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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 04:35
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Hi everyone 
While discussing in another thread the ability to use a car audio system hooked up to your PC, a few of us started to drift onto the topic of putting PC's in cars.
I was just curious, how many of you guys have done this, or something similar?
The topic of touch screens was also hinted at, how many people know of what sort of expense you'd be going to with such a thing?
Someday I'd like to sort out some sort of VIA EPIA mini-itx system, for mp3's.. possible video recording (doubt it at this stage... it's a soarer not a drift sprinter  ), DVD's (maybe?) and for other miscellaneous stuff that you can do with a computer... maybe have an emulator running in there for some in-car entertainment... etc.. and have it all integrated into my car as neat and tidy looking as possible.
Recording footage of a run, then play it back and preview the footage in your car with your integrated PC would be cool though!
Any thoughts on the subject? I'm sure plenty of you must have a whole lot of ideas or have done stuff to this effect.
Looking forward to seeing what's been done!
Cheers
James
edit: Just got another idea.
Have a wireless access point installed in a car, and have each car with a computer fitted in it have a wireless card. Then, you can have a teamspeak or equivalent easy to use voice comm program installed and have constant voice contact with each other! While a two-way would probably be easier, how slick would that be!
Kinda geeky having all your cars in a cruise all networked but.
Maybe you should ignore that last part 
[Updated on: Wed, 06 April 2005 04:39]
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 04:53
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I like that last idea  On a serious note though, one of the VIA EPIA board would be great. Play DVD's and DivX, more importantly, play music via the CD player, or stored on a HDD. All controlled by a touch screen LCD mounted where the stereo used to be. I will do this one day
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:03
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Squid mentioned in the other thread that touchscreens arent as hard or expensive as I might think.
I'm not too familiar with how a touchscreen would hook up , anyone know and would like to share that info?
Also, how expensive is "not very expensive?
Lastly... I've got an old laptop, it's 14" LCD screen does 1024x768.
Can that screen be disconnected and then reconnected somehow to a different computer? I thought about integrating the laptop, but it's only a pentium MMX 266mhz therefore isn't quite "capable" of fulfilling my needs.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:05
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Easiest option would be to go through ebay and look for a small touch screen display that would fit inside a DIN sized space.
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Location:
Melbourne - NthSubs
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:05
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i have a laptop connected up to my tape deck 
but it was pretty cool with the mp3's and shit cos it was one of thoses one where it had a jack for a cdplayer or something
might get a projector or something to display movieclips and shit on the rear windows for uber rice 
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:10
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when i used to have a decent laptop (sold it and bought a decent PC....) i used to have it plugged into my old tape deck as well, with one of those cd-player car kit things.
But i want something a little more permanent than a laptop sitting on the passenger seat...
but at the same time, i dont wanna just fasten a massive bracket and have a huge laptop sitting in the middle of the car... i want it discreet...hidden... as if it came with the car.
All i want to be able to see is the controls for using the pc (and even then, if not just buttons on the centre console i want to be able to hide it somewhere) and the LCD screen.
and a touchscreen LCD that fits in a DIN? wouldn't that be a bit too small?
Or you mean one that folds flat then slides into it, and when you wanna use it, you slide it out and fold it up so you can see it? That would be friggin awesome.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:17
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Nah, it'd be alright. You don't really need it to display much, so it wouldn't be a big issue.
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:23
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Sorry, I meant double DIN, not single.
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:32
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And older computer would probably be fine. The VIA stuff has the advantage that 1) they come in fanless and 2) they come on the tiny miniITX platform.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
September 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:34
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What exactly do you want to do?, you can get an xbox to do most things, or get a Laptop  .
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:40
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| justcallmefrank wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 15:32 |
1) they come in fanless and 2) they come on the tiny miniITX platform.
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cooling would be a bit of a problem for a normal PC :/
hmm....
plus, you're right, the fact that those 800mhz EPIA's are the size of a CD jewel case and are fanless is pretty damn cool.
Might just wait and do that...
Have you ever been to http://www.mini-itx.com/ ?
Some interesting stuff on there and i havent checked it out lately, but there might be an article regarding someone doing an install in a car, and they might have thought of ideas we havent.
