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Portables (Apple) Businesses Apple Hardware

200hp/V6/G3 600MHz "iCar" 120

Posted by pudge from the now-that-is-a-case-mod dept.
bloodline555 writes "What do you get when you cross a Saab 95 with an iBook? You get the iCar. It's my latest project in a series of ways to void your AppleCare warranty. I have totally torn apart my iBook, folded it in half and mounted it inside of my car. It makes a great mp3 jukebox and DVD player. Any comments/ suggestions would be wonderful."
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200hp/V6/G3 600MHz "iCar" More

200hp/V6/G3 600MHz "iCar"

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  • That has got to be one of the most awesome "mods" (I guess you could call it that ;) ) that I've ever seen. Great work. By the way, do you have access to the mouse/keyboard, or do you function totally through the remote?

  • Saab XP? (Score:1, Redundant)

    by Tor ( 2685 )
    Anyone ported this to Saab XP yet?

  • is it legal? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by I_am_Rambi ( 536614 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:11PM (#7323328) Homepage
    I know in most states (if not all) it is illegal to have a tv infront of the drivers seat. Would this be something similar that you could get a ticket for having too much of a distraction infront of you? I think that is more of the question that how cool it seems to be.

    • Re:is it legal? (Score:3, Informative)

      by gl4ss ( 559668 )
      well.. i don't know spesifically, but in most places it's quite legal to add those things to the car, it's just illegal to use them while driving. much like it is illegal to read a newspaper, do your makeup, play with your laptop or do ANYTHING that (even potentially) distracts you from driving.

      (though, afaik at least most of the sets that are mounted at the factory and visible to the driver don't work as video players while driving)
      -
      • I have never heard of a law ON THE BOOKS that states that it is illegal to put your makeup on or read the newspaper while driving. I believe an arresting officer can cite you for reckless endangerment but there's no statement in the law about outlawed activities. The only laws governing what you may or may not do while driving are the ones involving cell phone use. As long as you are driving reasonably well and obeying traffic law, you can read the newspaper or the collected works of Kafka to your heart's d
        • ah but actually in most countries the explicit ban on cellphones didn't/doesn't actually matter that much at all(you were already fucked if you did any accident at all while toying with it, for being distracted while driving). it's just that people are so stupid that they don't get it why these laws are needed that explicitly say to people that doing something while driving is not 'ok'. cellphones also happen to be a one thing that is extremely easy to check up later if you were speaking on it or around th
          • I'm not sure what you're talking about here. In New York State, in the US, which was the cell phone ban I was making reference to, it is illegal to talk on a cell phone (unless you have a hands-free kit) while operating a motor vehicle. You don't have to get into an accident in order to be ticketed for a violation - a cop merely needs to see you using your cell phone while driving.

            "if you're driving while you're focusing 100% on the driving you are ALREADY BREAKING THE LAW in most countries"

            Why would focu

            • well, what i meant that even before such laws talking to a phone(or using any device) that distracted you from driving wasn't preferable while driving, or even legal(it's a law nowadays here too that you have to use a handsfree set while driving or get a fine if a cop sees you, but what i was saying was that even before that if it distracted you in any way you shouldn't have been doing it).

              **
              "if you're driving while you're focusing 100% on the driving you are ALREADY BREAKING THE LAW in most countrie
            • In New York State, in the US, which was the cell phone ban I was making reference to, it is illegal to talk on a cell phone (unless you have a hands-free kit) while operating a motor vehicle.

              The tragic irony of this being how completely it misses the point (which is the dangerous part of using a mobile phone is in the talking, not the having something in your hand).

              • Further, I find that, even with a hands-free kit, there is still some non-trivial amount of fiddling that needs be done with a cellphone to initiate or answer a call.

                When the law was enacted here in NYS, a lot of people went out and bought hands-free kits (good for Motorola, Sony-E, Samsung, etc. revenue), but I still see people navigating their vehicles while looking down and navigating their phone, their earphones 'safely' in their ears.

