Something 'different'! (interior/ICE fans step right up!)

[Jay]

The viewing angle is very good, even with the screen angled towards the driver in the same way a normal head unit would be, the passenger can still see the screen.

 

The touchscreen means I have to effectively look at the screen to choose what I want to do - the powermate gives me a quick and easy access to the main functions I need without needing to take my eyes off the road. Plus it looks cool as hell with it's base pulsing to the beat!

[Chase]

Cool stuff, couple more for you:

 

What about a radio, have you implemented that through the mini mac, and how come you chose to go that route rather than Microsoft?

 

Cheers

[Supra ST Myster]

Glad you have your car back mate, they have done a good job with the fabrication of the digital dash, looks sweet, do you need a couple of bits finishing off with the dash? the MPH setting and autobox programming?

[sooper-supra]

how much you pay for the install?

[Chiefgroover]

Far out! that must have took ages to do. Very cosmic indeedy lol.

[Nic]

Jay, very impressed with the in car Mac Mini install, would love something similar in mine and have my whole iTunes library available.

 

You should contact Apple about the install, it is the sort of thing they would feature on their website. You never know they may even give you some sponsorship, you must be one of the first in the world to do this, as the thing was only launched a month or so ago. Wonder if car manufacturers will start to offer this next as a plug in option, as they are doing with the iPod?

 

I have a few questions:

1. How have you connected the power supply to 12V?

2. Does the touch screen just plug into the Mac Mini and operate without any additional software?

3. Have you connected the amp wirelessly using AirTunes?

4. I presume you are using the Airport to connect wirelessly, are you able to network the Mac Mini to your home computer? (this would be too )

5. I presume you can connect to internet wirelessly at home when you near a base station, are you able to connect anywhere else eg. through your phone network?

6. Do you also have an IR remote control connected, or are you using the phone control software for this?

7. What was the cost of the screen and where from?

 

cheers

[Jay]

Hey Guys,

 

What about a radio, have you implemented that through the mini mac

I'm not a big radio fan to be honest, but do have the ability to implement it if necessary using something like the RadioShark which has been heralded as the "Tivo" of Radio

 

how come you chose to go that route rather than Microsoft?

The mac just gave me everything I was looking for in one tiny (16.5x16.5x5cm!!) package - and it's a phenominal piece of equipment. And it's not been done before, I like to be different It's actually very cost effective too, and comes with great software.

 

1. How have you connected the power supply to 12V?

It's currently just running off an inverter, whilst I wait for my proper Carnetix power supply to arrive. It's due in early next week and will be one of the first in the country. Here's a bit of blurb about that:

 

"The P1900 includes all of the sophisticated features of its predecessors (P1260 and P1280) such as Startup/Shutdown controller, Pulse Start (remotely start the P1900 with door locks, car alarm, or wireless device), and DelayON (prevents speaker "thump" during booting). The P1900 fully and safely supports "Standby" mode and will automatically shut itself down (by detecting excess current drain) if the CarPC fails to properly go into Standby mode."

2. Does the touch screen just plug into the Mac Mini and operate without any additional software?

The touchscreen has a USB connector to connect the "touch" part of the screen. This runs on drivers, which I have both PC and mac versions. There is also a calibration tool, however I find it pretty well calibrated by default.

3. Have you connected the amp wirelessly using AirTunes?

This is being talked about at the moment - currently it's just a line driver connected to the sound output on the Mac Mini, but AirTunes is an option. There are also several Firewire sound cards available so there are a few options to explore.

4. I presume you are using the Airport to connect wirelessly, are you able to network the Mac Mini to your home computer? (this would be too )

Absolutely - apple have made it rediculously easy to network these things! I have a Netgear 54mbps wireless router for my broadband, which also has a built in hub to network my various machines. The Mini Mac detected and connected to this automatically and gave me access to all my machines, just like network neighbourhood!

5. I presume you can connect to internet wirelessly at home when you near a base station, are you able to connect anywhere else eg. through your phone network?

Yes, when i'm in range of my wireless router I can connect through the network to the internet - again, the settings for this were created automatically! It's worth noting that the range of my wireless is pretty good, I don't need to remove the Mac Mini from the car, I can access the network/resources from my garage or drive. In the same way as Laptops etc work, I can also connect via 'hotspots' or with a GSM enabled phone. At the moment the latter option is pretty expensive, but one day i'll do it

6. Do you also have an IR remote control connected, or are you using the phone control software for this?

You really need to see or try this Salling Clicker software! It's definately one of the coolest things i've seen. It displays the current playing artist/track/album etc, as well as time elapsed/remaining, a picture of the album cover if you have one, and the next 2-3 upcoming tracks! It gives you complete control, with customisable settings for absolutely any program within OSX!

 

I will eventually buy an IR handset I guess, although realistically it's featured are going to be very limited compared to clicker. My "wishlist" at the Apple store is somewhat lengthy!!

7. What was the cost of the screen and where from?

I ended up buying my screen from CarTFT who are a german online store. I paid just under £300 delivered, and it arrived within 2 days. I understand that LinITX may shortly be stocking the screens, although it will be under the UK brand of Gain rather than Xenarc.

[Nic]

Cheers Jay, you have no idea how jealous I am now perhaps one day!

 

All you need now is a Sony HD camcorder mounted in the car, hooked up to iMovie... for chronicling those 'spirited drives'

 

One more question, I see on the photos you've got the Mac installed in the top glove box, is this it's permanent location, if so why there and not with the boot install?

