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Mac mini in a Volkswagen
pyramis writes "Matt Turner has installed a Mac mini into his Volkswagen as an integrated audio/video system. He's distributed the I/O ports around the cab for convenient access and installed a remote power button right into the dashboard. Cool pics of all of this, plus a detailed article on that cool power button."
Slashdot meets Pimp My Ride...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
no posts and bandwidth already exceeded :(
Not a single comment and it's already down...
Not even 5 minutes after the post and already the site is /.ed.
Mini-mini: mac mini in a mini cooper?
I clicked at 0 comments and there it wasn't. "You had me at HTTP 1.1 GET!"
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I think you need to get laid.
Cheers!
mstyne: real name, no gimmicks
"Looks like his webserver was RUNNING on the Mac Mini!" Hahahaha, oh MERCY. My aching sides!
Resource limit exceeded!
:)
Will retry in a few seconds...
That was pretty swift, even for Slashdot!
slashdotted on a saturday night before the first comment was posted :-(
---- join dshield.org Distributed Intrusion Detec
Those people who have done this with standard hard drives.. how do they stand up to being kicked around over time? I've seen a few people with carPC projects, but I've always wondered how the hard drives deal with the additional abuse over time.
You'd think a notebook HD would be alright. I assume that's what the mac mini is using?
(article slashdotted)
..don't panic
I predict the hardware might be buggy.
Does it have a sizeable back seat?
Wouldn't it make more sense to use Mini Cooper (the original, stylish one)?
Here is the coral link
h p?p=40/
http://tunertricks.com.nyud.net:8090/blog/index.p
convictushome.blogspot.com
--ARTICLE TEXT:
GTi - MacMini
Well, it kept me from posting regularly, took about two weeks to plan and occupied nearly every night for about three weeks, but the big project I've been promising to post on is done...finally. I actually finished it last week, but wanted to make sure I had covered all the bases and that everything was working properly before putting the car back together and photographing it (thanks to Ryan for the quick shoot).
When the dimensions for the MacMini were announced, I immediately got to work figuring out what the best way to integrate one into my own car would be. If I was going to put a Mac in my car, I wanted to make sure it had all of the functionality that it would have in a home environment while still maintaining an easy-to-operate interface so that distractions could be kept to a minimum. So the researching, planning, sketching and disassembly of my cars interior (to see what would fit where) began. After taking the thought process to every extreme imaginable, I decided on the following equipment list:
- 1.42GHz MacMini with 512mb RAM, Superdrive, Bluetooth and Airport Extreme
- Xenarc 700tsv 7 USB touchscreen monitor with VGA and dual composite video inputs
- Cirque EasyCat USB trackpad
- Griffin PowerMate assignable USB control knob
- Lacie 8 in 1 USB flash card reader
- Belkin USB 7-port powered hub
- Belkin USB four-port bus-powered hub
- Belkin Firewire 6-port mini hub
- Alpine PXA-H701 Multimedia processor with RUX-C701 controller
- MonsterCable MCPI300 300watt power inverter
- Female USB, Ethernet and Firewire ports
- 40gig iPod dock
- Griffin RadioShark USB FM/AM tuner
Over the next few days, I will be putting up a post on each general aspect of the install to more closely cover how I did what where and any problems I encountered, as well as the solutions I came up with for these problems as they arose. More detailed pictures of the process will accompany these posts as well, for those interested in the more technical aspects of the install - such as removing the power button and indicator from the MacMini and relocating them to the switch panel in the dash, extending the Apple power supply's cable to locate the "brick" in the rear side panel of the car, fabricating the brushed aluminum trim bezels and rebuilding the glove box interior to accomodate the MacMini. So, enjoy and please check back over the next few days to check out these posts and two new iPod dock installs from last week...
www.mp3car.com is a great site if your looking to get into these.
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
It's Saturday night, the server is Slashdotted before the first post. I assume almost no one has see the site, making discussion hard.
How about a game of cards?
Euchre anyone?
I dub thee... Sir Phobos, Knight of Mars, Beater of Ass.
The burned out hulk of a VW was found along side the road. Officials with the Fire Dept. said the dashboard burst into flames!
The question of "why would anyone do this?" simply doesn't exist. It's only a question of "how do I do this?" and, even more importantly, "how far can I take it?"
Of course, eventually this leads to things like cloning carnivorous dinosaurs and destroying small planets, but that's what science fiction writers are supposed to worry about.
Mirrordot link
Coral cache
So, someone installed a Mac mini in their VW and this is unique?
http://www.carputermac.com/, http://www.mp3car.com/, lots of people talking about this.
Peace
Wow, a troll account who is also a subscriber.