Then again, looking at this
Makes me think i could just turn the centre console piece between the passenger seats into a car entertainment control center... heh
the possibilities!
When i do this, my screensaver has to be words on the screen that say "WARNING, DANGER TO MANIFOLD"
(people who've seen fast and the furious will get it)
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:41
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There is multiple ones in cars there. I'll chat later when I get back home.
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Location:
Melbourne - NthSubs
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:45
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best option is a laptop, only because of the moving parts thing etc... u could setup one of them lcd monitors on the dash or something and just connect it to the laptop
+ the laptops got dem touch mouse pad things
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:49
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| rthy wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 15:45 |
best option is a laptop, only because of the moving parts thing etc... u could setup one of them lcd monitors on the dash or something and just connect it to the laptop
+ the laptops got dem touch mouse pad things
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yeah but laptops aren't "integrated" therefore just give the impression of something bolted into the car.
Unless you mean get an old laptop, pull it apart, and hide it all in the dash/under a seat and just have the screen on the center console?
That could work.
But my only cheapo laptop that ive got now isnt fast enough for what i'd use it for..
and if you were really budget, a mini-itx system with one of those via systems (excluding the LCD, cause i dont know how much a small LCD would cost) wouldnt cost you more than $400 probably
A laptop would be quite a bit more.
You could always buy a touchpad later on, cut a hole in the centre console near the shifter, and put it in there.
IN FACT
That's the shifter surround for my soarer
That bit at the bottom could be cut out and a touchpad would fit in there perfectly!!!
But i digress. We wouldnt need a touchpad if we had a touchscreen LCD.
However, not needing a touchscreen LCD means it would be a fair bit cheaper!
*ponders*
Come on, there must be some people with more ideas out there!
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 05:59
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IPod + RCA input = Done
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 06:21
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An Ipod doesn't give you video, games, video recording, etc...
A modchipped Xbox would be quite cool to do, with a bit of stuffing around you could get everything to work except for video recording. You also don't need to run Windows, you can boot into any dashboard, and you don't need to cater for the need to shut down the PC. You could also take apart an xbox controller and mount some of the controls in your center console.
I was looking into a car PC a few years ago. You can get Touch screen LCD interfaces off ebay for a few hundred. MiniITX and miniATX boards are easy enough.
The power supply is something people overlook. You could go the dodge and use an inverter, but I'd prefer to use a proper 12V switching PSU that can cater for the ATX soft powerup.
There are a few PSU's on the market that run off 12V, but they are a few hundred $$$'s.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 06:26
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| Major Clod wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 14:21 |
An Ipod doesn't give you video, games, video recording, etc...
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Yeah, coz i spend THAT much time in my car that I see the need for a TV/Video/console game.
Cmon, what a WOFTAM.
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 06:33
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| CrUZsida wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 16:26 |
WOFTAM.
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waste of f*kn time and money?
You're probably right. hehe
But since I dont need to buy a harddrive, getting an EPIA board and a small LCD screen would cost less than a 20gig ipod, and i'd have around 100gig of space.
So its still a feasible option for me as an mp3 player
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 06:35
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| CrUZsida wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 16:26 |
| Major Clod wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 14:21 |
An Ipod doesn't give you video, games, video recording, etc...
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Yeah, coz i spend THAT much time in my car that I see the need for a TV/Video/console game.
Cmon, what a WOFTAM.
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Just because you're not interested doesn't mean that others aren't either. Besides, the initial question was about computer systems, not just MP3 players.
It would be stupid to start an argument over what people perceive as a waste of money and time, this forum is full of that already.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 06:44
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Hey, I'm all for wasting money on a car, but waste it on something you are gonna use.
When honestly are you going to use videos/games etc in a car?
Video recording has its benefits, but you can do that easily with a digicam so its kinda redundant.
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Location:
Perth, WA
Registered:
December 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 07:02
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run a computer system in the glove box, behind some perspex or something, with a neon or two.
cooling wouldnt be too much of an issue, it would just cost a fair bit for all of the water cooling pipes youd have to run out from the heater or some other place...
i realise that this water is fairly hot, hence a heater... but it would still run the thing cooler than an air flow setup.
