- Jul 12, 2000
- 12,444
- 2
- 81
I was bored at work today, so I began devising an idea for something to entertain me during month end. (The company I work for does statement runs for our Credit Union Clients every month, so I work the grave for a few days a month to run the equipment) So anyhow, our radio there blows goats for 5¢ a herd. And I don't like having to bring my CD's there because I always forget to bring them home again. So here's the idea:
-Take a basic computer, set it up with some old hardware I have laying around, drop in a decent sized HD (60-80GB) and a nic, and set it up as an MP3 server.
-Mount a 6-8" touchscreen LCD to the exterior of the case as the primary interface, making the unit somewhat mobile. Also attach handles to the top so I can carry it between work and home when I'm not using it.
-Cut the side panel to mount a pair of 6.5" car speakers (loud ones preferably, so as to be able to hear over the laser equipment), and fasten a small, low power car amp (<200w) in the bottom of the case. Wire this to take a 12v input from the PSU, thus driving the speakers. (run the line output from the soundcard to the input on the amp)
This would essentially create a high powered MP3 boombox with pretty decent sound capability and a ton of storage, in a fairly portable package. (exactly what I'm looking for)
Now, I'd like to know if anyone has any suggestions for hardware, good places to find this stuff cheap, flaws that may need to be overcome, etc.
The only major thing I could think of would be that the speaker magnets may interfere with the HD if mounted to close, or the interference from the computers electronics could influence the sound quality. Also, perhaps heat would be an issue. What do you guys think?
-Take a basic computer, set it up with some old hardware I have laying around, drop in a decent sized HD (60-80GB) and a nic, and set it up as an MP3 server.
-Mount a 6-8" touchscreen LCD to the exterior of the case as the primary interface, making the unit somewhat mobile. Also attach handles to the top so I can carry it between work and home when I'm not using it.
-Cut the side panel to mount a pair of 6.5" car speakers (loud ones preferably, so as to be able to hear over the laser equipment), and fasten a small, low power car amp (<200w) in the bottom of the case. Wire this to take a 12v input from the PSU, thus driving the speakers. (run the line output from the soundcard to the input on the amp)
This would essentially create a high powered MP3 boombox with pretty decent sound capability and a ton of storage, in a fairly portable package. (exactly what I'm looking for)
Now, I'd like to know if anyone has any suggestions for hardware, good places to find this stuff cheap, flaws that may need to be overcome, etc.
The only major thing I could think of would be that the speaker magnets may interfere with the HD if mounted to close, or the interference from the computers electronics could influence the sound quality. Also, perhaps heat would be an issue. What do you guys think?