binary, and those who don't.
Based on his completed photos, I think it looks great! And I've spent a lot of time with 'glass so I know from where I speak.
and not add GPS capability to it? I mean, 90% of the work is already done.
...do the people with the coolest mods for mp3 playback have the most inane sense of musical taste? Better than Ezra?! *wretch*
Warning: Opening this dashboard voids the manufacturer warrenty.
"Wow! I got linked to by [H]ard|OCP today. I sure hope this server will hold up much better than my old one ;) "
Oh, if it was only HardOCP, then you might have a chance. Alas, that was only the beginning.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
how is that worse than a stereo?
I have a 2002 VW Golf TDi into which I installed an MP3 player. The player is mounted in the center console. It has an electroluminescent, multi-color display, infrared remote control, motorized, multi-angle display/control panel, and plays MP3s that I burn onto CD-R/RW media. That way I don't have to hook it up to my PC to put songs on it. And the CD-R/RW media holds probably 10 hours or more per CD, so it's a great way to have lots of music in a small space. That also freed me from having to worry about shock-mounting a hard drive, how the drive would deal with temperature extremes, etc.
To see a picture of the unit, go to this web page.
Total investment: Less than $400
Installation time: Less than two hours
Serviceability: Excellent
Permanent modifications to car: None
1955?? thats heavy doc!!
1.1 jiggawatts?!?!
nice, but good luck trying to sell it if he is ever decides to.
Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
Fast mirror here
This guy is a regular over at www.mp3car.com forums. You can check out the progress of his install if you root around a little bit.
Actually, if anyone is planning a car install, this is the best site on the internet for all things "carputer" related. They have a TON of information about how Power supplies, touchscreens, inverters, and all the rest work.
And really, all you people who post "thats just what we need, someone watching DVDs while driving" can @#$% off. I think a lot of people are jelous they don't have the skill to build something like this themselves, and would rather rip on people that do. Of course there is a safe and unsafe way to use these, just like cell phones and eating fast food. But that is just my 2 cents.
.....
Here's my mirror.
-ted
You know what gets me? People who say this is "unsafe" because they assume the driver is going to be watching the computer. These people are just showing that they haven't really thought about the situation. A computer can actually make you a SAFER driver. Here's why:
You don't have to change CDs.
With voice recognition for playback commands, you can control the music without taking your hands off the steering wheel or even looking away from the road (ok...some expensive stereos have this)
A GPS along with some map software on the computer can read driving directions to you. Again, eyes on the road, hands on the steering wheel. Much better than a map.
The guy has a Quake 3 shortcut on his desktop! Playing Quake 3 in his car?!
Now al he has to do is hookup a rear-facing web cam and he can get rid of the overhead mirror, allowing room for the overhead ejection seat lever.
How cool would it be if he did it with OSX-compatible hardware!?!
Mmmmmm... Bold, yet refreshing!
Not nearly as messy, 30 gigs of storage, and if that isn't enough you can just toss a bigger drive in it.
:(
Neo Car Jukebox
on the down side, it's about 400 bucks
I'm sticking in a phat I.C.E., laptop/desktop innards [shock dampened], fingerprint regognition [yeah I read the story], webcams, a G.P.S. thingy and an interface to several vital car components. A bit of UNIX Shell scripting/coding later, seeing as I'm doing it at college this year [hopefully]. I'll have the security system MMS me the coordinates, and mugshots of the "fucking stupid soon-to-be-dead" plonkers who think they can steal my motor, and de-activate the ignition, ready for me to pop a glock out the boot and teach them a lesson in Car Security they won't forget!
Errrm, well, anyways, I've yet to see someone really combine a car and a computer. Ignitions on modern cars are usually computer controlled so it's possible, at lest in theory. How about a Tomorrow Never Dies stylee remote controll? I'd add some hidden internal fual pumps and lighters just in case the car was out of range [hell, insurance will cover it ;-] and a webserver, just to be 31337.
