****ING HELL.. I HATE IEXPLORER Accidently hit the back button.. there went a HUGE post... I've also come to realize that its gonna cost me more than what i originally thought, just so u dont think i still thought it would be under $500 mmk, the quick version.. The hdd price is for a 250GB, i was just planning on swapping out the 160 in my computer and putting it in my car.. at the time i didn't wanna add anymore to that post.. also, is that Hdd price with a mail in rebate? i dont do those, been screwed by them at best buy more than once The screen.. I was wrong on that, it was $100 and only component.. I thought i saw VGA on there, but i wasnt paying enough attention. I found a VGA touchscreen for $215 tho I have an 800Mhz computer for downloading only and it plays divx and dvd's fine.. in Window XP Pro. It also has 512mb of ram not gonna go with a laptop hdd anymore, just a standard 3.5" Just gonna go with a dvd drive, no burner. Slimline, about $50. the original was for a fullsize drive. not sure what im doing with the power supply, but i can go for around $120 for dc-dc with the shut-off controller. I want to use the power inverter i already have and use a laptop powersupply (if it would be easy enough/cheap enough.. not looking for new parts there) Also, i would be planning on an amp for the speakers, one or two amps for the two subs im going to use.. Regardless if i use a head unit or this computer. Since when will the xbox accept that size of a hdd? Without modding it, that it. Just so you know, it doesnt, you have to mod it. You can get no solder mods (as long as the motherboard isn't version 1.6). I've already run into that problem (i have a 1.6 xbox.. bleh) when i went to mod it. sooooo.. let me re-evaluate... 1. 13cmX13cm Mini-itx motherboard - $117 2. 802.11g Wireless pci card - $30 3.250GB Maxtor Harddrive (7200rpm w/ 8Mb cache buffer) - $118 4. Not sure about the power supply, could end up being around $120 with a shut-off controller. Otherwise, it may be less, im trying to figure out what i would like to do (if i even go through with this) 5. 512mb PCI-133 DIMM memory - $35 6.slimline dvd drive - $52 7. VGA touchscreen monitor - $215 8. MP3+ - $40 New price -> $687... over $200 What i originally thought... Tho i could bring the price down with different options for the powersupply and the monitor..but i would wanna test a component monitor and see if i could mess with text sized and skins and such to make it workable. So the xbox is quite a viable option, if i got it modded. and yes, that was the quick version.. lol

meh, might be able to get a component in to work marginally... hehe
Also, if i could find a skin for WMP that bumped the text to larger proportions and move some stuff around, may be workable

actually, this would give a somewhat better idea... just think of it a bit more fuzzy... and that would be roughly what RCA in would look like
sry about the triple post

rabbit, if you do end up doing a PC... get Zoom Player.

you can customize all kinds of stuff, and it works great with an IRman. You can make it so after something is done playing, it quits, or goes back to some menu or whatever..

I had one for a set-top PC, you turn it on, and when windows first started, this was in the services, and it came up before anything loaded... it was just like having a DVD set-top box...

I even had my own background, and the text was FULLY customizable...

just a thought.

plus the xbox mod is something ANYONE can do for $20...

but I agree, the 1.6 is more annoying, but my modchip came with a little easy adapter to fix it, or you can simply look at the diagrams on the net instead.

good luck..

can you tell me where you found that touchscreen VGA? resolution and such? that's an AMAZING deal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...765903215&rd=1
Just on ebay Not promising how wonderful it is or anything, thats the one i was talking about

I havent looked into modding for a few month. I didnt know there was an adapter for 1.6. The modchip i bought was a Xenium Ice.. $60, and i havent put it into an xbox yet! And that was last september.

To tell you the truth, all i really want is something along the lines of a keg (but much more room). Or something that would accept a 3.5" hdd and plug into a cd changer slot or something.. Cause i would be satisfied just being able to house all of my mp3's.. ugh.. If i find out i can add a bigger hdd (yah, i know its a laptop one) to the music keg, then thats the route i will go.. but im sure its along the lines of an xbox; ie, set to have only a specific amount of space

i like that touch screen monitor! Hopefully they will still be around when I buy mine.

there ARE devices that can store your mp3s and hook into the cd changer input... you can control from the deck... I forgot what company though... they also make an adapter for the ipod, so you can control the ipod from your sony/pioneer/jvc/alpine/kenwood

those adapters cost more than they're worth (just like everything else associated with ipod), but that is all that's available now. i'm probably just going to plug a "line out" into the front of my head unit and see what happens. i will be buying something to replace my old mp3 cd player anyways, so if i can hook it up to my deck and it sounds the way it's supposed to, great, if not, i still need one anyways.

yup.. there is still a company, you will find the links all over mp3car.com... but they make an mp3 hdd-based solution that works DIRECTLY with your headunit... by pretending to be a cd changer... they are less than 500 bucks

PS. I meant a 7.2 screen for $90 won't be high enough quality. You're looking at $150+ for one that has a good enough resolution and VGA input.

i would like to get my hands on a $100 component one just to play with it and see if i could make things large enough and simple enough to work.. if not, then i wouldnt be out the money to see.. i would just like to try it out for myself

Ipods are funny. I was in Radioshack, and found an 'Ipod' y-cable (3.5mm to rca).. cost like $25. Find the same exact cable but not Ipod, same thickness and everything, all gold plated... $5. Same with the Belkin FM transmitter. One that has a 3.5mm connector is $40, same thing but made for the Ipod data port is $60. Makes not damn sense

I'll look around and see if i can find anything.. The music Keg is NOT upgradable, so whatever size it can go to max from Kenwood, is the best ur gonna get. I found a Rio one that is similar but it was really expensive and includes the headunit (but looks pretty sweet). I found another called Neo something and that included the head-unit too but it was ***-ugly! Meh.. Maybe i will find something in the next few months .

Good thing im not planning on doing this until late summer .

well the keg is 'upgradeable'...

it has 20gig 'cartridges'... that's not good enough for me either.

and I hope that no one here owns an ipod... but the reason those parts are more expensive, is because there are people who are stupid enough to buy the one that says ipod over the same thing, that's just doesn't have 'Ipod' labeled on it..

you'd be suprised what the average ipod user's IQ rating is...

so would I, because I don't know it... but I bet it's low!

those commerials push away anyone who can think for themselves...

CONFORM DAMNIT! APPLE DEMANDS IT!
"be chic, be hip, buy an ipod... or else"