Score, i just found some ipod headphones in the laptop im using in tafe.
also, you could somehow mount some sort of controller onto the steering wheel for shifting through songs/vidclips...
maybe one of those flexible rubber keyboards slapped onto the dash aswell?
Eldar.O.
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Location:
Forster NSW
Registered:
September 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 07:29
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| Merudo wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 15:29 |
ah ok
that would be sufficient display area.
Just wondering... would a normal sized computer consume too much power to make it feasible?
'cause you could probably pick up the equivalent to a VIA PC (p3 1ghz, probably with some SDRAM for very cheap or that comes with it for much cheaper than one of these VIA boards.
I know the VIA EPIA board would be the preferred option, because of its size, much lower power consumption, ease of use and the fact that it's got EVERYTHING onboard, but would a normal sized computer put too much strain on the battery? It would just be so much cheaper to do it this way. Although I doubt I could fit everything in the glovebox/under the seat if I did it this way. EPIA you certainly could.
Also would you guys fit a UPS in your car as well, so that when the engine goes out it keeps supplying power to the computer?
Some UPS's you can configure so when the power cuts out the computer goes into hibernate as well... could be useful for not having to worry about shutting down the PC before you turn off the car!
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A computer wouldn't consume much power at all. I read of one person who put a computer in his car, that had left it on overnight. The car still started the next morning. (computer only, no monitors)
They might draw 10amps on the +12v and the same on +5v. Which isn't a great deal.
The biggest problem comes with the power supplies. You can go with an inverter, but for what you need this is pricey. Considering it needs to be a sinewave inverter. Plus the problem with that is it seems rather impractical to convert 12volts DC up to 240volts AC, and then back down to 12v/5v DC. DC-DC power supplies are also dear and more so rare to come across.
The advantage of a good DC-DC unit is, that the input supply can usually be from around 8v - 16v, so the PC stays on while you crank the engine over.
I'm looking into an in car PC myself at the moment, power supplies are the only thing giving me grief. Looking into making my own...
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 07:32
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| Dale_ta22 wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 15:29 |
[They might draw 10amps on the +12v and the same on +5v. Which isn't a great deal.
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10amps overnight is more than enough to completely drain the battery.
A pair of headlights draw 10A, and most cars wont start if you leave them on for 2 or more hours.
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Location:
Forster NSW
Registered:
September 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:16
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Ok my mistake there.
The +12 and +5v circuits in them provide around 10amps, whether they draw that amount of power I don't know.
One guy's DC-DC power supply only put out 1.2amps on the +12v. So now I'm quite confused.
In the example I used, the person was also using an inverter. I should add.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:25
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Peewee, I'm so doing this just to piss you off
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:26
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And watch me laugh as the XX takes another 2.5 years.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Perth
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:28
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Go fix that ignition fuckup of yours But the wires are all the same
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Australia
Registered:
November 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:30
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| justcallmefrank wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 16:28 |
Go fix that ignition fuckup of yours But the wires are all the same
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Oh, I will when I work out wtf is going on 
But at least I can drive it!
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Location:
Melbourne - NthSubs
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:42
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| Merudo wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 16:33 |
| CrUZsida wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 16:26 |
WOFTAM.
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waste of f*kn time and money?
You're probably right. hehe
But since I dont need to buy a harddrive, getting an EPIA board and a small LCD screen would cost less than a 20gig ipod, and i'd have around 100gig of space.
So its still a feasible option for me as an mp3 player
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yea, i also bought one of em usb mp3 players, and mounted it like a turbo timer
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:49
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| rthy wrote on Wed, 06 April 2005 18:42 |
yea, i also bought one of em usb mp3 players, and mounted it like a turbo timer
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did it pull chicks?
