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200hp/V6/G3 600MHz "iCar"
bloodline555 writes "What do you get when you cross a Saab 95 with an iBook? You get the iCar. It's my latest project in a series of ways to void your AppleCare warranty. I have totally torn apart my iBook, folded it in half and mounted it inside of my car. It makes a great mp3 jukebox and DVD player. Any comments/ suggestions would be wonderful."
That has got to be one of the most awesome "mods" (I guess you could call it that ;) ) that I've ever seen. Great work.
By the way, do you have access to the mouse/keyboard, or do you function totally through the remote?
Anyone ported this to Saab XP yet?
I know in most states (if not all) it is illegal to have a tv infront of the drivers seat. Would this be something similar that you could get a ticket for having too much of a distraction infront of you? I think that is more of the question that how cool it seems to be.
I love duct tape as much as the next guy, but yeah.
Here Here. Even windows nerds have done this before, better & wihtout the PVC waterpipe...
Next time you see someone swerving around madly in traffic, it might be for some other reason.
Love,
The cellular phone industry.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
" Any comments/ suggestions would be wonderful"
Yeah, don't put it in the front seat.
If you get into any sort of accident in your car, no matter the circumstances, it'll be assumed it distracted you. As a result, Slashdot'll pitchfork it no matter how cool it is. Sorta like cell phones.
"Derp de derp."
PVC tubing. Oh and lets not forget the duct tape. Im sure any girl would just be overjoyed to be sitting in the passenger seat and have the pvc tubing rubing against your leg and the corner of the monitor sticking into your crotch.
hey crazy cracker, I've got two words for ya: i Pod (but you can't watch dvd's or play with Expose... ang! in that case: nice job :) )
No encryption can withstand the power of the Lucky Guess.
is there a OSX GPS setup out there, I would love to do this to my problematic iBook 500mhz (screen problem so you have to use the RGB hookup) that I thought about integrating into my car as a iTunes player/DVD player/ GPS navigator.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
"Any comments/ suggestions would be wonderful."
OK: Don't park in my neighborhood. Or, alternately, hook up a webcam and wirelessly upload images to a server, so you can see who stole your iBook.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
what kind of wax do you use?
...
please say meguiars
vodka, straight up, thank you!
If you add iSight, Airport and a bit of scripting to automatically connect to a dynamic URL service, you could have a mobile webcam. That way we can see where you are going.
Or you could point it backwards. Not only would it be a cool rear-vision monitor, but you could have a bumper sticker that reads "You're on the web right now."
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Google 'pathintosh' -
:)
;)
Macintosh 'pismo ( or was it lombard?)' g3 laptop in a Pathfinder.
Guy picked up an lcd screen added touchpanel to it, and mounted it NEATLY in his dash - about where the stereo would go. Ran cabling back to a 'dock' in the back where he slides the laptop into - allows him to remove it and take it with him still. He also hacked up a usb keyboard, and tied the buttons on his steering wheel - which are supposed to hook up to the normal stereo - to the hacked up keyboard, so he can control iTunes from the steering wheel
That said, I kinda like the stand which you have the screen on - neat trick extenging the lcd that far
"I mean, it's not like I'm running Windoze, which is known to crash."
very scary, to say the least. Especially trying to read the screen in the middle of the day.
now I have an iPod, and it's still scary.
But I won't read the paper, or apply makeup while driving, that's too dangerous.
I like microcars
Burt Rutan's Boomerang twin-engine airplane has always used a PowerBook for instrumentation and navigation although the Boomerang's PowerBook installation is more functional than as pretty as the one in the iCar.
Ever dream you could fly? Get up from the Flight Sim. I Fly
A little rough (uh, duct tape?), but a great idea . I wonder if he has the glovebox/fridge thing going on? That would certainly keep the iBook cool enough. I think it will be a while before I do that to our iBook, but maybe someday. We do have a mount for an iPod in the ashtray of our 1968 Model 95 (why GM had to go and start reusing model numbers I will never know). -t
Yeah, My 9-5 has a cooled glove box. I've OFTEN wondered about stuffing an iBook in there, but I think I'd do it a little different.
My
I mount my tablet to my dashboard, and when I get where I'm going, I can take it with me. Others are doing the same thing: Some pictures in this thread.
First: you've done the hard part, and done it well.
But...You could really stand to clean the project up and take it to the "next-level."
Thoughts:
* There are an awful lot of wires running around. See: (here and here)
You could do away with the tape adapter by going with one of those short-range radio transmitters and hooking that into the audio-out of the laptop. This would clean up the cassette wire that pops out and then runs back inside the stereo housing.