Er, uh, I mean LOL SUBSCRIBER
I predict in 20 years, half the articles on slashdot will be cool cyborg mods (to the human body).
"I slipped the mini under my frontal lobe, so that latencey to the computational region of my brain is minimized, it is powered on my body heat, and the coolest thing, is that I have an IO port on my forehead so that I don't have to deal with the irritation of reaching around to the back of my head to plug in my peripherals."
Mirrordot cache
you forgot people that realise they can't build a PC as small for the same price as the mini, in addition to trend whores and label sluts.
oh, it's quieter than a dell desktop too, lots lots quieter.
At least it's a five-speed. Though this project is a good example of when not to use brushed aluminum covers. Ugh. It might have been OK if the front panel didn't have sharp 90 degree angles or a bezel or something, but it looks kind of hackish the way it is now.
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
Did he mount the various ports vertically? In a car that seems like a very bad idea as paper, grime, food will likely all get stuck in it.
I do security
Pretty neat stuff he made. Having a computer to manage all the music or video you want to see or hear in your car is a good idea altough now with the iPod the music side is not so 1337. Now what i want to see is a mini computer running linux in a car.
Someone better tell him to spill his sources.
CC
CKSCIII
Perhaps someone should inform Matt Turner what year it is...
What is needed is some decent car computer software. Stuff to manage the AC and the radio. I'll try it out when someone manages that.
-- Bryan
Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a carputer program for the Mac. Maybe all us Mac users should start petitioning companies that write carputer programs to write ports to OS X. Just think of the market share!
I'll be impressed when he can fit it into this.
What?
Proof once again that Macs are nothing more than an item for trend whores and label sluts.
No, because that would bring the Apple marketshare up to 3%, which we all know is impossible.
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
It's a MAC inside of a Volkswagen? How did they manage that? I can understand if it was a Volkswagen inside of a MAC, or a Mac inside of a Volkswagen, but wow. Maybe a MAC got into a wreck with Volkswagen? That is the only explanation I can think of.
500 Server Error
The web server encountered an error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request. If this error persists, please contact the webmaster, and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.
Matt Turner may have turned his Mac mini into a Volkswagen, but we've turned his Web site into a Yugo.
Oh, well, at least there's MirrorDot.
Not to mention firewire and ethernet.
Why does he need all the usb ports? What am I missing?
"though I doubt ALL volkswagon owners are brainless fashion followers"
;)
Like slashdot?
This is a Mac story. No self-respecting Mac user gives two shits about that bloated, ugly, misbehaving, freakish assortment of cobbled-together widgets. We all use Safari.
I'm afraid I don't quite understand.
Let me see if I can break it down for you:What's so goddamn novel about throwing an underpowered, overpriced Mac inside a dashboard?
Well for starters, its a very well done hack. Second, the poster shows that it can display maps, and quite probably can aide in navigation. Third, the mac can store a very large music library, and comes with the ease of itunes. Forth, he made a very nice dash/overall car mod to include a ipod dock, a power outlet, and many shiny buttons...
If one were interested in getting a portable media center for his car, he would have many options that involve spending less money and/or getting more bang for your buck. Why, for the $500 he spent on his fashion accessory that can't play games, he could've gotten a Dell desktop with approximately double the speed, and expandability to boot, plus he would've instantly been able to use the vast array of Windows and Linux software available.
The mac is shiny. And playing unreal at 94 mph along the freeway is not something I want to be doing...
Proof once again that Macs are nothing more than an item for trend whores and label sluts.
I had a Dell for one year before it fried. Bough another, same deal. The costomer service/documentation sucked. On the other hand, I have now had a mac Powerbook for the last two years, and its providing better functionality than any other machine I have bought. When you buy apple, you buy quality. Think of an apple as a Lexus, and a dell as a Ugo. Sure, the Ugo will get you from point A to point B, but it is made of inferrior parts, tends to fail, and lacks any style.
3 degrees of separation from Vladimir Putin
I can use my Volkswagen with the Mac Mini to go to IKEA!
A Mac Mini on a Mini!!
... it was running on the engine of the VW itself...
Your head a splode
You are the definition of a PC zealot. Why do you care so much that someone wants to put a mac in their car instead of a PC? Maybe the person decided that if they were going to take on this project that they'd rather not have to worry about building the machine themselves or setting up the OS.
It's his fucking choice. Plus I rather not have drivers playing UT on the road, cars are for driving (and racing on the track), not playing PC games.
We Slashdotters, by general acclamation, now officially regard Apple as Evil and a threat to freedom loving peoples.
/.'d so I can't see it), belong to wannabe hippies.
