iPad gets fitted into car dashboard, makes you an instant carpooling superstar

Like many others, I have this same idea of using the iPad as a car PC instead of building a PC from scratch. Its funny that I have a Tacoma too just like the one in the video. One of the big advantage of this is you can build it in a way so that you can undock the whole tablet and take it with you when you leave the car. The guy in video should've thought of this before hand. He should've custom design the dock in the dash in a way so that the iPad is easily removable and not permanently fixed to the dash.

But since the announcement of the HP Slate, I changed my mind about the iPad and would rather go with the HP Slate since it runs a real OS (Win7) and has less limitations than the iPad. Plus the HP Slate's screen is an inch smaller than the iPad, making it easier to fit into most dash. I can't wait until the Slate debuts.

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Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Yep, you're missing something. I use a Mac Mini as my computer. $599. I also have an 8" Xenarc touchscreen, which is more than the 7" screen. $349.

My point was you simply can't argue that an iPad is somehow 'inferior' because it is more stealable. ALL car PC gear is up for grabs around thieves. Whatever parts you leave behind - screen, PC, keyboards, mice, are all just as easy to steal whether it says Lilliput or Apple on it. It doesn't make any sense that a thief would steal only the mobo but not memory, HDD or the DVD drive, screen or other gear.

As for one piece being more expensive to replace, maybe. On the other hand, maybe you could have it repaired for less than a new one. Of course, it IS a double edged sword. I suppose we should have stuck with these to keep that from happening with our cell phones. Sure would make repairs cheaper:
http://djlulu.com/BagPhone.jpg

I'd expect the price of the iPad to drop going forward anyhow. In a couple of years, you'll get them in blister packs at Wal-mart checkouts.

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Well no one told you to get a overly inflated Apple Mac Mini.... IMO you could have easily have bought a PC that can run OSX and saved money there.

Well it depends on how you install everything. They cant steal what they don't know is there. If you keep the interior looking stock then you have no issue. That is like one of my #1 priorities with my install. From the b-pillar back will get blacked out tint only 5% light. The front nothing will be noticeable. I can say from most of the work logs every one is going a similar route. The iPad though is obvious no matter what. I also made sure the PC is literallt bolted into the car. They would have to take the rear center console out, which is attached to the cars framing. The Rear PC hatch is also bolted to the car from the bottom. This means you have to take out the spare tire from under the car then battle to get the nuts off. Remember people will steal things that look fast. In order for them to get anything out, they will have to steal the whole car and send it to a chop shop.

Now when I make these arguments, I am doing it for the sake of others because no way can I compare my install to any of this, I don't think you can either BugByte. I went the route of going super overkill, which has shot me into the thousands and you went with hardware that is premium and over priced. <Most people though build there setups on a low budget so they can get all the functionality of a uber expensive headunit. Basically they are having their cake and eating it too. I just think with a PC install you can get more for the money.

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Originally Posted by ZX1Cruizer

Well no one told you to get a overly inflated Apple Mac Mini.... IMO you could have easily have bought a PC that can run OSX and saved money there.

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Buying a PC is easy, getting said PC to run OSX is not. I'm willing to bet bugbyte purchased the mac mini because the hardware was exactly what he needed in a form factor that's small enough for his needs and *not* for the osx experience. but i could be wrong :P.

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Originally Posted by GizmoQ

Everyone crapped on my install over the last 10+ years and now that Apple has something that can be *used* (not) installed similarly, its all the rage. :wacko:

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see? you should have just slapped a apple logo on it and told them you were testing a prototype ;)

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Originally Posted by tripzero

Buying a PC is easy, getting said PC to run OSX is not. I'm willing to bet bugbyte purchased the mac mini because the hardware was exactly what he needed in a form factor that's small enough for his needs and *not* for the osx experience. but i could be wrong :P.

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That's my excuse. In retrospect it wasn't the best choice.

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Originally Posted by soundman98

see? you should have just slapped a apple logo on it and told them you were testing a prototype ;)

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:rofl: Back then it would have been a theft deterrent, too!

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Originally Posted by tripzero

Buying a PC is easy, getting said PC to run OSX is not. I'm willing to bet bugbyte purchased the mac mini because the hardware was exactly what he needed in a form factor that's small enough for his needs and *not* for the osx experience. but i could be wrong :P.

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Pretty much right. The Mac Mini fit perfectly inside my dashboard and I was able to make a dock for it. The form factor included a DVD drive, built in WiFi and Bluetooth.

At the time, the Mac Mini was brand new and nobody had installed one in their car. I'd already experimented with a PC based system and wanted to try something different.

That wasn't Intel, though. I bought a used Intel Mac Mini from someone on the forum because it still fit the form factor and I could run both my Mac stuff, a PC install, and LinuxICE on it, all in one box.

YMMV. I'm not about installing the cheapest components. I like the experimentation. And while it is fun to endlessly configure RR, I have to say that when I want an install that works without issue, ICE3 for the Mac has been the most stable and reliable of them all, probably because it has less functionality.

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Originally Posted by tripzero

Buying a PC is easy, getting said PC to run OSX is not. I'm willing to bet bugbyte purchased the mac mini because the hardware was exactly what he needed in a form factor that's small enough for his needs and *not* for the osx experience. but i could be wrong :P.

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Yea that is true, dont know the reason. My little brother which is a Apple fan boy also, he built a dual core setup and runs OSX. I think the only thing he said is that the drivers are a pain.

I like the experimentation also..... although sometimes it sucks, lol.

What's the optical dock the Tacoma guy is talking about?

I thought optical out from an iPad/iPod is BS, how can they hook something like the mentioned Audison via optical link?

It turns out that I stopped searching for an optical out too soon. I found a couple, ranging from $25K (just the DAC) to $379.00. But they're huge:

http://www.msbtech.com/products/DAC4_System.jpg

(Complete with amps for about the same as the new Infiniti M...WTF?! :D)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg



I wonder what else exactly they have in mind, I would gladly consider that.

for a ipad, optical is useless-optical is usually used to preserve the audio quality, but for the ipad, there is just way to many conversions to make it useful(conversion inside the ipad to get audio, then convert in dac, then convert to analog in bitone). but i think it is possible-- the bitone has a optical input, and there are pleny of 2 channel rca-to-optical adapters available...