                Dumb.
        • In California there is a quite specific section in the vehicle code (section 27602, look it up here [ca.gov]) about having a television screen "at any point forward of the back of the driver's seat", of course with exceptions for law enforcement and emergency service vehicles. The ability to play DVDs I think qualifies.

          I guess you have heard of a law ON THE BOOKS.

          • A TELEVISION screen, not a computer display. A great many cars now come fitted with large (8-10 inch diagonal) sat-nav displays in the middle of their dashboards, how would this computer display be any less legal?
            • 27602. No person shall drive a motor vehicle which is equipped with a television receiver, screen, or other means of visually receiving a television broadcast which is located in the motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver's seat, or which is visible to the driver while operating the motor vehicle.

              This section shall not apply to a mobile digital terminal installed in a law enforcement vehicle

              I assume you can read, so it must be that you chose not to. As I originally said, the DVD p
      • my friend has a lexus w/ a dvd player, and the player works while driving... go figure.

      • Re:is it legal? (Score:2, Interesting)

        by gsdali ( 707124 )
        In Europe any screen has to turn off automatically if the car's speed gets above 5km/h, if it's in the driver's field of vision. The sound stays but the picture goes.

        Seems perfectly sensible to me.

        Even if it wasn't specifically legislated for it would be covered by the 'driving without due care and attention' law which basically is a catchall that can pick up people eating a mars bar at the wheel if it causes them to drive unsafely.

    • Re:is it legal? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by rowanxmas ( 569908 )
      Go look at a modern police cruiser. You will see something very similar.....
      • I've seen several police vehicle interiors and have noticed a wide range of equipment being used. Some of it is proprietary and expensive (such as the systems made by ADSi [e9.com]) and some of it is made up of off-the-shelf products that you or I could buy (e.g. as shown in this photo [cityofudall.com]).

        This is a market that is growing quite quickly. Not surprisingly, MS, IBM, and other big computer industry players are becoming more involved in equipping law enforcement (and other) agencies with purpose-built mobile computers.

  • See? (Score:5, Funny)

    by greenhide ( 597777 ) <jordanslashdot.cvilleweekly@com> on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:24PM (#7323455)
    Next time you see someone swerving around madly in traffic, it might be for some other reason.

    Love,

    The cellular phone industry.

  • I have one (Score:5, Insightful)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:26PM (#7323470) Homepage Journal
    " Any comments/ suggestions would be wonderful"

    Yeah, don't put it in the front seat.

    If you get into any sort of accident in your car, no matter the circumstances, it'll be assumed it distracted you. As a result, Slashdot'll pitchfork it no matter how cool it is. Sorta like cell phones.
    • Yeah, don't put it in the front seat. If you get into any sort of accident in your car, no matter the circumstances, it'll be assumed it distracted you.

      It'll also be assumed that the airbag pushed the LCD right through your chest.

      When installing anything like that into a passenger compartment, airbag deployment is an important consideration. Did you think about it?

  • hey crazy cracker, I've got two words for ya: i Pod (but you can't watch dvd's or play with Expose... ang! in that case: nice job :) )
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:GPS on a iBook? (Score:2, Informative)

      by skeeter17 ( 586444 )
      I know that it is possible, however, most setups that i have seen use some sort of USB to Serial converter or similar between the GPS and the computer. my dad uses a Garmin (i believe) navigator and has hooked it up to his TiBook for a surveying project of his, but i don't know about navigational software...
    • Yes, there is a USB GPS by deluo at http://www.deluo.com/ that I have used with my 500mhz, 2 USB port iBook...it costs just $99...It has worked with StreetAtlas 3.0 once you have acquired GPSy from Karen Nakamura at: http://www.gpsy.com/...please feel to contact me if you need additional info... Thanks! Dick Siano

  • seriously OT, but anyways ... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Triumph The Insult C ( 586706 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:32PM (#7323522) Homepage Journal
    what kind of wax do you use?

    please say meguiars ...
    • Bah, mine's shinier, I use Zaino [zaino.com].

