Official AppleTV MacCar Thread

[raxy]

VGA input TFT compatible with car usage (in term of size) are very rare:
lilliput and hami are the most known.

DVI input or HDMI input small screen (10" or less) are *NON*existent on the market, period.
Except those only two items i've linked to.

As ATV ca do HD, I think using a screen capable of HD is very logical,
do not use an composite input screen please (as most of japanese top brand moniceiver propose)

[Omarvelous]

How about this guys....

http://www.x2vga.com/

with

http://www.xenarc.com/product/700y.html

Or any other VGA enabled set?

[Omarvelous]

or this

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-...n-70-1d2s.html

[RadioC1ash]

I purchased an AppleTv and installed OS X the next day (it took about 8 hours to make a backup image of the hard drive). Anyhow, it was extremely easy to do, with only a few minor annoyances. For example, the ethernet port wasn't working, and it took me about an hour to figure that out. As far as the usb goes, it is flawless with multiple devices plugged in through a belkin 4 port hub (powered). So, with that I've got the bluetooth hooked up (for the mighty mouse) an external hard drive (powered) a jump drive and a keyboard. The boot process is a trifle slow, though not unbearably so. And once the os is up, the computer is fairly quick and responsive. As an aside, the processor turns out to be 1.5Ghz, not 1Ghz. Everything was smooth an easy and I'm typing on my AppleTV right now. At the moment, this is the word processor for my house, but I for one believe this thing is more than adequate for carputer applications and I'll be installing it in my car as soon as I have a replacement.
HOWEVER, it is important to note that there has been no luck with the audio card under full OS X. So, until this issue is resolved by better minds, an appleTV with OS X is entirely useless for media purposes.

[duckjibe]

I have installed the AppleTV in my Expedition using a 15″ overhead screen for the kids in the back and a Panasonic head unit with screen for the front. I can use the steering wheel buttons to control the Apple TV using PAC’s universal steering wheel control interface. Works great. I use an inverter and video converter from svideo.com to convert component video to composite video. It is also AC so requires the inverter. I am in the process of adding a smart DC power supply with 12v/9v/5v to get rid of the inverter and to allow the Apple TV to stay on for syncing without draining the battery. The best thing about the Apple TV over the Mini for the car is it doesn’t require any maintenance, it’s auto syncing, and no keyboard or mouse is required. I will add a rear view camera so I can see behind when the 15″ screen is down.

A note to Carnetix. I took the power supply out of the Apple TV and the specs say it is a 5 volt switching power supply. It would be great if they could provide DC-DC 12v to 5V supply that fits inside.

[Caleb211]

Hey, can I just use the ATV without hacking it. I just want it to be a media storage system. I will hook my GPS up to the other RCA jacks and then just hit the AV button on my LCD. However, i will have the audio coming form the ATV so it will not affect my music I am listening to now right? Or should i just get a mac mini and hook up the gps to that and get somekind of radio app too. I'm really lost here and i need to buy this crap and know exactly what to buy. I just want to get a media server with a radio and gps in my car. I also don't know what the best front-end app is. Can someone help. thanks

[RadioC1ash]

If you're still curious, yes, you could just use it without hacking it and it would make a pretty good music server. The simple remote system lends itself well to car audio use. The really neat thing, I think, is that whenever you park the car at your house and you're in range of your wifi, your play-lists and podcasts will automatically be updated. Just use a head unit with an aux input, no problem.

[nottastocker]

correct me if i'm wrong, but can't you just use a component to vga adapter for the video? its all analog, and i've seen the cables

[duckjibe]

You cannot use just a cable to convert component video to VGA. These cables are "for connecting Projectors or other devices that accept Component Video (Y-Pr-Pb) into their VGA connector. This cable does not convert Component Video to RGB, for that you need a Component Video to RGB converter. You also cannot convert RGB/HV to Component Video with a simple cable, you need a converter for this". Hence the need for svideo's component video to composite converter. Someday it won't be needed when car screens go HD.

[ScrotumC]

Would this help you guys out?

Full colour 480i with just 1 yellow composite cable plugged into the green composite connector on the AppleTV.
http://forum.awkwardtv.org/viewtopic...omposite#p3644

[gadgetjon]

that will still only be composite low res output. If you want to try it without hacking or adapters, plug your composite screen into the green component connector on the ATV for a monochrome picture, and see how readable it is.

I just got one of those cheap component to VGA adapters made for video games. I'll let you all know how well it works.

[gadgetjon]

OK, I tried my cheapo component-vga converter on three different LCD displays and only got it to work well on one of them. I still have to drag this out to the car to try it on my dash display, but I'm not encouraged by my findings. I was only able to get it to display at 480p, but it may be a function of this converter, which is made for video games, not computers. I only paid about $30 for it, so it wouldn't surprise me if a better converter and/or better display did a better job with this.

[brain21]

So, has anyone thought of using the new official "remote" app from Apple (NOT "RemoteBuddy") for an iPhone to control an AppleTV? This looks like an interesting way of doing it.

AppleTV's audio into your car stereo, and you use "Remote" on the iPhone to control iTunes, just like you would control an iPod touch manually. Then you can also use your GPS on the iPhone, etc.

Also, for those of you w/ AppleTVs already working in car, how are you dealing with heat and ventilation issues? I've heard that they run very hot.

Brain21

[duckjibe]

It would be functional to be able to control the Apple TV from the iPhone or iPod Touch however for me I don't want to have to remember another device when I get in my car. It would be useful in the sense that I could run a dual system. Kids can watch movies from AppleTV on the big screen in the back seats (headphones on) while I listen to music from the iphone in the front. But the kids are controlling the AppleTV with the remote anyway. With the remote I can also control and see the AppleTV on the screen in the front in my dash. So really not required in my situation. Others may differ.

My AppleTV has not had a problem with heat. However, it is suspended behind the center console where the ash tray used to be and has quite a bit of air flow around it. I would not jam it in a small enclosed space.

The single biggest problem with AppleTV in the car in my experience so far is that it keeps losing the entire iTunes library and has to re-sync everything which takes weeks. The reason it loses the library is that there is no graceful way of shutting it down automatically (without the remote). I have a smart automotive power supply from Opus that keeps the ATV up for up to 1 hour after I shut the car off (depending on battery voltage). But I gather if the ATV shuts down after an hour in the middle of writing to the hard drive it can corrupt the file and needs to re-sync. Movies take a long time and they sync first. Sync only happens in my driveway for an hour at a time. So I live without music for a while!

If anybody can help figure out how to automatically shut/sleep AppleTV with hardware then it is viable for the car.

[Bugbyte]

I hadn't heard this. Is there a button on the ATV that you push (like the power button) that will sleep it or shut it down like the Mini?