Mac Mini - The Best Carputer ?
The wikipedia definition of the carputer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carputer
Every normal person wants a full computer built into their car, correct?
You want to play CDs, DVDs, MP3s and surf the web. You want a small box with a simple touch screen interface, a GUI that looks good on a small screen, remote control, gps satnav, bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections. You want all this for around £500. It looks like the intel mac mini with built-in frontrow software may fit the bill perfectly:
With the introduction of Apple's Mac mini, a whole new realm of inexpensive in-car computing and entertainment is now possible. The small form factor of the Mac mini makes it a perfect solution for installation in areas with limited space - like a car. The robust feature set of the Mac mini, along with the multi-media power of Mac OS X, makes for an excellent platform to create a complete mobile media system. - macvroom.com
Mac Mini:
http://www.apple.com/macmini/
Apple Frontrow and remote:
http://www.apple.com/imac/frontrow.html
OSX Dashboard Widgets:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/dashboard/
mac gps satnav software:
http://www.routebuddy.com/
Garmin bluetooth GPS revceiver:
http://www.garmin.com/products/gps10/
controllers:
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate/
http://www.apple.com/keyboard/
screen:
http://www.xenarc.com/product/700ts.html
More info and build instructions:
http://gthing.net/carputer-5-final/
Mac your ride:
http://www.macvroom.com/
more mac mini installations:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zapwizard/sets/72057594054134962/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/contentrobot/sets/72057594104561770/show/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/37009071@N00/sets/1645157/show/
As a comparison this windows based carputer unit just looks nasty. I'm no mac fanboy but Windows XP does not 'pimp' anything:
However the main advantage of the mac mini over the above monstrosity is that when you get bored of having a carputer you can just pull it out and use it as a normal desktop machine.