      My iTruck is smaller too. I'd post pix, but I fear the health of my poor little server in the hands of the /. addicted. I hook my iPod to the Line-In on my head-unit and the sound quality is perfect. A lot of head units have RCA inputs on the backside for CD-changers. I routed the RCA cables to a small stereo plug next to my cup-holder, and I plug my iPod in that way. It sits in perfect arm's reach as well.

      The sound out of the RCA-Inputs is no comparison to the tape ad
    • Once a week. Once every 6-8 weeks, spend an hour with a buffer and some Turtle Wax polish, it's a little more effort, but man does it shine...
      Meguiar's is good stuff, but they conspicously lack a pure carnauba wax (No. 26 Yellow Wax is passable, the synthetic additives do make it last about 3x as long), and their polishes are waaaay overpriced.

  • Can we see where you are going? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by G4from128k ( 686170 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:33PM (#7323532)
    If you add iSight, Airport and a bit of scripting to automatically connect to a dynamic URL service, you could have a mobile webcam. That way we can see where you are going.

    Or you could point it backwards. Not only would it be a cool rear-vision monitor, but you could have a bumper sticker that reads "You're on the web right now."
    • // That way we can see where you are going.

      good idea, but you're missing the most important point: that way he could see where he's going!
      of course, that would open up the debates over GTA all over again...

  • cool idea, been done, and better too. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:34PM (#7323539)
    Google 'pathintosh' -

    Macintosh 'pismo ( or was it lombard?)' g3 laptop in a Pathfinder.

    Guy picked up an lcd screen added touchpanel to it, and mounted it NEATLY in his dash - about where the stereo would go. Ran cabling back to a 'dock' in the back where he slides the laptop into - allows him to remove it and take it with him still. He also hacked up a usb keyboard, and tied the buttons on his steering wheel - which are supposed to hook up to the normal stereo - to the hacked up keyboard, so he can control iTunes from the steering wheel :)

    That said, I kinda like the stand which you have the screen on - neat trick extenging the lcd that far ;)

  • Countdown to your iAccident (Score:4, Funny)

    by Zhe Mappel ( 607548 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:37PM (#7323549)
    "Officer, the fact that I have a computer monitor right next to the steering wheel shouldn't be a mitigating factor in this crash."

    "I mean, it's not like I'm running Windoze, which is known to crash."

  • with my iBook in my Pickup Truck w/bench seat pickin out tunes while driving 75mph while towing a trailer.

    very scary, to say the least. Especially trying to read the screen in the middle of the day.

    now I have an iPod, and it's still scary.

    But I won't read the paper, or apply makeup while driving, that's too dangerous.

  • Yeah, but does it FLY? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by netringer ( 319831 ) <maaddr-slashdot@NospaM.yahoo.com> on Monday October 27, 2003 @07:55PM (#7323701) Journal
    Burt Rutan's Boomerang twin-engine airplane has always used a PowerBook [popularmechanics.com] for instrumentation and navigation [popularmechanics.com] although the Boomerang's PowerBook installation [findpictur...panies.com] is more functional than as pretty as the one in the iCar.
    • Just have to say, that is the *weirdest* plane I've ever seen in my whole life. I love it! It's an engineering marvel! Seems only appropriate that a fellow who "thinks different" should be using a Mac :-)

      • Just have to say, that is the *weirdest* plane I've ever seen in my whole life. I love it! It's an engineering marvel! Seems only appropriate that a fellow who "thinks different" should be using a Mac :-)

        From an flight engineering standpoint the Boomerang IS a major breakthrough. Rutan credits computer-aided design software (which he runs on a Mac) for the calculations which led to the design.