1. Volkswagens, especially combi vans (is it? the server's been
2. Hippies are FLP.
3. Therefore, Apple has no place in a Volkwagen. QED.
Now all we need is some sci-fi esque program that runs when you get in and start the car, it has to have some sort of voice to welcome you and in green-screen run through all the cars systems listing their status and then showing a 3D wireframe of the car and noting that the rear left tire has slightly lower tred than normal but is still within operating safety parameters and that it will notify the mechanic at the next check-up.
This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
Yeah, that really drives me crazy. I mean, I don't mean to steer the conversation in any way or another, but those jokes just don't turn my crank. They signal to me, rather, that Slashdotters prefer automatic over manual posting. The way this place is coasting along in neutral mediocrity, well, it makes me sad. We should change gears around here, and make an agreement to speed up the humor and put the brakes on predictable comments.
Yeah, screw those PC zealots, I only install mainframe systems into my car.
P.S. personal computer != Windows
I had a Dell for one year before it fried. Bough another, same deal. The costomer service/documentation sucked. On the other hand, I have now had a mac Powerbook for the last two years, and its providing better functionality than any other machine I have bought. When you buy apple, you buy quality. Think of an apple as a Lexus, and a dell as a Ugo. Sure, the Ugo will get you from point A to point B, but it is made of inferrior parts, tends to fail, and lacks any style.
Let's be honest here, a Dell isn't as bad as a Yugo. It's more like a Chrysler.
Ha, I crack me up!
Too bad only Macheads will get the joke, which on Linux-for-fun/Windows-for-work Slashdot is almost no one. Oh well.
If you install a scrolling MS mouse would you be able to go forward and backward one click at a time?
Or would you have to edit your config first like linux?
I think you need to get laid.
Now you're just being a trend whore too... just because everyone else gets laid, you want him to as well.
Hey, he pimped his own ride. Why does every discussion on /. devolve into a pc vs. mac smackdown?
ps I enjoyed the comments in this thread directed at the execution of the mods dude made to his car.
I liked it better when nerds weren't cool.
I would think the next step would be to take an old dell laptop (~sub 300) tear out the screen and hide the main chasis elsewhere, and use that.
And more importantly, why is this on slashdot? I'd expect this on hackaday?
He could play UT if he wanted, though the mac mini probably can't handle anything more demanding than 1-on-1 with a decent framerate.
Slashdot - Mutual Assured Discussion
I'm not sure about your definition of expandable... All the Dell's I've been in, fixing for my friends, fixing for my work, etc, are NOT expandable. They come with the least bays I've EVER seen. The cases allow for one (1) extra internal device, one (1) extra stick of RAM, and one (1) extra PCI slot. Now, this might not be true for the XPS, but that is a huge waste of money. For half the price of my Dell, I bought parts off of Newegg and got a PC that out performs it considerably. for $500 I don't know ANY Dell I'd buy, and I priced them all under $1000 for work. I find it funny that you called him a label whore, while mentioning Dell here, why not just say a PC? I realize I said Newegg, but I will wholeheartedly reccommend them to anyone who's buying computer parts, because it's the best price, and best quality.
Want to find other gamers to play board and role playing game
All hipsters have to have a VW and a Mac. This isn't a flame, I own both a VW and a Mac.
I've also seen this done in a Lexus, but not nearly as integrated. It was more or less a Mini put in the glove box and then hooked up to a fold out LCD screen.
The biggest question that needs to be asked in this situation is - Is the GTi a 1.8T or a VR6?
Matt did a great installation; unfortunately, the touch screen display is obviously very conspicuous. How long before a car thief busts his car's windows? Maybe he could fabricate a stealth front cover?
I'd be concerned too about having the Mac Mini stored in the glove compartment. It's going to get hot in there on sunny days. Will the CPU have adequate cooling?
As I was reading this I was thinking how far could one take this? I remember reading on Slashdot a week or two ago that people managed to use WiFi while driving (I forgot how fast)... Then I met inspiration, in a city like Philadelphia (commerical WiFi may be better suited but work with me), for instance, where there will be Municipal WiFi, if you had other friends with a Mac Mini in their cars or even Macs at home you could in theory have Video chat with your friends- for free in car.
Imagine having an iChat icon pop-up while driving, let's ignore the immidiate safety risks and think about the "cool factor," you accept and your friend is right there in real time staring at you. It seems like something out of a movie, huh? But it's a really possibility. Especially with iChat AV's adoption of H.264 as its codec of choice (less bandwidth and better quality).
I wouldn't think it'd be hard to figure out where to mount an iSight or to just make a custom case for it to be mounted stealthly in your car. You could even use it as a security system. If your alarm goes off it firesup and sends the stream to a police server. You could even have GPS installed to let the Police know where the crime is being committed.