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Location:
Melbourne - NthSubs
Registered:
January 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:51
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LEFT RIGHT AND CENTER! and the cars not even on the road yet!
nah
but it did work fine, only problem was the ghey battery which can be fixed by one of em power adaptor things
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Location:
Newcastle
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 08:57
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the touch screens connect AND emulate a mouse device at least all the commerical POS stuff does. you can see i sell POS
you can hunt down little 8-12" touch panels that are designed for POS use but im sure you could adapt. the VIA based gear would be perfect for this application low power consumption, just enough oomph, small space and low heat.
water cooling from your engine coolant would be impracticle as the water is HOTTER then the ideal temperatiure you want the gear to be running at hence you would be heating rather then cooling your computer gear. simple air cooling would be more then sufficent for this application. esp if you are runinng VIA based mini computers.
also keep in mind it is illegal to have a display visible when you are dirivng unless it is specifically a navagation system. id certainly like the video recording but the problem is that all the cameras you would adapt to it arnt really up to the task. the first sort of cameras that would be really suitable are the miniDV style camers which dont exactly intergrate nicely and they have their own recodring facility anyway making the ocmputer setup fairly reduntant.
i prob wouldnt run windows on it rather a linux distribution of some flavour (take your preference on dist) as you could make it run in a much more liight weight fasion then windows and also have it running eleganty in the desired lower resolution to suit the small screen.
no need for a touch pad, touch screens do that for you,
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 10:49
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Don't know if anyone has seen these but they seemed to be what most people used back when I was researching making an MP3 player (back before IPOD's were in).
http://www.opussolutions.com/
They actually have a shitload more stuff than they used to a few years ago, some of it would be pretty handy and make the job effortless.
Not only do they have DC-DC ATX and ITX power supplies, they have ATX and ITX cases to hold the computer components with the power supplies built in, pretty nifty. Not sure on prices though, but I'd say it wouldn't be cheap compared to a standard PC case thats for sure!
The power supplies do have soft ATX on/off, so you don't have to worry about shutting down windows etc, just turn off the ignition. They have a shutdown delay so that your PC can power down in 10 seconds, all the way up to 60 minutes. Extremely handy for stopping off for a few minutes, you don't have to wait for everything to boot back into your OS, just keep going.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
1st street on the right
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 12:01
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I was unable to find images but someone may remember an audio install in the states by a guy they called fishman (because he used live fishtanks to demo watertightness of interconnects). Screw your lcds, he put a 68cm CRT into the centre of the dash of a dodge ram, still had full seating, drivable, heater and ac etc.
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Location:
Victoria
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 12:51
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check out www.mp3car.com very cool forums
People are using USB GPS's with maps they have downloaded off the net for satelite navigation
As soon as single DIN motorised VGA touchscreen become cheaper ima gonna set one up in my MR2
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Location:
Victoria
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Dubbo NSW
Registered:
June 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 13:18
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system we had running had:
15" benq lcd
old lappy with a palm attached.
Use palmamp
Good stuff.
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Location:
Central Coast
Registered:
January 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 15:52
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This is what my friend has done to his magna
he's got the whole pc intergrated into the glovebox,
the keyboard glows blue and has got a touchpad in the centre console, I think its a 6.5 inch screen on the dash but i'm not too sure and the power inverter at the back of the car, and also below the cd-player now he's got a slot loading IDE DVD drive
http://www.pimpmycase.com/?i=104
still has it running today and is alot tider now then what that picture is
its a bit hard to play CS on it though 
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
April 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 15:54
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i gota ask, but why? Ok if you want a GPS or watch some movies while your away but whats with the laptop? lol
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Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Wed, 06 April 2005 23:07
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personally, i would keep all this gear in my house not in a car
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Thu, 07 April 2005 00:24
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| Les wrote on Thu, 07 April 2005 09:07 |
personally, i would keep all this gear in my house not in a car
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same, but if you're gonna spend $500 on an ipod and hook it into your car, or if you're gonna spend $500+ on some kick arse head deck, id rather build a small EPIA system for my car and have the extra functionality over ONLY being able to play music
Im not after something so that i can play HL2 or doom 3 in my car... just something that can play music, a movie if the occasion calls for it, and perhaps might have an emulator installed on it
Although a PS2/xbox would be cheaper, less mucking around, and you would be able to play GOOD games on it not just old emulated arcade ones... hmm
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Location:
ballarat
Registered:
April 2003
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Registered:
April 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Thu, 07 April 2005 16:21
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Now i know this is gonna sound nerdy or werid or sumthin
Oneday i wanna Put an xbox in my car lol. but what im gonna do is fully customize it all.. Like wat i was thinkin of doing was pulling the Xbox apart and then placing diff things in diff places..e.g Drill holes or fabricate or whatever it is they do 4 holes in the dash to the left of the car and Put the contoller ports there. Stash all the internals somewhere else inside the dash, like in the dash box or sumthin lol...Put the Dvd-rom thingy in a spot where say the Head unit would go, but still have a head unit or put it in the dashbox etc. Then get an Lcd sumwhere, nothing big just sumthin decent
Just so it looks customized lol..oh and no1 steal my idea
I will do it one day, when i have money and a car lol..im only 16 so no car or money yet lol...Look out for it in about 3 yrs...but by then they'll probably have like Xbox3-4-5 or Something better....Ahh well
Later
P.s - and yea, it sounds a bit boring aye
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Location:
Darwin
Registered:
April 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 01:57
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I can see how all this work and I would also love to do it as well. I have comtemplated it before but figured it was too much hassle.
