Carputer
 

Yup... time to take Wardriving Pimp and Music Pirate to a whole new level:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWN:IT

Cheaper than the underpowered EPIA alternatives, and a LOT cheaper than the equivalent or higher powered mini-ITX stuffs. Next installment, I show you how to run free 10.5" LCD... most likely via composite feed so not true VGA, but...

I'll have right at $100 in everything, and the free 40 watt amp and Polk Audio 6.5" speakers should make everything sound nice for the price.

Re: Carputer
 

Don't know if you saw it in the auction but your going to need a harddrive. What are you going to use to power it in the car?

Re: Carputer
 

I have 530-ish gigs of storage across three PCs, two laptops, and one external USB HDD. I imagine I can spare a HDD somewhere along the way.

I also have four DC-AC inverters. If that is too much wiring, I understand eGay has cheap 12-18V DC to DC converters available, which should suffice for the C10/S10 series 19V input needs. I also have a spare targus DC-DC converter that should do 19V, and three spare T20-specific power supplies for my two T20s that makes losing the Targus "backup" a non-issue.

Have I also mentioned I have a lot of swill laying around? Some of which actually has some real world value, beyond internet cranks like myself?

Re: Carputer
 

Hi

I use this:

HW: Notebook HP/Compaq nx9020 1.3GHz 100Gb HDD, DVD/CD
DC/AC adapter (12V/220V)
USB Hub (4x USB with external adapter)
NAVILOCK GPS receiver
USB/Serial adapter (for LM-1)
External TFT NEWISION with touchpad NW 619VT

SW: MediaCar, RoadRunner, GPS Navi,LogWorks2,Win XP Pro ,etc.


notebook is in trunk, into dash board is TFT monitor with touchpad
audio signal from notebook to SONY CDX M1000TF

Fugo

Re: Carputer
 

Better catch up :) Been runnin a carpc for over a year now. I would never own another car without one. Over 3,000 mp3's wma's etc stored on this bitch. Its like riding round with a DJ, satellite radio that only plays the songs you want to hear, mobile movie theater and tuner on wheels. Touchscreen Crome Pro tuning owns you! http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=76383 <---- my setup w/assload of pics

Re: Carputer
 

Vaj get's in there sometimes and you must disinfect

Re: Carputer
 

why dont you just mount an older socket a motherboard up in the dash somewhere. a case is just going to take up to much room. Ive throughly thought about doing the carputer. I just think the novility of having it would ware off after a week. A cool thing to do would be wiring it up to a self made USB device, making your own software so that when you type in a password and hit enter, thats what starts the car.

Re: Carputer
 

my cd player plays mp3 cd's...you ricers.

Re: Carputer
 

mine plays wma's too, and came with a wireless thingy for ipod's :6

Re: Carputer
 

post----- and display ignorance FTW!!! >:D

Re: Carputer
 

Bizzar that setup is sick, I might do one once I get a car I actualy want to put it in

Re: Carputer
 

:o

Re: Carputer
 

egotistical ---- editing other peoples posts FTW!!!

Re: Carputer
 

wow jd. ur actually a real mod now.. maybe u wont have to beat/cry urself to sleep tonight because of ur wasted life after all
too low of a blow? no? :1

Re: Carputer
 

Bizzar, your set up is very impressive. Nice write-up in that link.

Re: Carputer
 

i had a carpc before in my astro van. dont use inverters there ----.. get a opus DC-DC atx power supply and a 7" touchscreen and u can use that powersupply in some cheap pc, it turns the computer on when your ignition goes on and saftly shuts it off after. and it survives engine crank without reboot

Re: Carputer
 

E-PC motherboard, socket 370, for ppl wanting to assemble their own cheaply with parts laying around: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=99243

Re: Carputer
 

I have a lot of cheap parts for anyone attempting this...went into my closet, going to build one fo these for <100$ now. I am selling a tiny ass ATX mobo, like 1 foot square, with a 1ghz I belive amd duron...someone buy it for this project, only trick is it does nto have working mous/keyboard slots I used usb ones...has built in audio, video, usb, etc so you need NO cards. :P

I built one before, ended up putting it in a friends car, decided to do this for the white pooer teg this summer.

Re: Carputer
 

Bit the bullet and bought an 8" VGA touch screen. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=8074307761

Re: Carputer
 

Nice grab! I'm thinking asbout going to a 10" heh. The 8 is nice and I like it. Works damn good and has a super nice picture but a 10 would be better for tuning. Although...mounting that bitch in my dash might be a challenge.

Re: Carputer
 

Eh, I just wanted the VGA connection, I'm willing to bite the bullet on resolution. It's really just a toy and not a real computer. Heaviest duty it'll run is playing NES and SNES emulators :P I'll set it up so I can use it as an internet portal for one of my laptops if I need an actual computer; I'll throw the high powered wardriving gear on the car permanently and wire it to the Carputer.

FYI, the 866 Mhz P3 arrived today. It's a bit bulkier than I had pictured in my mind's eye from the measurements, but it'll fit under the pass seat no problemo once I remove the underseat floorbrace. I'll brace around the Carputer, since my daughter sits in the pass seat. :)

I'm sitting at $172 spent, more than I wanted to spend, but I've also been given 7" and 10.5" LCDs that do not have VGA connections... and a spare 600 Mhz P3 on mini-ATX (6.7 by 9.x" mobo) laying around. I'll probably do something wacky with that at some point. Give it away. Or use it, if I get a 1G Oddessy like I want.

Re: Carputer
 

Goddamn, Bizzar, I finally got around to looking at your Car PC! I figured it was going to be one of those faggot pre-packaged $$$ units. I guess I was real ------- wrong... :l

You got moxy, son. I want everything up front in the car, because it's used as a truck, but what you've done tempts me sorely.