It would also be nice if you could run the video wires in through the PVC tubing and then under the floor or inside of the paneling on the left-side of the passenger's foot. Wires are ugly, do whatever you can to hide them.
* The actual monitor housing unit needs to be polished.
OK, you posted asking for feedback, so here's some: clean up the monitor display. The black duct-tape and white-PVC tubing just isn't going to cut it.
Thoughts: Instead of cheap, white, bulk PVC how about getting some brushed metal tubing? It will do the job just as well, but look more professional. I mean... it is a Mac, right? You gotta tie in the brushed metal.
Also, the duct-tape reeks of a DIY (do-it-yourself) hack. I'm not sure what options you have here, but you simply gotta clean this up.
All-in-all, good proof-of-concept job! Now get back out there and put the finishing touches on it!
ok, 2 thoughts here...
;)
1) That screen needs an elegant mount. Something that either folds up flat to the ceiling or between the seats. I have an elegant engineering solution to this for which this comment box is insufficient etc.
2) I'm shocked that he doesn't have the keyboard (which is clearly removed yet functional, and resting on the ibook case) mounted on the inside of the glove compartment lid, ready to use when the lid is down. This project is clearly half done
Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
Touch screen display. Rather than fishing around for the right key on a QWERTY or dv keyboard to push to do a given task, or fiddle with a touchpad...
Let's see...tape adapter, exposed wires, PVC monitor support...can we say "half-assed"?
Not bad for a first attempt. Next, i would suggest attempting to make it look a bit more professionally installed. If you're going to have the PVC piping, why not route any exposed cabling thorugh it? At least attempt to run the wires where they aren't as visible. Most likely your stereo system has a 1/4" jack on the back, why not pipe the audio from your audio out jack into that? There's a lot you could do to make this look better. Good luck, and like I said, it's a valiant first effort, more than most people here can/could/would do.
it's an automatic. gross.
You might find the answer to what you need!
You could do away with the tape adapter by going with one of those short-range radio transmitters and hooking that into the audio-out of the laptop. This would clean up the cassette wire that pops out and then runs back inside the stereo housing.
Those don't work very well. I'd personally get a new Head unit with audio in instead. Though the tape adapter is probobly fine.
I'll stick to my iPod w/ iTrip, though. A lot less dremeling involved ...
***
It'll also be assumed that the airbag pushed the LCD right through your chest.
When installing anything like that into a passenger compartment, airbag deployment is an important consideration. Did you think about it?
You, my friend, have way too much money.
That's a Saab 9-5! This is a Saab 95. A few years older.
Martin
It couldn't have been my fault- It's Unix based. Here look at my uptime.
I am used to tie my telescope on my bike (not the motorized version, the legs-powered). And guess what, I am also used to tie my ibook G3 with starry night pro started with night vision enabled. I suppose I could wire up my techno mp3. But I like silence and the long lasting night on one eco battery. Isn't the idea more airy ?
But has anybody thought of an iMac? Pivoting LCD screen, small case. The power adapter would be the only big hurdle I think. You might be able to get rid of the separate power supply if the voltage going in is similar enough to the 12-14 volts the car puts out.
i have to say tho cool cuz it's a mac. it's really poorly done. with some more research you could have had a much more stock looking installation.
there are in dash svga monitors. even ones with touch screens. they mount right in your dash and fold out. they even have one with a motor that automatically extends it out for you.
i mean who wants that big huge screen stuck in the middle of your car. it's just screaming to all thieves out there to come see what's inside and steal it.
second beef. the IR thing. ugh how ugly having wires draped all over the place like that and that stupid ir reciever. at least mount it in the dash somewhere so it can't really be seen.
tape adaptor: if yer gunna go thru all this trouble why totally muck up your sound with a tape adaptor. nothing more said there.
PVC pipe. how ugly. at least paint it black or something. there are in car laptop mounts. might as well just gotten one of those if you wanted an arm in your car.
cable showing. tuck that stuff in man! cars have carpets and they are easy to pull out to hide things.
it's sad to see a really nice car with a bunch of cheezy things stuck to it.
sorry to be so negative. but there's so many more possibilities out there than the ones this person chose to take.
Kenny Sabarese
www.kennysabarese.com
Q: what happened to your iCar?
A: it crashed
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
Man, tell me about it.
Karma: Chevy Kavalierma.
Not a bad car, if you ask me. But it seems pretty useless without Windows...
