Ideal system? your opinion?

Mobiuslogic · 04-18-2008, 07:16 PM

Hi, I know I'm a noob in this forum but I'm not entirely a noob to the subject. Can you give me some input? I put this in the general hardware discussion because I wanted to put the whole setup down at once.

Okay, I have been researching this for years and I'm finally getting a car I will be proud enough to put a CarPC in. I'm a mac user at heart so (for better or for worse) I have decided to go OSX. I'll be installing into the double-din of a 2005 Jetta GLI and I want it to look clean... no pop-out displays, no extraneous modifications to the car.

Now, this is what I've decided on so far:

*Xenarc 700 or 705 TSV
*Apple 12" late model powerbook OR early macbook (possibly with broken display for less $)
*Keyspan RF remote if PB, Apple remote if MB.
*GPS antenna
*HD radio antenna (i wouldn't ever use satellite...)
*Naturally, a power supply, but I would tie it to the ignition.

Essentially, I want a full featured mac running at bare bones for speed, front row, access to iTunes and GPS applications, access to radio. The advantage for me in using a laptop is 1)slim form factor and 2) power management.

I would want the car-pc in an always-on or always-ready state to keep from having boot times before I can play music. I want to be able to go into starbucks and jump right back into music playing when I get back. Therefore, the power supply would power off with the ignition, but the laptop would run on battery. When the laptop detects that the power supply isn't supplying, it waits one minute and then puts on the screen saver. Five minutes later, it powers off the screen. Thirty minutes later, laptop goes into sleep mode. When the battery is close to death, it hibernates.

The other advantage to a late 2006 or newer Apple laptop is the hard disk protection... it senses the laptop's sudden accelerations and removes the needle from the HDD, something that I think would help reliability over speedbumps. A laptop is built more for movement and would be able to fit in a smaller space (provided I ventilate it)

Ideally, I would use the touchscreen to navigate the computer and Front Row. I would also want to use the keyspan/apple remote. I may include a bluetooth keyboard/mouse. I would probably run the laptop normally but in 800x600 vga resolution. There are no front-end systems that I can see myself using for the mac (yeah, a drawback to OSX). On the plus side, I can wirelessly back up my system to a Time Capsule at home when I park.

So, what do you think? Do you see any problems or issues that I haven't thought of? questions?

For those of you with Xenarcs, does your finger work as well as a stylus, or do you need the 5-wire sensitivity for that?

Oh, and the install would have everything but the touchscreen hidden from sight and access... I'll use a software app to bring up a keyboard, etc.

Thanks!
-Troy

PS, I'm bracing for "TLDR"'s but if you do take the time I appreciate it.

HiJackZX1 · 04-19-2008, 05:47 AM

Your setup sounds cool, Im not really a Apple fan, I love Microsoft (I think Im the only one that openly admits it.). Just a small question, why not consider going with a Mac Mini. It is way more versatile and able to fit almost anywhere. You really should have posted this is the Mac Mini section, you would have a greater response since all the Apple users would be concentrated there. I dont know what type of HDD the Mini comes with, but Im sure its a laptop drive to save component space, so it will be able to handle a car situation easily. Ask Bugbyte, or go into the Mini section and look for his posts, from just glancing, he seems to be the expert on Mac mini stuff. Hope this helps in some way.

Mobiuslogic · 04-19-2008, 07:03 AM

Thanks. I'll bug that forum too. I was considering the mac mini but liked the laptop idea better, for the built-in battery and for the shock-resistant HDD. Using a mac mini for what I wanted probably would lead to hooking the mini up to the battery directly and taking some time to boot before I can use it each time I start the engine. Looks like I'll probably also need a card to output better sound than 2-channel... I'm not an audiophile, more of an audio enthusiast... making upgraded sound a MUST.