I think the possibility for uses of the Mac Mini in cars is amazing and hopefully we'll see things like this in the near future.
He'll violate this law AB 301 passed in 2003-2004
- 0350/ab_301_bill_20030529_amended_sen.html
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/03-04/bill/asm/ab_0301
Of course, there's a lot of exceptions.
Which is why you don't buy Dell, which is another overpriced label. Something does smell bad in your story though, your Dell fried out, and it had no warranty? After only one year? Most places I've dealt with give you at least 2 years parts and labour. I might have to call bullshit there.
Anyhow, back to the point. You build your own box, out of superior parts that *you* pick out. I see building a PC as a lot like OSS - you can pick and choose what you want in your setup. You're not limited to what Apple wants to sell you. Hardware lock-in isn't my cup of tea.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
is being developed at iDash (http://www.idash.sourceforge.net/
"When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail." - Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
umm, lexus is a toyota product... bad example cadillac would have been much better
Oh, the irony...
...If this trend follows, soon you'll see:
An iPod for your BMW,
and a mini for your VW.
A Shuffle for your Neon
I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
not so sure about the fashion part (though I guess lack of hygiene might count) but other than that, yeah pretty much. I got modded down troll twice for that post! And I wasn't even trolling. Wow, just wow. I have an idea.
HEY APPLE LOVERS MOD ME DOWN, I DON'T LIKE YOUR FAVORITE COMPANY.
let's wait until the REAL trolls bite.
If you don't want someone to copy something, don't give it to anyone.
It would also be pretty cool to have Dashboard widgets on your dashboard...!
Slashdot meets the crushed: [url-canned-due-to-crushage] - thank @#$@#^$#^&%&* it ain't "[lame-verb] my ride material" or we'd never see - at least a /.'ing will lay low after a few days - crushed in front of one's peers is death!
:(
Says the dude whose metal-madness has amounted to bending that manufactured pci plate being (and i quote) "fucked up, bitches".
damn, i'm sad
If he has a computer capable of iTunes with a slot for playing CD's, why would you still need/want a stereo in the car??
Don't make fun of Ugos. Some of us appreciate ugliness.
My digital rights don't need management.
Why is he using the power brick, and therefore a horrible DC to AC to DC conversion? Where are details for DC to DC wiring for the mini? I want to mount a mini on a power wheelchair, but I can tolerate the inefficiencies that result from an inverter.
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
ooh, i wanna put a mini in my rabbit.
:)
no, i like it here on my kitchen table
you're derailing the thread, or trying to. fuck off.
Well, with Windows, you could use iTunes and Picasa for free.
Of course, then your car wouldn't have GarageBand or iDVD, and really, who doesn't need to author DVDs and create music while driving?
Fucking retard apple slut.
i forget
I love this idea, but is it going to be solely media/data look-up oriented? It would have been nice to have a small (pda-sized) keyboard fold out near the parking break or something! Then you'd have a full on computer. Not sure how comfortable it'd be to work on though, so maybe not necessary.
It seems like it'd be nice to work on your ipod, play media (dvds/cds), keep your calendar and address book up-to-date, etc. but what about the internet? What ways would be viable? WiFi would seem to be fairly unreliable (depending on where he usually parks/drives), and a cell-phone hook-up would probably be expensive from what I remember.
Also, would hooking up a GPS device be a viable option? And is there any navigation software for the MacOS? That would really start to make this sort of thing much more useful.
I've seen Mini-ITX CPU motherboard with LCD in car - with CD player and GPS.
Just say no to Mac craps
ObJoke: And driving a Volkswagen Beetle at 94 mph along the freeway is?
[
I have another that has a four year parts warranty. ..not bad.
How about the Dell Laptops that are shipping with touchpads that conflict with the USB2 ports...HMMM
What kind of health care does Dell supply their employees?
I am glad that people are buying Dells. I make a lot money fixing them.
My "nuclear" family has 1 toshiba laptop(winXP), 3 Homebrew wintels, 1 powerbook, 1 Mac-mini, and 1 averatec laptop(winxp/suse). I don't think I will buy anymore macs after linux improves.
The guy did a nice job modding his Volkswagon, a lot better than complaining about Apple on slahdot.
I wish it would be built into a hybrid Honda Accord. I would save the $2000 on the satellite system and put in one of these beasties.
GIAC offers software and hardware to do the switching on the fly. Hook up a serial port analyzer and figure out the protocol that the win32 app is using and duplicate this on the Mac. Integrate (as someone else said) into a Dashboard widget (heh, a Dashboard dashboard...).