</sarcasm>
Plexiglass! You could probably make a decent looking bezel for this thing with a few bucks and some dremeling - and if you don't go for the "Transparent-see-my-innards" look, spraypaint the _inside_ of the plexi black or silver or something. (If appicable, make sure the paint is non conductive.) Hey, you could even go for the brushed plexiglass look! ;^) (Those spongy-looking abrasive wheels you mount in a drill work really well for a cool brushed brushed/crosshatch pattern.)
NRH
"Ad infinitem et ultra!" - Buzz Lightyear
One of my friends put a computer in his VW Passat.. He's a big mac user, but he couldn't bring himself, or his paycheck to accept the defiling of a perfectly good mac for the task. So he used a 933mhz PC.
I think the fact that he used cheap parts allowed him much more freedom to really customize the thing, and he used no PVC!
I fear nothing but my government. Vote Libertarian.
So elegant. I love the pressboard, conduit clamps, and the PVC! It really sets of the fine leather interior and other creature comforts of the Saab.
What an iSore!
I'm in the middle of a similar process with a g3 500 pb
Get an 802.11g card and share your music directory. This way, you could drive up to your house, park the car, log on and drop off music as needed.
Like the use of the remote. I'm going to use that in my home video laptop projection solution.
If you had bluetooth, you could probably get a bluetooth remote control too.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
WTF!? ahem...your ghetto engineering leaves much to be desired. Uh, yeah....
...you need a girlfriend, dude. This won't help.
Although getting a new head unit with an auxiliary input was already mentioned, a cheaper way to go is to add one to the existing head unit. If it has a CD changer interface (but no CD changer), you can get an adapter for less than fifty bucks. One end plugs into the changer port, the other is a 1/8" stereo mini-jack. It's far better than an FM transmitter.
irb(main):001:0>
-Get a chrome neck like the ones on the G4 iMac
-Touch up the screen
-Add some AppleScript so that you can add driving directions & GPS
-iSight a rearview mirror
-Try to get the whole computer placed in the back of the screen
I used to drive home from az to colorado and back for school 4 times a year, ~ 16 hours. I used to put my generation 1 imac in the passenger seat beteen the dash and the seat with the screen facing up. Powered off a 175 watt inverter that eventually melted my battery cable. Then using an fm transmitter and the same remote he has, i had a 40gb juke box!!.. now i have an ipod with the itrip radio thingy.
Man, tell me about it.
That's why I came up with my sig. Feel free to steal it.
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
My main sugestion would be to spraypaint the PVC pipe to blend in better, and to dirrectly tie it into the sterio system, and have the screen mounted in the middle better so it isn't in the way of a passenger, other than that, great job with the iBook, most people don't "mod" their macs. Kudos to you for being one of few.
Sig: I stole this sig.
We do have a mount for an iPod in the ashtray of our 1968 Model 95 (why GM had to go and start reusing model numbers I will never know).
Funny you should mention that, I've got my iPod mounted in the ashtray of my 2003 9-5 Wagon. Just a piece of stiff foam cut and shaped to hold the bottom of the iPod tightly and then a short cable run up to the tape deck. Got to love Saab for offering audio systems with both CD and Tape, just a pity they don't do a minidisc changer - then I'd be all set!
Sure they do! This one works really well.
And you can mod it to boost the power and/or break FCC 15 regulations for private radio transmissions.
I've got it. I use it. I love it!
Once a week. Once every 6-8 weeks, spend an hour with a buffer and some Turtle Wax polish, it's a little more effort, but man does it shine...
Meguiar's is good stuff, but they conspicously lack a pure carnauba wax (No. 26 Yellow Wax is passable, the synthetic additives do make it last about 3x as long), and their polishes are waaaay overpriced.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley
Yep. They want to see the neat "Genie" effect of their soul going to [some rock/hell/heaven/nowhere] when they crash into a brick wall.
Please help metamoderate.
Don't play any of that John Mayer shit while I'M in the car.
I know, flamebait, go ahead and waste your mod points....
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They Are Vermin Feeding On Each Other's Feces.
I Hate \.
Why not use chromed out pipes rather than PVC? It would add an even classier touch.
You have a Saab 95 (ninety-five). The new one is a 9-5 (nine-five).
The 5 is superscript on the badge.
Not for Saabs. None of the manufacturers (blitzsafe et al) make one yet that can interface with the Saab head units. The problem (among other things) is the encrypted interface between the Saab OEM CD Changer and the head unit, designed to make both "unstealable".
I ended up replacing my 9-3's head unit to hook my iPod up to.
You mean the car that Saab made back in -59?
Oh, you mean 9-5.
Sorry, a swede who couldn't resist nit-picking...
I don't have one
A good looking car is now much uglier.
An extrodinarily versatile piece of hardware is now an mp3 player.
*clap clap*
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