Ah bollocks maybe I shouldn't post while drunk... but these are things I've seriously considered while Stone Cold Sober(tm)!
When the world seems to shine like you've had too...*THUD*
Ali
Ph33r m3!!!
Why the hell didn't he just buy an MP3 head unit?
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
This solution to this is to use voice control instead, which is what I did in my car computer
Well, here comes a larger flood to test your server!
it's touchscreen Quake III Arena that will get him killed. Anyone else notice that icon in the bottom left?
Also, someone teach this poor guy how to download Winamp skins. Because that default skin is just painful.
with a little ingenuity he could make a shifter-remote or steering wheel mountable remote and hooked it up to his system, utilizing max10 or some other serial line based remote control plug-in.
-malakai
-Malakai
A Dragon Lives in my Garage
Unless he managed to dig up a reflective display (and work in a front-lighting system for night use), this thing won't be much use during the day. Backlit LCDs don't work in direct (and often indirect) sunlight.
I see a Quake III icon on the desktop. Is your framerate tied to your RPM? Does your stickshift work as a joystick? How many cars have you hit so far? He he he. Will you make me one? Cool.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
If only I didn't burn all my points this morning on modding down republicans. :)
It is all about the control of the songs. When you have 2000+ songs (Can't do it with CD's) you need an easy way to get the right one.
On a side note, there are very few head units out there that look professional and fit with your exact car. Kenwood's current one comes close with the ability to change the background color. But panasonic's will output more than just a few characters of the name on the screen at a time. I have an eMpeg that allows you to do both and store lots of mp3's. It looks good also, there are not a ton of flashing lights of all different colors(AWIA).
When will car makers start coming out with this kind of setup?
Can't believe that no one has added this link yet (maybe I missed it eh) http://www.dashpc.com/ This guy rocks - besides mp3 he has a really nice tcl interface, plays movies on multiple screens - gps and 802.11 (bringing a new meaning to wardriving methinks)
Even has a sourceforge project up for the code! Look and learn.
"Smile, listen, agree, and then do whatever the fuck you wanted to do anyway." ~Robert Downey Jr.
This is dedication.
More like stupidity. This story is not news for nerds, it's news for rice boys. (you know.. the people who think their Honda will go faster if they lower the suspension and add a giant spoiler..) Car MP3 player "mods" are no longer cool nor original. Sorry. Many (most?) commercial CD decks now play MP3's. The ones that don't probably have a line-in for an external portable unit. And for crying out loud, this guy is using Windows--the world's worst 'embedded' OS.
Now, on the other hand, if someone wants to show off a minimal-footprint Linux driven unit sporting gpsdrive, WAP scanning, police radar, clock sync via radio, cabin noise cancellation, speed/heading/mileage/odometer on a HUD, engine diagnostics, proximity sensors, and of course voice synth/recognition, THEN I might raise an eyebrow. So have at it fellow geeks. Oh, and you might as well make it play OGG/MP3/DIVX too. (-:
...for a base model Eclipse!
Back when it looked like I was getting a job I applied for (sigh) I had thoughts of taking a wireless approach myself. Take a P166 or faster laptop (Cheap) with a CD-ROM drive and a WiFi card and an FM transmitter plugged into the headphone jack.
Then I'd take another WiFi card, drop it into my Newton 2100, run a network from that to the laptop, VNC from the Newton to the PC and run control of things from there.
Probably can be done for under $500 and could be set up to facilitate some pretty kickass wardriving with an antenna on the trunk.
As far as I'm concerned, power is a minor concern and the bigger problem would be mounting the Newton to the dash properly.
My own pointless vanity vintage computing page
I too want to appear on /.
;-)
I bet it was the author of the project himself who posted this story.
reason defies logic
nice, but looks almost exactly like something me and my friends did a couple of years ago. Except ours didn't look as bad as this guys. Maybe a good idea when you couldn't get hd based portable mp3 players, but why bother now?