        It looks like it can't possibly work, but the assymetric design solves the problem of twin engine planes being

  • A little rough (uh, duct tape?), but a great idea . I wonder if he has the glovebox/fridge thing going on? That would certainly keep the iBook cool enough. I think it will be a while before I do that to our iBook, but maybe someday. We do have a mount for an iPod in the ashtray of our 1968 Model 95 [mac.com] (why GM had to go and start reusing model numbers I will never know). -t
    • Yep. That's how I want to go...decapitated by an iBook LCD screen.
    • Would it have really cost that much more to do this to a (ahem) Jaguar?
    • Sort of puts "driver error" into a whole new context.
    • Congrats on a fun hack.

  • We use tablets (Score:3, Informative)

    by drfrank ( 16371 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @08:32PM (#7323971)
    I mount my tablet to my dashboard, and when I get where I'm going, I can take it with me. Others are doing the same thing: Some pictures in this thread. [tabletpcbuzz.com]

  • Good Proof-of-Concept... but not quite finished! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quakeslut ( 107512 ) on Monday October 27, 2003 @08:33PM (#7323981)
    First: you've done the hard part, and done it well.

    But...You could really stand to clean the project up and take it to the "next-level."

    Thoughts:
    * There are an awful lot of wires running around. See: (here [mac.com] and here [mac.com])
    You could do away with the tape adapter by going with one of those short-range radio transmitters and hooking that into the audio-out of the laptop. This would clean up the cassette wire that pops out and then runs back inside the stereo housing.

    It would also be nice if you could run the video wires in through the PVC tubing and then under the floor or inside of the paneling on the left-side of the passenger's foot. Wires are ugly, do whatever you can to hide them.

    * The actual monitor housing unit needs to be polished.
    OK, you posted asking for feedback, so here's some: clean up the monitor display. The black duct-tape and white-PVC tubing just isn't going to cut it.

    Thoughts: Instead of cheap, white, bulk PVC how about getting some brushed metal tubing? It will do the job just as well, but look more professional. I mean... it is a Mac, right? You gotta tie in the brushed metal.

    Also, the duct-tape reeks of a DIY (do-it-yourself) hack. I'm not sure what options you have here, but you simply gotta clean this up.

    All-in-all, good proof-of-concept job! Now get back out there and put the finishing touches on it!
    • You could do away with the tape adapter by going with one of those short-range radio transmitters and hooking that into the audio-out of the laptop. This would clean up the cassette wire that pops out and then runs back inside the stereo housing.

      Those don't work very well. I'd personally get a new Head unit with audio in instead. Though the tape adapter is probobly fine.
    • Also, the duct-tape reeks of a DIY (do-it-yourself) hack. I'm not sure what options you have here, but you simply gotta clean this up.

      Plexiglass! You could probably make a decent looking bezel for this thing with a few bucks and some dremeling - and if you don't go for the "Transparent-see-my-innards" look, spraypaint the _inside_ of the plexi black or silver or something. (If appicable, make sure the paint is non conductive.) Hey, you could even go for the brushed plexiglass look! ;^) (Those spongy-l

    • Although getting a new head unit with an auxiliary input was already mentioned, a cheaper way to go is to add one to the existing head unit. If it has a CD changer interface (but no CD changer), you can get an adapter for less than fifty bucks. One end plugs into the changer port, the other is a 1/8" stereo mini-jack. It's far better than an FM transmitter.
      • Not for Saabs. None of the manufacturers (blitzsafe et al) make one yet that can interface with the Saab head units. The problem (among other things) is the encrypted interface between the Saab OEM CD Changer and the head unit, designed to make both "unstealable".

        I ended up replacing my 9-3's head unit to hook my iPod up to.

  • ok, 2 thoughts here...

    1) That screen needs an elegant mount. Something that either folds up flat to the ceiling or between the seats. I have an elegant engineering solution to this for which this comment box is insufficient etc.