BTW, how does the RIT dye hold up on your seats? It doesn't come off, does it? I've got a $50 reclining race seat I never paid Joe Burke for :l that I'd like to turn black.

Re: Carputer
 

BTW, this is a good deal... there are generic 12-18 DC/DC converters running around so you don't need the silly AC adapter. http://cgi.ebay.com/HP-E-PC-PIII-933...QQcmdZViewItem

Be forewarned, my C10 866Mhz won't recognise my Logitech USB trackball on boot, but it does recognise my M$ USB keyboard. Using a wireless remote optical mouse/keyboard option might require jiggling the BIOS (which are limited, might not be possible) to make work. Not that there's anything wrong with PS2 connections, but cables start to suck after a while.

Re: Carputer
 

for 50 shipped ill send you an msi microatx board with a 1.8ghz duron. an extra 20 for the gfx card. nvida 5500

Re: Carputer
 

Complete with heatsink/fan, HDD, RAM, enclosure?

Re: Carputer
 

no hdd orenclosure. I could probably throw a 512 in it. and yeah, heatsink and fan.

Re: Carputer
 

Thanks for the comments :) The dye held up pretty good although I just replaced them with some nice $500 leather Ricaro wanna-b's ouch!! They did fade a little back to a purply dark blue/black color but no, it never bleed on my clothes or anything. Trust me once you have a carpc up and running and all the bugs worked out your standard cd players just suck. I commute 40 minutes one way to work (down from an hour 20 min at my last job) so I use it alot. I watch the news on the way home, sometimes a movie..well listen to it mostly but between a touchscreen and limewire you cant go wrong. Let me know how it turns out.

Re: Carputer
 

rawr, I might be interested. Can you sit on it for a week?

Got the E-PC up and running on a dyne:bolic linux CD, time to figure which one of my HDs I want to format and install... Probably fit the thing into the car this weekend while Trav-ASS hammers on his pile of ---- in my driveway.

Re: Carputer
 

yeah, its just stuff i have around from an older computer.

Re: Carputer
 

I cant find my 5500, but i have a gforce 2 that i could throw with the board for free.

Re: Carputer
 

/haha
I have to race you nogs to build this, but having trouble finding a <10$ power inverter. Ill open up my psu if i have to, to avoid spending more on this project then a good sandwich. JD, I'll most likely have a trunkful of random pc ---- if and when you see me at the pinks car ----, so bring pocket change if you need something. :6

I have 4 pcs in pieces in the back of my car right now, trying to find the least power draining one, mainly to watch porno at 100mph+

and whats up with the 2 screens you mentioned??

Re: Carputer
 

bump because i saw this and i KNEW JD would want to read.

http://www.denguru.com/2006/06/22/ro..._pc/index.html

they say a regular 3.5"hdd wont last long. i would have to agree.

Re: Carputer
 

Ask Bizzar what sort of HDD he has. Ask him how many db he pushes since it's within 6" of his subs. Ask him how long it has lasted. He'll be more than happy to answer.

Re: Carputer
 

db dont affect a hdd :P

db = air pressure, hdd = sealed. its Geforces that kill a hdd, and in a car going over bumps and cracks and burnouts will not be nice to it. But im sure Jd, that you'll write a 2 page rebuttle now wont you :P

but lets not argue. laptop drives are better for this for more reasons than just that.

1. noise
2. power consumption
3. size (easier to hide away). ;)

Re: Carputer
 

db = vibration. Maybe you've never heard a ghetto homie's stereo where everything not loctited down rattles? Also, HDDs are not sealed airtight. Look at one closely sometime.

Noise, I coud care less. I won't hear it over my stereo. Power I have to burn. The 3.5" fits inside my enclosure just fine... smaller is pointless.

Re: Carputer
 

What, if anything, will you be using for navigation? I just realized I might have to spend some money if I want that... and I am trying to decided between spending $$ on a new 7-8" flat screen, or reusing a ~10 year old mac flat screen converted to run with pc's.... :S

Re: Carputer
 

bump to see ------ progress? jd hows your ----
I got my inverter mounted, my wiring routed, looks really sexy and impossible to find. all my wiring is sub carpet. Anyways, got the computer to boot in the car and all, now working on getting a wireless keyboard/mouse and a screen, 15" is way too big.

If anybody sees a good deal on the mouse/keyboard (must be usb) or a 6/7/8" lcd, lemme know. :y

Re: Carputer
 

I'm surfing the web on the future Carputer now. I'll probably use an inverter + a circuit Sinner linked me to that tells the computer to boot up and shut down with the ignition.

Really haven't done anything with the P3 600 mini-atx mobo, and just got the 10.5" screen for the second Carputer last night... time to get cracking on it.

Re: Carputer
 

How much did you pay for the screen? I have everything I need to do it. Just laying around my room, but the screen and inverter. Turns out i had a few sound cards and another graphics card in that one box.

Re: Carputer
 

The 7" VGA touchscreen is $120 shipped to the door... the eGay situation is kinda flaky, the guy seems to legitimately have a misunderstanding, but it could be a flaky seller; the same screens go for $130-150 plus shipping. *shrug*

I stripped down the AutoCinema 10.4" LCD tonight... it's a flip down monitor setup that some little kid yammed on and broke the hinges. I removed the monitor and hinge assy, and now it looks like a decent piece I can stick somewhere. Seems to take composite video only, and the converter box for it is wierd. I might try to run this with a video card that supports composite out, or composite out via the VGA connector.

Look into some of the *real* carputer power supplies available in the $70 range, they support a good amount of power and have intelligent power on/off schemes. mp3car.com for all sorts of good details.