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Anyone have a Mac Mini in their car?

Chris Rogers

Chris Rogers

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
I'm not trying to get all pimp my ride or anything but my lady and I are trading in our cars for an SUV...I'm sure you're not interested in the rest of the back story...anyway the packages with a DVD player for the back seat start at about $1,500.

For that price I could get a Mini and several screens to run Plex and still come under that number. If I did this, I could do OS updates via Wifi if needed. I am certain that this is the best way to go. Anyone have any experience in this area?
 
It is my goal one day to put a Mac Mini into a car of mine. That would probably be the coolest thing ever.
 
yea that's my goal one day when I retire my mini from htpc service. Updates and media loading could be done in the driveway via wifi. Touchscreen of course.
 
Would a :apple: TV be better than a mini? I would think that automatic syncing every time you drive in the garage and a quicker start up would be more user friendly. You have a simple onscreen interface that is easily browsable using the apple remote.
 
jhsfosho said:
Would a :apple: TV be better than a mini? I would think that automatic syncing every time you drive in the garage and a quicker start up would be more user friendly. You have a simple onscreen interface that is easily browsable using the apple remote.
Click to expand...

But no ability to toss in a DVD. All movie watching would have to be pre-planned and pre-encoded and synced. With a mini, a last-minute DVD grab won't be a problem.
 
spice weasel said:
But no ability to toss in a DVD. All movie watching would have to be pre-planned and pre-encoded and synced. With a mini, a last-minute DVD grab won't be a problem.
Click to expand...

plus the ablilty to run gps and be on 3G internet. Though the AppleTV would be quieter.
 
spice weasel said:
But no ability to toss in a DVD. All movie watching would have to be pre-planned and pre-encoded and synced. With a mini, a last-minute DVD grab won't be a problem.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. It is slightly more expensive than an :apple:TV, but you get more benefits. Mainly DVD, but with kids it would be smarter. As for the user experience you can setup an :apple: Remote to go to Front Row just by hitting the menu button.

I connected an :apple:TV to my home theater, but only because I already have 3 other "DVD capable players" connected to my TV. (Blu-Ray, Xbox 360, and HD DVD player)
 
Correct me if I'm wrong or not in the know. But having a Mac in a car is a bit overkill for just using Front Row isn't it? And for GPS, how do you control it? Touch screen would seem completely necessary and the use of a keyboard seems dangerous. And still it seems like it'd be a PITA.

My idea of putting a computer in a car is to increase functionality without increasing distraction. A car computer should be seamless for a driver to use without/minimal possibility of taking your eyes off the road. I already think Car GPS units barely achieve this (but my experience is limited with these so I can't totally say).

Having music/movies in a car is great but if I really wanted this I think I'd be capable of piecing together a cheap DVD-Head Unit combo and wire up a few monitors for less hassle than putting a Mini in a car. I just don't see it being efficient, and in the long run an overall headache or useless (i.e. too much of a burden to use it often).
 
I considered it, but then I got a Pioneer AVIC-F700BT instead. The Pio was ~$500 after all necessary parts including the ipod cable. I believe that it has an output for other video screens (although I never use mine for video).
 
What about heat?

jhsfosho said:
Would a :apple: TV be better than a mini? I would think that automatic syncing every time you drive in the garage and a quicker start up would be more user friendly. You have a simple onscreen interface that is easily browsable using the apple remote.
Click to expand...

I don't know about you guys but my AppleTV runs really hot. I'm thinking that it'll probably get baked when you park your car on a hot summer day. 😕
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
Correct me if I'm wrong or not in the know. But having a Mac in a car is a bit overkill for just using Front Row isn't it? And for GPS, how do you control it? Touch screen would seem completely necessary and the use of a keyboard seems dangerous. And still it seems like it'd be a PITA.

My idea of putting a computer in a car is to increase functionality without increasing distraction. A car computer should be seamless for a driver to use without/minimal possibility of taking your eyes off the road. I already think Car GPS units barely achieve this (but my experience is limited with these so I can't totally say).

Having music/movies in a car is great but if I really wanted this I think I'd be capable of piecing together a cheap DVD-Head Unit combo and wire up a few monitors for less hassle than putting a Mini in a car. I just don't see it being efficient, and in the long run an overall headache or useless (i.e. too much of a burden to use it often).
Click to expand...

Safety of course would be my primary concern. No way would I configure it to be ran (assuming I'd go along with the idea) by anyone in the front seat or even be able to be viewed. I would also hope that anyone with this idea has the same train of thought.

Personally, I don't want to touch the head unit. I just thought of the idea yesterday and it seems really cool to do but I suppose it may even die down a bit for me by the time new car time comes.
 
You could also put minis in a bus

Here in Holland some company decided to put a LOT of Mac minis into a bus / touringcar. Have a look at the video below 😎

Oh, and for those who don't understand the language, it's dutch 😉

http://vimeo.com/2565059
 
I dont have a mini but I do have a small pc that I run on my car.

f9c4-aopen_minipc_duo_1.jpg
 
Back when I was younger I had a full PC with gps, car data logging and troubleshooting software, rearview camera, music movies etc on a 7" touchscreen. What I've learned is in the end its just not worth it.

Now I have a decent headunit and a nice ipod integration and a seperate Garmin gps unit. I hardly use GPS since I dont go to unknown places too often. My headunit also is a dvd player for which I used to have a 7" screen in my console but I took it out.

Maybe if I had kids it'd be different but since I don't I find my situation right now is alot easier to deal with.
 
CarlsonCustoms said:
Back when I was younger I had a full PC with gps, car data logging and troubleshooting software, rearview camera, music movies etc on a 7" touchscreen. What I've learned is in the end its just not worth it.

Now I have a decent headunit and a nice ipod integration and a seperate Garmin gps unit. I hardly use GPS since I dont go to unknown places too often. My headunit also is a dvd player for which I used to have a 7" screen in my console but I took it out.

Maybe if I had kids it'd be different but since I don't I find my situation right now is alot easier to deal with.
Click to expand...

This is kind of what my point was in my post. That in the end, its just too inconvenient to try and use a PC in a car. A car requires a particular type of interface to make it "not" a headache.

What kind of Headunit do you have Carlsons? I have a Pioneer 590iB with the iPod cable connected, it does the trick but scrolling through Artists/Albums is a massive PITA.
 
I'm not sure the model number but its a JVC head unit. I am pretty pissed becuase the ipod touch's don't charge with the cable like the other ipods do. I dont use the head units interface becuase its harder to navigate. I control the ipod just like i normally would but just the cable carries the audio signal to the headunit.
 
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