DIY Projects

I started a HTPC over a year ago and still haven't finished it, mainly because the software is taking longer than expected, and I broke the CD drive and am too cheap to replace it. I should hook it up this weekend and see if it still works.

It's based on an EPIA 800, so it's *almost* fast enough to play DivX movies under Windows (audio desynchs). Mplayer on Linux is supposed to be faster, but I need a CD drive to install Linux (or I can play around with bootp).

All in all, a bit of a waste of money, when I could have picked up a DivX DVD player for a lot less than the parts cost me, but where's the fun in that?

Tazzel: check out VIA's Nano-ITX boards. They should be out sometime soon (ie, before summer) and are only 120 mm on a side. A little creativity should allow it to fit inside a standard car audio space. Add a laptop hardrive and an LCD display (and WiFi for transferring files) and it would kick ass.

[edited by - ze_jackal on March 6, 2004 2:37:11 PM]

I'm still working on my movie. I'm still saving up to buy some decent costumes since the ones I attempted to make myself look like complete shit. Anyway, check out this site for the costumes. I like the coyote dressed up as a cowboy. He's just too cute.

[edited by - Spider-Man on March 6, 2004 3:10:09 PM]

Tazzel, you have the exact same calculus book as me!

Why don''t you have more instructions on what exactly you did to make the PSU and Projector? Looks pretty cool.

Heya! I''m working on a DIY projector as well. I just received my 250-watt metal halide HQI lamp and ballast and its pretty damned bright. I''m using a 5" LCD w/ composite input atm but I''m planning on upgrading it to a 15" LCD monitor w/ DVI because the 5"ers resolution isn''t that great.

I also have to construct a new enclosure for my projector because the heat of the lamp is reacting with the paint inside my current one and the smell is absolutely terrible. I''ll get some pics up in a bit

aiighty here''s some pics:

hey Tazzel3D, just wondering, did you ever have any issues with your lamp smelling really really bad? apparently it''s not the paint that''s making mine smell awful 0_0

hmmm... Not sure what is causing your smell, as I only got some smells once when I used tape to attatch my coke-can reflector to the back of the enclosure... it smelt pretty bad then, but it had nothing to do with the light bulb other than the heat it put out.

I guess I can put more instructions on there about them... I thought I wrote an article about the PSU though... maybe I forgot to post it lol...

Yeah I have a fairly lengthy tut on how I did the PSU... Its the top link in the DIY section.

I actually have close to enough parts to make an mp3 palyer for my car... All I need is an HD and IO. If I end up doing it, I''ll probobly use one of those relatively cheap LCD screens and some keys connecting to the parrallel port. It does have a vid card on it, but its also kinda big(9.5" x 9.5")... I thought I might be able to mount it in the trunk or something, but was worried about how far a CDRom cable can go... and how much intefierence it can handle on its way...

Also, I''d like to stay cheap. Pref under $50 USD I can get a 30gig HD for about $40... I already have: 52X CD-Rom... 200Mhz CPU/9.5" square Mobo w built in sound/vid/USB (no NIC) I was thinking a plexi cae would be cool... The cheapest mobo at mini-itx is about $90... way too much. Would be really cool thgough, no doubt. I would also like to make it semi-portable so that I could bring it inside and transfer music from my comp to it... And I am really hoping to have a fast boot... MY CD Player takes forever to read an MP3 Cd and it sux.

Anyway, that''s where I am in my projects...

Dwiel



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