14 replies to this topic

[Tom Sanderson]

my dad is a driving instructor and he is looking at getting an incar computer so he can demonstrate the theory and hazard perseption.

he has got a citroen c2

could you tell us what would be the best thing to do/get?
putting this in?
and the cost of it?

any help please, not really a whiz when it comes to things like this

[Jammy]

Have a look on Digital Car forum, and this site.

You can get special power supplys that provide a stable supply of power so the computer doesn't turn off when you crank the engine and they make sure the computer boots down properly when you turn off the car.

You can either get a few types of motherboard that are smaller than your average tower computer motherboard. ITX and Micro ATX are very small and small respectively. Then you can get allsorts of LCD screens, a GPS receiver for sat nav, even wire it to your stereo.

If you were completely building a new computer with screen I'd expect it to cost ~£500. You can build it cheaper by using any parts you may already have or using second hands parts, etc.

[Tom Sanderson]

so you could have the all the computer parts in the boot say, and then just the screen on the dash, great
so is it touch screen or is there some sort of controller. how would the pupils be able to awnser the questions?

[Jammy]

You could use a touchscreen, or have a mini keyboard. If you use Windows theres a keypad that you can bring up on the screen for use with touchscreens.

Mounting in the boot is also not a problem, I've seen a few installs that do this, but then you need to connect to a monitor thats at the front of the car.

[THedooBZ]

check out http://www.mini-itx.com/

these are tiny pcs which are more than capable of running the stuff you would need and yes you can connect a touchscreen monitor aswell. you want to look at the online store, but check out some of the custom built ones like a pc in E.T.

you would be able to fit these either in the glovebox or even into the dash with some modification.

[miniboo]

simplest and easiest way is to get a laptop!!

[Tom Sanderson]

the trouble with laptops is that the pupil can't use it when they are in the drivers seat and they can't really use it when it is in the passengers seat.

and hopefully we will get something where you don't have to do many mods to the car as we get a new one about 2-3 years

check out http://www.mini-itx.com/

these are tiny pcs which are more than capable of running the stuff you would need and yes you can connect a touchscreen monitor aswell. you want to look at the online store, but check out some of the custom built ones like a pc in E.T.

you would be able to fit these either in the glovebox or even into the dash with some modification.

been looking round that site and theres some really cool stuff

considering someof them items

[ballen]

the trouble with laptops is that the pupil can't use it when they are in the drivers seat and they can't really use it when it is in the passengers seat.

You don't have to use the screen., laptops come with a VGA port, so you can plug in a touch screen and use the laptop as a normal pc, if you use a docking station it's also easy to take out and use should you need to. Also, car power adapters are relativly cheap. I'll be using a laptop when I fit mine, seems a nicer solution, everything in one bundle.

[the_random]

I dunno if your still looking, but i have used In Car PC to get quotes before. They are very helpful, you put in the options etc. and the car and they email u a quoate and post you a quote, they will aslo let you have a go in the demo car and will install it at you house....worth looking up

[Woody]

Ebay have some car PCs , seem very reasonable

[Birdie!]

i have just fitted a carputer in my mates 200sx and a 7" tuch screan its not to hard. just get a small case and put it under the drivers seat with a masive hard drive.

[samwell]

you cannot run a touchscreen of a vga port surely. My best bet would be to buy the AMD chip (google it) bolster up the harddrive. Look for guides on how to make it run xubuntu (linux) and then run it to a non-touchscreen 7"monitor that u can pick up dirt cheap and then use a mini keyboard or mouse as ur input deviced. Means u can have the whole thing all in for under £200 what with xubuntu being free and all

[Jammy]

I wouldn't bother with these pre-built carPCs, you can generally built a much better one for less money! Look at websites like MP3-Car.com, digital-car.co.uk and LinITX.com. And you can run a touchscreen off a VGA port, although you need to use a USB port for the input in addition.

[samwell]

so no u cant run a touchscreen off a vga port...

[Goines]

I've had a carputer in my Matrix for a couple of years. The best resource for info is http://mp3car.com/vbulletin/ There's a lot of info there both for the hardware and software.

And I'd recommend getting a touchscreen, just runs off vga and a usb port, and is very responsive. The forums over there have a lot of frontends available, but you could easily write your own, so you wouldn't need a keyboard or mouse.