1. How would the issues of power be worked out? Cause when you switch the car off you'd want the computer to power down also otherwise you'd end up with a flat battery.
2 When you started it back up, wouldn't it take to long to boot up to be functional?
3 Also, with a regular Cd player, it remembers where your CD was up to, so when you switch it back on it continues where it left off. How would you do this with a PC? If you left it on, wouldn't it cause your battery to go flat?
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Location:
Epping, Sydney
Registered:
April 2003
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Location:
VIC, Sth Frankston.
Registered:
July 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 02:27
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a modded xbox with remote is ideal imho. use a 5" double din mounted telly with rca/svideo in and ur pretty much away, multimedia strictly though afaik, no web browsing
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Registered:
April 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 02:38
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Yeah i really want to do the modded xbox...When the time comes you all will know about it lol
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
August 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 03:03
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| fingers wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 11:57 |
I can see how all this work and I would also love to do it as well. I have comtemplated it before but figured it was too much hassle.
1. How would the issues of power be worked out? Cause when you switch the car off you'd want the computer to power down also otherwise you'd end up with a flat battery.
2 When you started it back up, wouldn't it take to long to boot up to be functional?
3 Also, with a regular Cd player, it remembers where your CD was up to, so when you switch it back on it continues where it left off. How would you do this with a PC? If you left it on, wouldn't it cause your battery to go flat?
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There are a few ATX power supplies that will power down the computer properly when you ignition is turned off. They have delays so that it shuts down after 10 seconds, 10 mintes, 20 minutes, an hour, etc...
I'd be leaving it on 10 minutes, that way if you just stop off at a servo or something you can come back to the car and don't need for it to boot up.
There are copies of windows that are stipped down and boot quick. There are also some similar Linux distributions.
Winamp will continue playing at the song that it was last on, and I'm sure you could get a plugin that could also remember the position in the middle of the song that it stopped at.
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Location:
Darwin
Registered:
April 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 03:23
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Hmmmm, That's quite interesting Major Clod.
This might warrant some further investigation...Definately sounds like something worthewhile mucking around with.
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Location:
ballarat
Registered:
April 2003
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Location:
Darwin
Registered:
April 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 03:38
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| ehendrikd wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 13:02 |
you need to kmow how to use linux tho, might be a problem lol
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Yeah, F#@k linux. If I was to do it it'd have to be using Windows.
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Location:
Central Coast, NSW
Registered:
February 2005
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 03:54
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| Major Clod wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 13:03 |
There are copies of windows that are stipped down and boot quick.
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You could even run windows CE
But if you're gonna do that, you might as well just have a pocketPC on your dash
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
January 2003
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 12:08
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All the major PC companies make little "Ultra Form Factor", they are worth looking at.
HP has such a computer, it's an "E-PC" 900MHz, 256MB RAM & a 40GB HDD. Onboard everything and has one optical drive. It's so small it actually has an external power supply. The computer runs off 19V @ 3.2Amps(MAX). I know the voltage is wrong, but alternators are supposed to charge at 14-18V's so.....I dunno, I'm no electrician though.
The other thing is this computers size it's 25 X 25 X 8cm's, fits perfectly under the seat of most cars.
Other good thing is it's price, I picked mine up for $200, with a Windows 2K OS licence. I'm running XP SP2 on it and it runs a treat.
Couple this up with a touchscreen somewhere and....