The air conditioning shouldn't be *too* hard if the controls are analog. It could probably be done with some sort of microcontroller that interfaces with the Mac via a USBSerial adapter.
I'd like to understand where your vehemence is coming from.
Was your mother an Apple Lisa, and didn't give you enough love as a child?
Did a Powerbook kill your father?
Did you have an untimely breakup with an iMac?
Did Steve Jobs come to your house, kick you down the stairs, pee in the corner, and then burn all your childhood toys?
I mean, really. Apple is just a company and the Mac is just another computer. It works well for a lot of people, myself included. Why go insane over it?
Some interesting advantages to this over the iPod: Voice recgonition! Large GPS database! --or-- Use a wireless connection and iSight to record the theft of your awesome VW!
I AM SAYING, LADY - STEP INSIDE MY VOLKSWAGON!
[Lameness filter encountered. Post aborted!
Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.]
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Cost out a small form factor PC that doesn't sound loud as a jet engine. Last time I saw a mac mini at a store playing a DVD continuously and I put my ear right against the system and couldn't ever hear a fan noise at all. Sure a mac mini may be underpowered for playing a game but for most common stuff like web browsing, email, dvd playing, etc it is more than adequate. Put airport and bluetooth on this tiny box and the only cables you need are the video and power cables and maybe a usb printer. I like the clean design of this system. I know my mother hates the noise of the hand-me-down pc I gave her so she always turns it off after use. If I give her a mac mini it can be running all the time and be used instantly.
If I could add the VAG-COM VW diagnostics, this would be very valuable to me.. a great supplement to the often illuminated CEL (Check engine light.)
and your VW's AC is broken and the power windows no longer work. At least you'll be entertained, and the dim video will be preferable to the flickering dash lights.
--- What?
Lame computer in a lame vehicle. Substitute "yuppie" for "lame", if you wish. Makes me almost want to go watch "Friends" reruns instead.
/. ...
the scraping sound you hear is the parent being posted on
This was reported a couple of days ago in the new york times. The links in the Times article show pictures of the vehicles and talk about touch pad controls and an assignable USB control. The cars include a MacNova, MacJeep and soon a MacCamino. Personally, I'd prefer a MacPorsche911.
Maybe all us Mac users should start petitioning companies that write carputer programs to write ports to OS X. Just think of the market share!
Yeah, all five of us! And as soon as it hits ten, Steve Jobs will announce iCarputerWorks as a new Apple© Innovation(TM). Then Apple will proceed to drive their competitors off the road and to a fiery death!
cause a Caddy SUV isnt' built on anything like a GMC or Chevy...
Seems like the perfect setup to run Macstumbler and cruise the neighborhood. But how easy is it to crack open the Mac mini and add an external antenna? :-)
Can someone help me with a .htaccess script that would prevent getting slashdotted. Either a) redirect or b) show special page when referrer = slashdot.org
Plus a detailed article on that cool power button.
What the fuck?
Only Mac users would make such a big deal over a fucking power button.
Let's be honest here, a Dell isn't as bad as a Yugo. It's more like a Chrysler.
Goddamn, I'd take a Yugo over a Chrystler any day!
Avoid Missing Ball for High Score
"You mean like the back of a volkswagen?"
Hey, that's one more internal device, one more stick of ram, and one more PCI slot than you'll find in the Mac Mini.
Though I agree, Dells are junk. Best off building your own and getting what you want.
You are a poopy
I don't see slashdot covering the hundreds+ setups made using mini-itx machines over the past years. Why is using a Mac to do it any better?
I think this may be the yuppiest sombination I have ever heard of.
I can do that cheaper than the Mac Mini with a Cheap ASS Dell. I just have to get rid of that spare tire and put the Hoover, I mean Dell in the place of the spare tire.
I have never had to use that silly spare tire! I would much better like to have a Hoover, I mean a Dell computer in my spare tire area.
I hope GM starts selling the Dell computer in my car as an option. Those cheap ass black cases look just as good as a black spare tire!
Your Average Joe
but I've never seen software in the bug.
Thank you, I'm here all week. Try the veal.
Looks like he's got a trackpad to control the Mac. Under the display, in the console hump. So you have to take your fingers off the wheel. Why not a trackpad, or other controller, on the steering wheel? In fact, wake me when he's got the monitor projected inside the windshield as a Heads Up Display. Until then, he can't compete with my laptop strapped to my BMW dashboard.
--
make install -not war
Are there any other VW owners that have a problem with this picture.
I tried installing my iPod the same way, but I quickly found that it wouldn't rest in the ashtray location while leaning back. There isn't enough clearance of the A/C controls. In the picture, you can clearly see that the iPod leans BACK (away from the vehicle driver).
