xbox 360 in my car

[grk nickafis]

first of all... Good or bad idea?second... does anyone know where i can get a shock proof Rom drive for my 360 so i dont break all my games.

I am building a computer to put in my car with a 8" touch screen dash mounted. the xbox would be connected to that same TV and mounted behind the passenger seat

[kgriffin]

can we have pics when its done lol i would love to see this

[C-Kwik]

I think the DVD-ROM drive is going to be a big hurdle. Given the 360's propensity to scratch discs if the console is moved, a mobile application would be dangerous without a good fix for this. While I've seen solutions that prevent disc scratching, it may still cause the game to lock up if it slows the disc down from internal contact anyways.

A potential solution could be found in the latest 360 update. Games on Demand might be promising if it doesn't require an active connection to XBL once the games are downloaded. Then, the games would simply run off your HDD. I had a modded XBOX in my G35 when I had it and stored the games on the HDD. It was rather nice to be able to access all my games, music and even movies from the HDD. I'm keeping a close eye on this one in fact as I've wanted to be able to do something like this in my Titan. There will be some limitations in the hardware itself with some games though. Halo 3 uses the HDD actively during play and it would likely slow down the gameplay as people discovered when NXE was released. The other issue of course is going to be the selection. I'd imagine for now, available titles will be older. But I'm hoping as they catch up, that we might see newer releases available sooner. Perhaps even at launch.

[bmike818]

I say get one of these. Unless your car is crazy bouncy you should get away with these. If they ever get out of alignment these protectors should prevent your games from being destroyed.

http://dskin.com/

[grk nickafis]

Thanks everyone for your help. I was thinking about downloading games from LIVE to my hard drive but they don't have that great a selection. Those covers for the Disc looks good. I'll try those out somehow. Also i have the Samsung-Toshiba drive in my xbox. would that change the disc scratching at all, or is it the same deal with all Drives?

[C-Kwik]

IIRC, its not the drive themselves that scratch the disc, but some metal pieces that are located very close to the surface of the disc (which implies all drives are prone to scratching under movement). With the disc spinning, the gyroscopic effects resists movement if you move the 360 that may cause it to make contact. Once fix I heard of was to put some kind of pad on the metal portions. It would slow the disc when it makes contact, but would prevent any major scratches. But if it touches under driving conditions, it would make it unplayable during movement.

[grk nickafis]

well if all drives are prone to getting scratched, how do car CD players work and not get scratched. i want something like that but in my xbox

[C-Kwik]

I meant all the drives that the 360 shipped with (not every CD/DVD player available for all consumer goods). There were at least a couple different ones for the 360 though.

[MinisterofDOOM]

Also i have the Samsung-Toshiba drive in my xbox. would that change the disc scratching at all, or is it the same deal with all Drives?

Don't know that it'll affect disc scratches, but the Hitachi drives are known for failures from changes to console orientation while operating. Worse than just scratching the disc, the actual disc retainer spindle that drops down onto the disc will stop working correctly. So I definitely wouldn't recommend running a hitachi-drive 360 in a car setup. You shouldn't have as much to fear from with the samsung drive...although failure is still possible theoretically.

[hitbychance]

my first xbox 360 lasted a day, i accidentally kicked the shelve it was on and the game froze, i checked the disk a few mins later and it had that huge circle scratch. The xbox was laying down too! I would suggest bracing it like nuts if you put one in your car.

[grk nickafis]

well most of the time i would be playing it while stopped. so i guess there is no better solution to the problem than not driving with it on. haha I'll still put it in a show some pix. might not be for a while i've been having trouble with the car

[MinisterofDOOM]

well if all drives are prone to getting scratched, how do car CD players work and not get scratched. i want something like that but in my xbox

Car CD players use shock isolators. The read mechanism is isolated from the rest of the CD player's "chassis" so shocks and inertia are dampened. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't even be able to play CDs in your car at all...try setting your home stereo on the floor of your car and playing a CD...unless you're on a perfectly silky road it'll skip like crazy. Even advanced skip protection buffering gets over-tasked by most road surfaces.

If the OP were to mount the xbox in a some kind of shock-dampened housing, it'd probably help a lot. Problem with that is the 360 doesn't take well to confined areas (heat issues) so you'd need some kind of external fan to keep fresh air circulating in that housing.

[grk nickafis]

Car CD players use shock isolators. The read mechanism is isolated from the rest of the CD player's "chassis" so shocks and inertia are dampened. If it weren't for that, you wouldn't even be able to play CDs in your car at all...try setting your home stereo on the floor of your car and playing a CD...unless you're on a perfectly silky road it'll skip like crazy. Even advanced skip protection buffering gets over-tasked by most road surfaces.

If the OP were to mount the xbox in a some kind of shock-dampened housing, it'd probably help a lot. Problem with that is the 360 doesn't take well to confined areas (heat issues) so you'd need some kind of external fan to keep fresh air circulating in that housing.

these are all helpful ideas and its really making me think. What if i took the xbox apart. placed the CD rom drive in an isolated box near the passenger seat and the rest of the xbox in a well ventilated custom box in my trunk. It would take a lot long to build and probably a lot more money as well.

[C-Kwik]

these are all helpful ideas and its really making me think. What if i took the xbox apart. placed the CD rom drive in an isolated box near the passenger seat and the rest of the xbox in a well ventilated custom box in my trunk. It would take a lot long to build and probably a lot more money as well.

It can work that way, yes. But you can also build an isolator system for the entire xbox as well. It doesn't need to be enclosed. It really just needs to be a frame that is secured to the console while being attached to an isolator system which is in turn attached to the car.

If I ever put a 360 in the truck, it will be dismantled to do so. But not to isolate the drive. It would just fit better as I'd want to fit it behind the rear seat while locating the drive facing forward under the rear seat near the back of the cab. And of course, I'd put some significant attention to keeping the GPU and CPU very cool.