In Car PC.......

[3T-Rona]

Any one into building In-Car pc's.......
ive seen a few installs about and it looks a rather cool idea, maybe a little nerdy but fuk it

Mostly would be used for the music side of things but also would have a direct plug in to my Link for trouble shooting an general flashness

Currently ive got no stereo, so i just run an amp powering my speakers, with a earphone type jack that goes to my phone cradle so i play music via that and have gps yelling at me through the speakers.....

anyone got suggestions/ideas.....

also looking at this sort of thing
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =358486220

as it looks small enough to mount on the steering wheel or centre console.....
and is cheap as.....

[sergei]

I built one myself.
about 3 years ago.

That was before Atom time, I used Via C7 mini-ITX mainboard, Pico-ATX automotive PSU and 4GB CF (with CF to SATA adapter).

The OS was kUbuntu 7.04, and I have quickly put together touch screen friendly front end for Amarok (via DCOP interface) in kommader (I am not a coder ).
The most expensive part was 7" touch screen.

Here are the issues I ran into:
Touchscreen is a lot less convenient than real hardware knobs and buttons.
Glare is the killer, you will require to script or wire the "illum" wire to dim at night.
While sound quality was OK, but nothing compared to real hardware like Alpine head decks. It took great deal of taking care of ground loops.
Need of a pointing device and keyboard for debugging (since I have built everything myself)
Even with mini-ITX you will find a bit of problem with space.
I compiled a custom kernel to make the thing hard boot in under 20 seconds.
Even if the PC sleeping it can drain your battery in few days, it needs to shutdown (or hibernate) after prolonged off times.
Because I used CF I could not hibernate (not enough disk space). This was before affordable SSDs (now 40Gb intel SSD is ~$145, then for that money all I could afford is 4Gb CF).
Particular motherboard I used had stability issues.

Eventually I scrapped it and got a real head unit. In hindsight, for $1500, I could have gotten an awesome headunit.

EDIT: add another $50 to the price of the pocket pc and you can buy a decent head unit with USB.

[Bling]

Get a good headunit for sounds.

Get a cheap laptop for tuning.

Replace floorpan footwell sections with checker plate.

Easy

[3T-Rona]

Replace floorpan footwell sections with checker plate.

Easy

had to be said didnt it.....

sweet cheers for ideas lads......

[cogent]

Hate to say it, but this might be one of the only situations where a mid range china android tablet might be a good idea.



Might.

[Alex B]

Have a mate running a car pc with centrafuse, not cheap but bloody good. Let me know if you want more info and ill flick you his email address.

http://www.centrafuse.com/

[Elmo]

I run a Netbook velcro'd to the dash, but hell, I am in a 4x4 with a large dash, mines mainly for mapping anyway

[Simon K]

My brother has one, PM "Canman" on NZ Hondas and he can fill you in(he builds them).

[3T-Rona]

I run a Netbook velcro'd to the dash, but hell, I am in a 4x4 with a large dash, mines mainly for mapping anyway

well its a 4wd so theres a start.... and i have a spare netbook.....

is it possible to somehow make a laptop boot with signal from the key.....

[sergei]

I run a Netbook velcro'd to the dash, but hell, I am in a 4x4 with a large dash, mines mainly for mapping anyway

well its a 4wd so theres a start.... and i have a spare netbook.....

is it possible to somehow make a laptop boot with signal from the key.....

yes it is possible, you hard-wire the power button the key via some logic circuit or micro-controller. There are some other ways of doing it (using USB for example).

[3T-Rona]

yes it is possible, you hard-wire the power button the key via some logic circuit or micro-controller. There are some other ways of doing it (using USB for example).

i spose its probably better if its manually booted really,
start- pc starts, drive to shop, turn off - pc turns off, start- pc starts, drive to beach, turn off- pc turns of...... on off on off.....
or am i worryin bout nothing?

[sergei]

yes it is possible, you hard-wire the power button the key via some logic circuit or micro-controller. There are some other ways of doing it (using USB for example).

i spose its probably better if its manually booted really,
start- pc starts, drive to shop, turn off - pc turns off, start- pc starts, drive to beach, turn off- pc turns of...... on off on off.....
or am i worryin bout nothing?

What you need is USB interface that has ability to wake up the PC and put it to sleep. I am not sure if such device exists on the market, but it is possible to build one using microcontroller.
With automotive PSUs they have logic - and depending how long ignition was on for they either initiate shutdown or sleep sequence or leave it on for another time period if in case you jump back in again and start the car.
Similar logic can be made with usb device (one way I can see is to pull apart USB keyboard with sleep button and trigger that with a micro).

EDIT: http://eegeek.net/content/view/40/32/1/0/

[Bling]

Do you need it going every time you use the car?

What are the power saving options available on it in relation to the screen being open / closed? Most laptops will let you specify what the pc does if the screen is closed, sleep etc.

What is the main use going to be of this? Seems like a lot of hassle just to get music, but I guess its for the fun of it mostly. Just thinking about the price of USB capable head units and comparing it to having to use a netbook. Amazing how much music you can fit on a usb stick

[3T-Rona]

Do you need it going every time you use the car?

What are the power saving options available on it in relation to the screen being open / closed? Most laptops will let you specify what the pc does if the screen is closed, sleep etc.

What is the main use going to be of this? Seems like a lot of hassle just to get music, but I guess its for the fun of it mostly. Just thinking about the price of USB capable head units and comparing it to having to use a netbook. Amazing how much music you can fit on a usb stick

mostly for the fun of it i already have the net book so theres one cost down.....

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 044707.htm

pre-made even......

[gmacrae]

get a secondhand netbook, pull screen off, hide it under seat or in dash, run display outta the vga port, most run on a 10v power supply, should be easy to get 10v down from the cars 12v without running some kinda goofy ac inverter just to convert back to dc. Most have 2 usb ports, run a USB hub if you need more, wireless USB kb/mouse will only take 1 or just use the netbook itself for kb/mouse. Could mount it so it comes out from glovebox on a sliding tray or something, with cable outs hidden on the sides. You could pull netbook apart to tap into power button so you can mount a button near the head unit

[3T-Rona]

dwnloaded trial version of centrafuse......
cool but computer start times make it a lil gay.... may just have to get a stereo

[Alex B]

Dont shut it down just hibernate it, will improve things a bit.

[gt4dude]

thought about it one day, this is what i would use

http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=XC4876

[3T-Rona]

thought about it one day, this is what i would use

http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=XC4876

Yeh been through them and found a couple options even cheaper for laptop supply....

[Barks]

There's a guy in Tauranga selling these: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Computers/Desktops/No-monitor/auction-364267252.htm

He can supply pretty much well anything you need to go with it too - SSD or SATA drives.

Bought a small form factor PC off him last week, good value.