Using an X360 in a car?

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Emnasut
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Using an X360 in a car?

Post by Emnasut » Thu Nov 04, 2010 5:10 am

Hi all!

What would be the cheapest/easiest way of using an Xbox 360 in a car? Not while driving and nothing fancy like an inbuilt monitor or an Xbox laptop, just a way to power the Xbox for about 2 to 4 hours. Maybe hook it up to one of those car battery emergency chargers or something like that?
Also, what 720p monitor would work?

This is for a taxi driver who often has to wait in line for up to two hours at the airport...

Thanks for your help!
- Emnasut

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jdmlight
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by jdmlight » Thu Nov 04, 2010 9:54 am

Emnasut wrote:Hi all!

What would be the cheapest/easiest way of using an Xbox 360 in a car? Not while driving and nothing fancy like an inbuilt monitor or an Xbox laptop, just a way to power the Xbox for about 2 to 4 hours. Maybe hook it up to one of those car battery emergency chargers or something like that?
Also, what 720p monitor would work?

This is for a taxi driver who often has to wait in line for up to two hours at the airport...

Thanks for your help!
- Emnasut
I would think that a simple power inverter would be the easiest. Something along the lines of this:
http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-400-Watt-12 ... 583&sr=8-3 (wouldn't have to be that specific one, there are many to choose from)
When picking one, make sure it can handle at least the amount of watts the TV and Xbox need. The Xbox uses a maximum of 200 watts, you'd have to look at the specs for the particular TV you buy to figure out what it uses.

As far as the monitor goes, you can pretty much pick any 720p monitor you'd like (since you're not trying to fit it in a case), so I'd get whatever you can get the best deal on. Just make sure that if you've got an Xbox with HDMI out to get a monitor with HDMI in, and if not, get one with VGA in and get the VGA cable for the Xbox. Possibly something like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Vizio-Class-720p- ... 845&sr=1-1
Although you could get whatever size you think would be appropriate.
--John (and please call me John, it's really weird to be called by my username)
Fight MS Paint abominations! If you don't have a camera, go here, and pick something 3 megapixels or higher.

Emnasut
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by Emnasut » Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:30 am

Thanks for your answer! That power inverter looks good, though what kind of battery can I hook it up to?

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lifeisbetterwithketchup
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by lifeisbetterwithketchup » Thu Nov 04, 2010 11:28 am

Emnasut wrote:Thanks for your answer! That power inverter looks good, though what kind of battery can I hook it up to?
Your car's battery, via the cigarette lighter in your car.
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by vskid » Thu Nov 04, 2010 9:13 pm

lifeisbetterwithketchup wrote:
Emnasut wrote:Thanks for your answer! That power inverter looks good, though what kind of battery can I hook it up to?
Your car's battery, via the cigarette lighter in your car.
Will you be playing with the engine off or on? If it is off, I wouldn't play for more than an hour, or you'll risk running your battery down too low to start the car when you need to get back to work. If you play with it on, then you'll be killing dolphins and crap like that just so you can have a little fun. 8)
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by Emnasut » Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:50 am

Playing only with the engine off. Hm I didn't think about using the cigarette lighter because I thought it would drain the car battery too fast but if it can run about an hour that would be enough I guess. At least that would be a lot easier than to use an extra car battery which needs to get charged etc..
Is there an easy way to gauge the battery without opening the engine hood and doing it manually? (:

Also, thanks for all the input!
- Emnasut

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DK
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by DK » Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:53 am

If you're really serious about doing this you could fit a leasiure battery to your car, basically an extra battery just used to power stuff like games consoles or fridges. I've hooked on up to my van, which is a godsend if you want a cold beer while camping.
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Re: Using an X360 in a car?

Post by Emnasut » Fri Nov 05, 2010 8:39 am

Any recommendations for such a battery?

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