This is one of the nicest installs I have seen in a 300zx.
http://www.ashleypowers.com/ZPCTour/300tour1.htm
He even has it integrated into the car computer and last I heard he's working on making modifications to the chip (ECU) while the vehicle is driving.
--derek
derek.delconte.org
switching the shell to winamp would be much more intelligent.... unless he uses the system for anything else.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
In using a laptop to play MP3s in my car, I use a logitech Marble Mouse Track ball on the center console between the front two seats to control the system.
ttyl
Farrell
CAN-CON 2019 - Ottawa's only book oriented Science Fiction Convention! October 18-20, Sheraton Hotel, Ottawa, Canada h
Lets hope he installed without AVS. The last thing we need is someone getting high off AVS while driving.
Check this car out. This guy ripped out his existing stereo and replaced it with a touchscreen display for a pc he has in his trunk. The computer runs linux and has a wireless network card so he can download data off of his LAN before he leaves. He even set it up with a chip to boot up the pc when the ignition is turned and wait to turn on the monitor until the software is loaded. And, of course, it's all GPL'ed.
There's no sig like SIGSEG
The player can be found here (http://amimpc.world3.net/)
I heard that your library burnt down and destroyed your only two books - and one was not even coloured in yet.
Please mod up...I modded down by accident! (damn wheel mouse...)
Anyone else find it odd that the guy has all these close up, detailed pictures of the fiberglass hardening and the console being ripped appart, but the final "finished" picture is so blurry you can't see a damn thing?
Coincidence?
I think not.
I think the guy screwed up his console so bad he's embarassed, but he spent so much $$$$ and so many damn hours installing a display just to play mp3s he felt he had to get recognized.
Also, what year is this, 1996? Come on, car mp3 players have been out for years. Just go down to your local Best Buy and buy one. And if one cd isn't enough, try a 10 disc mp3 CD changer from Kenwood. Eleven (one in the dash) 870meg (99min) mp3 cds = 9.5gigs of music, or roughly 158 hours, nearly a week straight, plenty of music no matter where he drives that eclipse.
If you ask me the guy's a moron. He ruined his console, wasted tons of money and time, and severally depreciated the value of his car.
I am not a representative of the mp3car forums, but I'd like to think that I share a number of opinions with most, and would just like to respond en mase to a number of comments. No, its not linux, no, its not xp. Linux support for gps is still lacking, even with the open source projects that are being worked on, and win98 boots faster, and has more support for old odd hardware. For those calling him a ricer, and not a computer enthusiast, wheres the 5 foot spoiler, TypeR logo, and 10 inch chrome exaust tip. For those calling it a waste of time, and he should have bought a mp3 deck, why do you constantly recompile your linux kernel? or overclock your pc? or why did you buy WarCraft3? or incessantly read /.? Because its a hobby, we do it because we enojy working on our projects. Its also something that even after having been "in the media" for a number of years now, still has a very small following in terms of the number of people who have built a system.
Also, can your mp3deck play divx movies? track your movement via gps? carry 3000 hours of music? get updated wirelessly? And for a basic functioning carmp3 player, my first setup cost me the price of an inverter, aprox. $50.
For those calling it an accident waiting to happen, the amount of work required in building such a device usually means that the people have a bit of common sense, and is no more dangerous than a AM/FM radio.
What happens to GPS devices, then? Nothing, just like what happens to this.
[insert witty comment here]
This guy does a great job. Has a state of the art MP3 player in his car. Has leather interior. Smooth car. But then you see he doesn't even have automatic windows?!?! Check out the last pic!
And who in their right mind would use WINDOWS for such a thing?
I think this might actually be illegal in most states to have a viewable display unit within the driver's field of vision... Not sure if it is indeed law or not... anyone have any more info on this?
Libertas in infinitum
From the low quality pictures, it looks like he did a damn, damn good job of installing it.
Too bad the car is the slower Eclipse model!