[Guest dusty]

you could use the isight mounted to the front and schedule alive webcast

[Jay]

you could use the isight mounted to the front and schedule alive webcast

Dusty shhhh, your giving away phase 2

 

There's going to be two iSight's, front and rear mounted - one will be activated upon selecting reverse (screen will auto-sense the source and switch to it's composite channel) for a reverse monitor, and the other will be switch activated and mounted in the front bumper for some artistic photography

 

I see on the photos you've got the Mac installed in the top glove box, is this it's permanent location?

It's staying put - there is a fiberglass 'cover' for it, but it won't be fitted until the proper power supply is in. We are trying to keep everything clean and tidy, clutter is something I am trying to avoid to the most extreme degree Plus I can access the CD/DVD slot easily where it is currently.

 

I have so many idea's for things to do - BMW-style parking sensor with visual indicators, OBD-II diagnostics monitoring, biometrics (this is going to be neat!) being the more outlandish idea's.

[Gaz Walker]

Love the technology Jay, very well thought out.

 

Gaz.

[The Hornet]

That kinda puts my install to shame

 

Thats one hell of a spec'd system Jay, question though, I use the Carnetix P1280 what's the new one do mine don't ?

 

I'm also looking at either firewire or a USB 2 external sound card, can you let me know what you decide to go for...

 

Hornet

[Guest dusty]

[The Hornet]

OOOoooooOO sounds like more to come then Dusty.....

[Guest dusty]

lets see what happens...........

[Zed]

Hi Jay, the install looks out of this world, some serious effort has gone into that. By the way, I'm the guy that bought your old sub enclosure off you, seems like such an insignificant item after seeing your install.

 

I thought you were worrried about insurance costs and the performance mods your car came with, you'll be driving round in a mobile theatre.

 

Anyway, well done, and also, who made that ignition key for you, looks cool, might be interested in one myself if poss.

 

Cheers mate.

[Dale B]

Jay...with using the mini mac and mounting in the top glovebox...how will you get to the on/off button once in your new surround?

[Chase]

Don't know anything about the Mac OS - Does it have a standby/hibernate mode similar to XP?

[Jay]

Chase is on the case...i'm a poet and I didn't know it!

 

The power supply will support 'sleep' mode, which is very similar to the hibernate mode on windoze. So whenever the car's started, the Mac will just come back from sleep - instant boot!

 

I use the Carnetix P1280 what's the new one do mine don't?

I don't know really mate, as far as I know it's the only one that works with a Mac Mini because the mac needs more than a 12v feed, think it's something like 18.5v. I don't know if the P1280 had another seperate power feed for a screen/accessories?

 

I'm also looking at either firewire or a USB 2 external sound card, can you let me know what you decide to go for...

Will do mate.

 

Thanks to all for you thoughts and kind words, it's a cool setup as it is, but it's going to get better

[Nic]

It's staying put - there is a fiberglass 'cover' for it, but it won't be fitted until the proper power supply is in. We are trying to keep everything clean and tidy, clutter is something I am trying to avoid to the most extreme degree Plus I can access the CD/DVD slot easily where it is currently.

 

Have you considered recessing the Mac in the dash, so that the disc slot is accessible?

 

I was reading today about Airtunes didn't realise it only work with iTunes at the moment, so would be no good connecting to amp wirelessly, as you'd not have sound using any other apps. Hopefully this will get fixed on OSX10.4.

[Suprash]

Jay, we dont see things like this being done around here that often, hats off to you dude.

 

Can I ask why on the door cards you had another handle cut in ??

 

Love the minimalist dash, really am stuck for words.......

[Jay]

Anyway, well done, and also, who made that ignition key for you, looks cool, might be interested in one myself if poss.

Hey Zed, hows the sub? The key has 'Racing Design' engraved on it, if that helps - it came with the car when it was imported from Japan

 

Have you considered recessing the Mac in the dash, so that the disc slot is accessible?

That was originally how Audio One had planned to do it, but I want to be able to remove the mac easily for security etc, so we are toying with fabricating a 'dock' for the mac, although a couple of people/companies have indicated they may do something similar. It's all pretty new so i'm waiting for everyone to catch up with Apple!

 

Can I ask why on the door cards you had another handle cut in??

That was all Audio One, maybe it was to break up the card a little bit, I don't know. I love it, they've done a great job of contouring it in.

[Nic]

That was originally how Audio One had planned to do it, but I want to be able to remove the mac easily for security etc, so we are toying with fabricating a 'dock' for the mac, although a couple of people/companies have indicated they may do something similar. It's all pretty new so i'm waiting for everyone to catch up with Apple!

 

So you know of companies who are goung to do a dock for the Mac Mini?

 

Have you considered cutting a slot in the dash for disc access, then mounting just the Mac Mini internals behind the dash, this would be very discreet/minimal.

 

How easy is the touch screen to operate, can you for example select a track on iTunes by touching the screen?

[Jay]

So you know of companies who are goung to do a dock for the Mac Mini?

There's been a fair bit of talk about it on the 'net, do a search and you'll find some results. No-one has stepped up quite yet, but it's a matter of time i'm sure.

 

Have you considered cutting a slot in the dash for disc access

We were toying with buying a Firewire CD/DVD drive and having that seperately mounted, just not got that far yet. It's nice to have the Mac Mini on show, so that when people see the install they know it's running a Mac Mini

[Guest dusty]

i found the mac mini as a piece to not need modification, as its a perfectly formed piece that should be shown.

 

 

the door trims were created to keep the flow of speakers and aluminium throughout the car. theinstall was designed so that you can look at it once, but every other time you look at it youll notice something new...everything in that car has a place.

 

did you know that there are two ways to view the systems design:)