Did he do some voodoo here, or is it possible to install an iPod this high in the ashtray and have it lean back (instead of forward, which was my solution)?
Can the installer post a picture of the iPod actually docked in that iPod slot (or email me how you did it!)?
Regardless, I love this install...!
Don't think that a small group of dedicated individuals can't change the world. It's the only thing that ever has.
While this guy is slashdotted take a look at the original story in my journal.
Insert witty sig here.
I have a customer that got a Dell with a 90 warranty...Ouch!
..not bad.
sounds like a "buyer beware" issue
I have another that has a four year parts warranty.
Most companies will sell you extended warranties. What's your point?
How about the Dell Laptops that are shipping with touchpads that conflict with the USB2 ports...HMMM
Who said you should buy a Dell? If I remember what I posted correctly, I was discouraging people from buying Dells.
What kind of health care does Dell supply their employees?
What does this have to do with anything?
I am glad that people are buying Dells. I make a lot money fixing them.
So?
My "nuclear" family has 1 toshiba laptop(winXP), 3 Homebrew wintels, 1 powerbook, 1 Mac-mini, and 1 averatec laptop(winxp/suse). I don't think I will buy anymore macs after linux improves.
"Nuclear family"? Do they glow in the dark? Incidently, linux is usable right now. No need to buy another mac at all.
The guy did a nice job modding his Volkswagon, a lot better than complaining about Apple on slahdot.
What kind of job he did was never in debate. At least, not by me.
BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
Could I get it to start up my car? Could I VNC in and start it up? Could I then monitor the temp etc from inside my home and when its ready send me a page? woo hoo! this looks like fun!
the only useful thing I can think of (1) hook up a GPS which requires writing new GPS sw, (2) use it as a music player a full power computer is too much an overkill for these, I'd rather use a pocket PC for these ....
I would like to see legislators try to ban this though. After all how could they ban devices that are ok for the military while flying at up to Mach-2? but I am sure some politician will try to make a name for himself.
Actually, HUD displays in general for vehicles make a lot of sense. Projecting your speed onto the windscreen would solve a lot of problems where you are more intent in keeping your speed down to avoid speed cameras than watching the road ahead. Just my 0.02zloty worth.
I'd rather be riding my '63 Triumph T120.
Maybe he had a grant for tech purchases. I can't use my grant for build it yourself parts, but I paid exactly zero dollars out of pocket for my airport, powerbook, and iPod combined.
I know you were kidding, but I have a MINI and I was thinking about using one as a car stereo/GPS/sensor monitoring computer. As someone pointed out, the MINI form factor is smaller than even a standard car stereo.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Here?
Actually the Mac mini makes a pretty good web server, if you think about it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
That would make more sense if it were not a lot of people buying them who are not, in fact, baby boomers - might as well call the Scion a Baby Boomer piece of shit while you're at it.
:-)
With the beetle there's definitely a "old-time hippie" appeal built in for all those that used to own beetles. But how many people in the US ever owned an original Mini Cooper? Not many. So it would be more like the british ex-pat baby boomer market, which seems like it would be much smaller than the demand they've actually had.
At least MINI's are not everywhere like the new beetles or PT Cruisers.
Or, perhaps you've gone and bought a Counterfeit MINI and now you're wondering what the big deal is.
Let me assure the the real thing is much more fun.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"Something does smell bad in your story though, your Dell fried out, and it had no warranty? After only one year?"
Well, that $399 Dell Dimension 2400 has only a 90-day warranty. If you want the 1 year warranty, you gotta pay $20 extra. The two year warranty is $49.
But, in Dell's defense, it is a limited warranty. For all we know, he added some kind of non-Dell-supplied thingie to his computer which caused a problem. Dell's warranty will not cover you in those situations.
Ah yes. Let's read this post again.
"I spent 150$ on parts for my 1.0ghz flex PC. It is not quite as small, and it is not quite as fast. Nor is it as -ahem- hip. But it was a fraction ov the cost."
So, let's see. You have a PC that's not quite as small or as a fast as a Mac mini. But you didn't pay that much for it?
I could get an old G3 iMac motherboard for $75.00. It wouldn't be as small and it wouldn't be as fast. It wouldn't have as much memory or anything like that. But it would be cheaper.
So I'm a little lost. Are you saying that you can get less machine for less money? I think the proper response, in that case, is "Duh."
"It is a fanless mobo design and boots a flash drive - cant get much quieter then silent."
True. But the cheapest Mac mini comes with a 40GB drive. Are you implying that your $150 PC has a 40GB flash drive? I doubt it. So your machine doesn't have as much storage, I don't know what it has for memory, it's not quite as small, it's not quite as fast, but it was cheaper.