[Updated on: Fri, 08 April 2005 12:10]
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Location:
Perth, WA
Registered:
December 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Fri, 08 April 2005 15:10
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| fingers wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 09:57 |
I can see how all this work and I would also love to do it as well. I have comtemplated it before but figured it was too much hassle.
1. How would the issues of power be worked out? Cause when you switch the car off you'd want the computer to power down also otherwise you'd end up with a flat battery.
2 When you started it back up, wouldn't it take to long to boot up to be functional?
3 Also, with a regular Cd player, it remembers where your CD was up to, so when you switch it back on it continues where it left off. How would you do this with a PC? If you left it on, wouldn't it cause your battery to go flat?
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youll find that shutting a computer straight off is not problem at all, the only problem with doing so is if you have an application running which is saving/using/doing something.
if your at the desktop with nothing actually happenening, you can safely switch your PC off with no ill effects.
Eldar.O.
edit: PC's have a mode called hibernate, basically it saves all you settings and shit, so when you switch your pc back on, its exactly how you left it.
and as for boot up, you realise a fresh windows xp installation boots up in almost 3 seconds, this is from my experience using a Pentium 3 728 mhz machine with 256 MB of RAM...
Eldar.O.
[Updated on: Fri, 08 April 2005 15:14]
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Location:
Melbourne, Australia
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Sun, 10 April 2005 07:06
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| Alchemist wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 22:08 |
All the major PC companies make little "Ultra Form Factor", they are worth looking at.
HP has such a computer, it's an "E-PC" 900MHz, 256MB RAM & a 40GB HDD. Onboard everything and has one optical drive. It's so small it actually has an external power supply. The computer runs off 19V @ 3.2Amps(MAX). I know the voltage is wrong, but alternators are supposed to charge at 14-18V's so.....I dunno, I'm no electrician though.
The other thing is this computers size it's 25 X 25 X 8cm's, fits perfectly under the seat of most cars.
Other good thing is it's price, I picked mine up for $200, with a Windows 2K OS licence. I'm running XP SP2 on it and it runs a treat.
Couple this up with a touchscreen somewhere and....
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Ive got one of those eVectra things from HP as well and we were toying with the idea of an in car setup. The only thing was sorting out power. Now in the jaycar catalog it says that the inverters they have are fine for laptops (my old mans old HP laptop shares the same external supply as the eVectra) but I don't know if i would trust it. They had some nice sign-wave inverters too that would most likely be a better option but they are a tad more expensive.
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Location:
Forster NSW
Registered:
September 2004
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Re: Computer setups in cars
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Sun, 10 April 2005 14:36
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| Hirogen wrote on Sun, 10 April 2005 17:06 |
| Alchemist wrote on Fri, 08 April 2005 22:08 |
All the major PC companies make little "Ultra Form Factor", they are worth looking at.
HP has such a computer, it's an "E-PC" 900MHz, 256MB RAM & a 40GB HDD. Onboard everything and has one optical drive. It's so small it actually has an external power supply. The computer runs off 19V @ 3.2Amps(MAX). I know the voltage is wrong, but alternators are supposed to charge at 14-18V's so.....I dunno, I'm no electrician though.
The other thing is this computers size it's 25 X 25 X 8cm's, fits perfectly under the seat of most cars.
Other good thing is it's price, I picked mine up for $200, with a Windows 2K OS licence. I'm running XP SP2 on it and it runs a treat.
Couple this up with a touchscreen somewhere and....
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Ive got one of those eVectra things from HP as well and we were toying with the idea of an in car setup. The only thing was sorting out power. Now in the jaycar catalog it says that the inverters they have are fine for laptops (my old mans old HP laptop shares the same external supply as the eVectra) but I don't know if i would trust it. They had some nice sign-wave inverters too that would most likely be a better option but they are a tad more expensive.
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Dude, don't use an inverter for that.
Have a look here
http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=MP346 2&CATID=&keywords=dc%2Ddc&SPECIAL=& ;form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=& Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceM ax=&SUBCATID=
Jaycar cat number mp-3462 if that doesn't work.
DC-DC car power supplies for laptops, perfect for what you want to do, and only $89.50. Needless to say, it would also do a better job than an inverter.
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