here is some in-progress shots of my hope-to-be mp3 player for my truck....yes, the hard drive is mounted from springs...and yes, that is a mini-itx motherboard....damn thing is small!!...just picked up the power supply...all i need is a bigger hard drive, a screen, and a second battery to run it off of....

comments???

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Pretty sweet idea
Where do you plan on installin it?

what kind of screen are you considering........

and then how r u gonna contol it

just something to think about

well, i plan on putting it behind the drivers seat, since i have an extended cab....i was gonna use one of those indestructable poly-keyboards for text input, a mini trackball for a mouse, and one of those usb keypad things for controlling winamp....i shopped around and i can either get a 5.6" LCD for $150, or a 15" LCD for $250....

ok, that plastic 'idea-box' has since gone out the window..(its actual sitting right next to me...but i relocated the mobo and HD to the box the mobo came in...i want to do this similar shape/design, but out of metal, not acrylic....ive looked at home depot and hobby stores....does any one know where i can find aluminum sheets the are sturdy (maybe 1/16" to 1/8")????

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I dont know about your local hobby stores, but you can pick them up on line thoug McMasters ......you can pick up every thing from aluminum to coppor to titanuim....

(just scroll down to the bottom and its in the raw matierals----->metals section

or you can get a LCD dispay, wit a keypad...for contorling it

Yeah, I agree with ClowN. I understand and agree with your wanting to get a REAL LCD for watching the mp3s, but I would do it like so -
Get a Matrix Orbital/Crystalfontz (sp?) LCD for a serial port on the mobo - those are cheap, good ones run the 100-120 range. Also, that is the eazy way to control your mp3s in a very small area.
At home, do the setup of the folders, mp3s, ect. on a real monitor. You can do the setup of the LCD display as well.
Just my two cents.

thank you very much scapegoat...when i get some money, ill order some sheets....some of that sh!t is expensive!!...like $400 a sheet for aluminum!?....im goin for the $5-$10 a sheet, prob like 6-8 sheets for a cubish case...heheh...

clown & loodamaris: thanks guys...but i plan on using this as an actual computer....hope to get gps in the future...its got wireless networking so when i pull in my driveway, i can get all the new songs my powerhouse downloaded throughout the day....i watched a divx over the wireless network stuff the other day, still ran sweet as a mofo....so, if i get a monitor/screen, the SMALLEST im gonna get is 5"-5.6" ($100-$150)...but there's a sylvania 15" lcd monitor i found that i can get for $259 ( go here )...the base is removable, or if i left it on there, it lies ALL the way down...im gonna have the monitor in the front on the raised floor in the middle, and the pc behind my seat.....

Sorry about that - I forgot you mentioned that (forgot where I read you saying that, but I remember it now)
Very creative idea, and I wish you the best of luck with it.
How do you intend on powering it? Obviously, a power source, but will the power for the PSU come from the car battery? Just wondering.

wireless is kewl...to bad distance aint htat big

well, right now, i have two amps powering my speakers...i want to reduce it to one (more powerful) amp, and take the extra 4-AWG wire and run it to an inverter...hopefully, the battery wont die, if it starts dying to quickly, i'll need to get a second (marine optima) battery to keep in the bed of the truck, then run more 4-AWG wire (expensive)from the alternator, to the second battery, then back into the truck to power the damn inverter...this project was only gonna cost at most $500 when i started....its looking like its gonna be way more than i inteded....if it is, the box is staying in the house, and doin folding....hehhe

Damn..I don't know a whole lot about car speaker systems, but I would think having one huge-ass amp, subs, speakers, tiny media box, monitor AND a car off one battery is all the mixings for a dead battery in a matter of days. I would without a doubt get a second battery - probably doesn't have to be a car/boat battery, but I can't think of any other ideas. Doubt that helps, but I will try to come up with some ideads for batteries.

well, its only a 600 watt (peak) and two 10" jl's...nothing BIG, just some 'umph'....and i was talking to a few auto-stereo 'nuts', and they figure with a total of 300 watts peak comin from the computer and moitor, i could at least get one to two movies with the truck off....

clown:i know distance aint big, but its enuf for the driveway, and if needed, there are a supposed 50-60 unsecure wireless networks in the metro area... ....pringles can anyone?? hehehh