"Yes, it runs linux."
So does the Mac mini.
Did you manage to fit KDE or GNOME or X-Windows or something that gives you a graphical interface on your flash card to go along with linux? Does it even have a graphics card? Or do you have a computer which doesn't have the same graphics capability, doesn't have as much storage, is not quite as small, is not quite as fast, but is cheaper than the Mac mini?
Heck, I have an old HP41C calculator that I picked up at a swap meet for $5. I guess that beats out the $150 flex PC, except for the running linux part.
One thing that I considered is installing a second battery in the trunk. Build a circuit to charge it only when the car is running, and it should keep pretty much anything in sleep between drives.
Don't buy cars which have a market themselves or for their spare parts. In other words, buy the less sold cars among the cheap ones.
Ive installed a Mini in my eeer well Mini ha ha.. This is sooo pathetic its not funny its not even really that geeky
You might laugh about "Pimp My Ride" and stuff, but this is really a neat business idea. It just needs to be extended a bit and put in a different frame. After all guys who run customs companies are doing just that for lots of money, only with a bit different slant focusing on paint, upholstery etc.
Yes.
Thanks for bringing it all back up.
Back to the therapist for me...
I've used a G4 Cube through an un-airconditioned Australian summer with days of 42 deg C [oops, better do the * 9/5 + 32 trick for the non-metricized US] = 107 deg F.
(The Cube in its standard config had no fans at all.)
In any case, the Mini probably has a thermistor which would simply shut it down if the temperature exceeded maximum.
Besides, a hip bugster would be chilling out in the air conditioning...!
Installation in a right-hand drive Supra
A little overboard on the rest of the system, but the mac-mini install is clean. I like what they did with the dash (besides the color).
he could've gotten a Dell desktop with approximately double the speed, and expandability to boot,
I've been on Dell's website and i can't seem to find a desktop that is as small as the mini. which section did you find it in?
I don't quite follow the pictures, all they just show how to cut of the standard three-prong AC plug! Why do that take 14 photos? Is that all the CNX-P1900 (coming soon) does? I want to be able to ditch the inverter or the Mini Mac power brick. Not to ungrateful, but how does this help me?
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
Why, for the $500 he spent on his fashion accessory that can't play games, he could've gotten a Dell desktop
Which costs the same, draws far more power, takes up the back seat, sounds like an airplane and is way more sensitive to temperature and vibration but, hey , it'll let you play games AND write letters while you drive(**)!
(**) letter writing requires MS Word. Please add $450 for this feature.
Proof once again that Macs are nothing more than an item for trend whores and label sluts.
Yes. Of course the well-informed consumer doesn't buy into all that marketing and label crap. Yup, we just insist on good plain-jane Dell(tm) PCs with Genuine Intel(tm) processors and Windows XP Home(tm) preinstalled. None of that brand name guff for us...no sirree.
Hey, it would give new meaning to "Speeed!"
37?!?!
"At the same time?"
---snip---
"try not to suck any dick on the way to the parking lot!"
"Hey! Come back here!"
"Empathise with stupidity, and you're halfway to thinking like an idiot." - Iain M. Banks
With hard drives and stuff to make it a proper booting system? And would it be nearly as fast or nowhere near?
So I'm a little lost. Are you saying that you can get less machine for less money? I think the proper response, in that case, is "Duh."
He's saying he can get almost as much machine for 1/3 the money, which is worth saying.
I am trolling
fucking losers
I have heard they are more popular in California.
But trust me, anywhere else they are a lot more rare to see! Not super rare, but on a drive down the freeway you will not see one everyday.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Except if you consider the fact that it's designed almost entirely using laptop parts which are expensive to upgrade, and just aren't designed for the 24/7 duty cycle of a web server.
The whole point of the Mac MINI as a server is that you do not need to upgrade - you can use it for many light web server tasks easily. If you want another for backup it's super cheap - in fact they offer a $15/month plan to provide a hot-swap as needed.
And you get your own computer, with nothing else on it - so you have ultimate control over load on the computer.
As for "laptop parts" not being designed for 24/7 use, I would dispute that by pointing out they are actually designed more ruggedly for harsher environments, so the coddling a server room provides might well help them to last a long time. Though again, it hardly matters when they are so cheap to replace.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It wasn't clear to me in the other photo series that I would be able to ditch the power brick. I like the Xenarc USB touch screen FluidSoul, but any one know of a similar DVI native model? How about a DVI eye-piece style monitor like the red afro guy in the Camel print adds is using?
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
Someone has installed a VW Lupo in a Dell.