    2) I'm shocked that he doesn't have the keyboard (which is clearly removed yet functional, and resting on the ibook case) mounted on the inside of the glove compartment lid, ready to use when the lid is down. This project is clearly half done ;)

  • Touch screen display. Rather than fishing around for the right key on a QWERTY or dv keyboard to push to do a given task, or fiddle with a touchpad...
  • Let's see...tape adapter, exposed wires, PVC monitor support...can we say "half-assed"?
  • Not bad for a first attempt. Next, i would suggest attempting to make it look a bit more professionally installed. If you're going to have the PVC piping, why not route any exposed cabling thorugh it? At least attempt to run the wires where they aren't as visible. Most likely your stereo system has a 1/4" jack on the back, why not pipe the audio from your audio out jack into that? There's a lot you could do to make this look better. Good luck, and like I said, it's a valiant first effort, more than mo

  • Eww (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    it's an automatic. gross.
  • It takes balls to mod a Beemer. Nice job.

    I'll stick to my iPod w/ iTrip, though. A lot less dremeling involved ...

  • You, my friend, have way too much money.
  • That's a Saab 9-5! This [saabklubben.com] is a Saab 95. A few years older.
  • I am used to tie my telescope on my bike (not the motorized version, the legs-powered). And guess what, I am also used to tie my ibook G3 with starry night pro started with night vision enabled. I suppose I could wire up my techno mp3. But I like silence and the long lasting night on one eco battery. Isn't the idea more airy ?
  • But has anybody thought of an iMac? Pivoting LCD screen, small case. The power adapter would be the only big hurdle I think. You might be able to get rid of the separate power supply if the voltage going in is similar enough to the 12-14 volts the car puts out.
    • The only problem with useing a desktop is: What do you do when you turn the car off. Lets be honest, no one likes startup times. You need a battery to keep the computer alive when you turn off the car battery. This way you can just put the computer to sleep, and turn it back on when you need it.
  • i have to say tho cool cuz it's a mac. it's really poorly done. with some more research you could have had a much more stock looking installation.

    there are in dash svga monitors. even ones with touch screens. they mount right in your dash and fold out. they even have one with a motor that automatically extends it out for you.

    i mean who wants that big huge screen stuck in the middle of your car. it's just screaming to all thieves out there to come see what's inside and steal it.

    second beef. the IR thing.

  • ob stupid (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Q: what happened to your iCar?
    A: it crashed

  • Uhhhh (Score:2, Funny)

    by fsbilly ( 256307 )
    So elegant. I love the pressboard, conduit clamps, and the PVC! It really sets of the fine leather interior and other creature comforts of the Saab.

  • Tips (Score:2)

    by azav ( 469988 )
    I'm in the middle of a similar process with a g3 500 pb

    Get an 802.11g card and share your music directory. This way, you could drive up to your house, park the car, log on and drop off music as needed.

    Like the use of the remote. I'm going to use that in my home video laptop projection solution.

    If you had bluetooth, you could probably get a bluetooth remote control too.
  • I used to drive home from az to colorado and back for school 4 times a year, ~ 16 hours. I used to put my generation 1 imac in the passenger seat beteen the dash and the seat with the screen facing up. Powered off a 175 watt inverter that eventually melted my battery cable. Then using an fm transmitter and the same remote he has, i had a 40gb juke box!!.. now i have an ipod with the itrip radio thingy.
  • My main sugestion would be to spraypaint the PVC pipe to blend in better, and to dirrectly tie it into the sterio system, and have the screen mounted in the middle better so it isn't in the way of a passenger, other than that, great job with the iBook, most people don't "mod" their macs. Kudos to you for being one of few.
  • Don't play any of that John Mayer shit while I'M in the car.

    I know, flamebait, go ahead and waste your mod points....


    Note to editors: Notice the correct usage of the word 'too.'
  • Why not use chromed out pipes rather than PVC? It would add an even classier touch.
  • You mean the car that Saab made back in -59?

    Oh, you mean 9-5.

    Sorry, a swede who couldn't resist nit-picking...
  • A good looking car is now much uglier.
    An extrodinarily versatile piece of hardware is now an mp3 player.

    *clap clap*

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