Car Comp 2 project starting soon! Questions...

Wow, I haven't posted here in a loooong time! Some of you guys might remember my "Car Comp" project in my 1999 Mustang:

http://www.jamesburroughs.com/pics/c...side_night.JPG

Anyways, I sold the Car Comp last year, and I'm finally looking at doing something like it again. On the side I have been into the Xbox modding scene heavily and want to put a modded xbox in the Mustang instead of a computer. Here is my basic plan, let me know if you guys have any suggestions:

I plan to mount a modded xbox underneath my passenger seat. All the components (motherboard, daughter board, 80gb hard drive, etc) will be stripped from the factory casing and mounted flush onto a peice of metal or plexiglass so it fits under the seat. I will be able to turn the Xbox on and off via the DVD Remote (using a custom module). The xbox will be controlled by a Logitech Wireless Controller (uses RF not infared) along with the standard Xbox DVD Remote (i'll reroute the IR eye to the dashboard). I will use a Xenarc 700TSV-B 7" Widescreen LCD mounted in the same place as the Xenarc screen pictured above in my car. I plan on hooking the Xbox to the Xenarc LCD via VGA using a X2VGA converter (http://x2vga.com/) to get the best possible picture. The Xbox will boot straight to Xbox Media Center (www.xboxmediacenter.com for screenshots) because it will primarily just be used to play MP3's off the hard drive.

A couple questions....What would be the best way to feed power to the Xenarc LCD and Xbox? I was thinking of just hard wiring a small power inverter, but is there a way I could make the xbox and screen turn on everytime I start the car and turn off when the car is turned off?

Thanks for your help.

What MODs are you gonna run and what are you plans for its capabilities?

What do you mean by "What MODs are you gonna run"?

Capabilities for now will consist of MP3 and Video playback via Xbox Media Center.

Well, um arent you going to put a MOD chip in it? If so which one? I mean MC is cool, but a linux front end might be better

Xecuter 2.6. Although a linux frontend would be more versatile, XBMC is much much better (for music/video playback) and boots almost instantly. Show me a linux app that can that while looking as good as XBMC:

http://xbmc.sourceforge.net/imgs/xbm...t_mayhem01.jpg

http://xbmc.sourceforge.net/imgs/xbm...t_mayhem27.jpg

http://xbmc.sourceforge.net/imgs/xbm...t_mayhem07.jpg

http://xbmc.sourceforge.net/imgs/xbm...t_mayhem18.jpg

And even supports an external LCD if I wanted to mount it near my steering wheel or something:

http://xbmc.sourceforge.net/imgs/xbm...smartxx-01.jpg

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Is it possible to launch Win32 apps such as navigation software from it?

Unfortunately no

I have just fitted an M1-ATX into an xbox for the car and it works great. Its a bit smaller than the standard xbox PSU as well. However you do need to make an adapter from the M1 to the xbox, but its not too complex!

I can post a shematic if you want?

You could probably power the xenerac off this as well!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pilt

I have just fitted an M1-ATX into an xbox for the car and it works great. Its a bit smaller than the standard xbox PSU as well. However you do need to make an adapter from the M1 to the xbox, but its not too complex!

I can post a shematic if you want?

You could probably power the xenerac off this as well!

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Yes please post the schematic. That would be very helpful. Other than size, is there an advantage of using the M1-ATX rather than just using the factory PSU and a power inverter?