Or better yet, voice control. (i.e. verbal command line instead of graphical UI.) If your eyes and related brain area, are already in use by something more important, then UI should not need eyes.
As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
This troll is going to work for a long, long time, isn't it?
El riesgo vive siempre!
No doubt I am being prejudiced against still useful technology that is only just reaching obsolescense, but I am just tired of VGA. We have been using it since when, 1989? I have also had very poor luck with widescreen aspect ratios on none-Apple hardware. Mostly I am being a technology snob. But yes, as far as DVI to VGA adaptors go, the one bundled with the Mini Mac is very nice, and I admit that I probably couldn't tell the difference. Still, I want DVI, even if it cost twice as much.
I paid the going retail price for a Windows screen reader and got a free Unix computer!
A Mac-Mack: a Mack truck toting G5s!
"Macs are a "real" computer with a "real" *nix OS http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/technology.html [apple.com].
Why not just give your "woman" what "she" wants. If it works and it is easy to use, what's the problem?
Out of curiosity, what OS and software would you use to replace the easy to use GUI and iLife Apps? Windows XP? Linux is not ready for the desktop and it is sorely lacking in cheap and easy to use media content creation software. Even with windows, you would be hard pressed to replace iLife 04 let alone iLife 05 cheaply.
It's cheap, get it for your "woman" for crying out loud."
How is this flamebait? I thought the original I was replying to was flamebait given that it is a reoccurring post in every mac mini story, in fact, it was an "Ask slashdot" article. I was just saying, that the op should just get a mac mini if his wife wants one instead of getting a second rate replacement out of platform politics. It would a computer for his "wife", so it should not matter to him what CPU it has or OS it runs.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
Now all he needs is a Heads Up Display so he can watch the cool visualizer while driving while listening to iTunes...
oh, wait,
who has the wheel?
hahaha. the perfect marriage, IMHO.
a utos. survey.reut/
I used to be an avid mac fan, and a apple VAR, in the '80s and '90s. But apple never acknowledged us 'in the trenches' apple resellers, even selling KanjiTalk and LaserWriter IINTX-J's, highly lucrative, highly profitable, as we made over $1k on each laser printer sale.
This is the good old days.
Today, I do almost NOTHING Apple, I sell and support 90% Wintel and 5% Linux/FreeBSD and 5% OSX.
I have owned 2 VW vehicles for 5+ years, a '99 Passat and a '98 Beetle. What a piece of crap they are, compared to the two hondas, two toyotas, and a handful of chryslers i drove previously.
My beetle has been in the dealer for 20+ times for various problems, just like many modern Macs and iPods.
The Passat, probably just 10+ times. Good huh?
These were my first time european car buys...and probably my last.
And much of my clients with BMW, MB, Jaguar, and Land Rovers, have either traded them in, retired the lease, or just plain been disgusted with them.
And the recent report from Consumer Reports on this very problem, just confirms among many Americans, the same exact situation I am in.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/03/04/pf/autos/bc.
Luckily, I was lucky enough, and smart enough, to bail from apple's dealer program back in '94, and dumb enough to 'try' european VW in '99 and '00.
Today, I am soon ready to bail from the passat as i have serious concens about the auto trans failing at 70k miles (which would cost $5k+ to repair) and at the poor resale value of about $12k today, when we bought the car at $30k, just 6 years ago (i bought a camry in '95 and sold it in '97 for a profit!).
I am already buying Gateway, Dell, Compaq, and HP instead of Apple, and while they still have problems that require a call to the Manufacturer, its still been better than the calls I make to Apple support and AppleCare...
We are looking at Lexus and Acura.
F**K a**ple and V**ksw**en, these companies that screw the customer!!!
Caveat Emptor!!!!!! one billion times!!!!!
You seem to be putting words in the original poster's mouth and jumping to unstated conclusions - perhaps because you have a axe to grind against the Mini?
He said he put together some 1GHz box for $150. Poster then replies that a G3 motherboard can be purchased for $75. You then argue that $75 doesn't include other components, when it's really only half the sum that the original poster spent, so the other components can easily be purchased for the remaining sum.
You apparently can't wrap your head around the concept that anyone can put a shitbox together for a small sum of money - but it's still a shitbox. Trying to compare shitboxes to finished product is a game of misery - not for you, not for the owner, but for the rest of us, who have to listen to you rationalize your shitbox as being the pinnacle of hardware design, when it's really old components
I don't have a problem with the mini, but if you're saying that anyone can put together a system that's almost as good for 1/3 the price, then they seem a pretty poor deal to me. I know I would never leave the original hardware alone anyway, and the styling of the case and things is not worth $350.
I am trolling