47 replies to this topic

[P91MER]

ok, i wasn't going to post on here, because it all looked ok for a start off, then it just got out of hand!!!

You can pick up touch-screens 7" for about £230, and actual in-car pcs for about £300, this will run off a 12V supply, and have sound, grafix, and processors already built into it, that ain't actually that bad. You can also get a little device that boots the PC when you turn your ignition on. My mate has bought all this for his escort, but he is at work at the min so i can't get you any links.

The fm thingy you are on about is called an FM modulator, you can either get ones that run inline with your ariel, so it doesn't actually transmit it though the airwaves, just sends the signal down the line, or you can get other ones that actually transmit it through the airwaves, but as these are something like a category D transmitter, it isn't illegal to use them. if it is a really big expensive one, that transmits it for miles then yes, you would be put in jail! but the in car ones only transmit upto about 10 metres. The sound quality isn't brill, but it depends on how often you replace the batteries! i am not sure about the inline ones, but i am sure they are better as they don't send it through the airwaves, you just run the ariel through it.

[philster]

I couldn't find a way to PM pictures, so here is my screen...

the only problem you may find is with the display. The resolution of a pc monitor is a lot higher than a tv so when using tv-out it won't look as clear on you're tft screen especially when it comes to text. When i tried my 7" tft it was okay on say 640 x 480 res but once you got any higher the text becomes quite hard to read. That said you can customise the text sizes and fonts on windows to help make it more readable it just takes a bit of fettling to get it looking right.

[philster]

just had a quick surf and have found some companies that supply in-car pc, they all seem a bit pricy but it gives you an idea of what's needed and whats available.

Gonna have a look on e-bay and price it up using a used laptop and some other bits aswell.

car-pc.net
via tech
karpc

Check this software out as well it will run on something as simple as a 200mhz processor, mmmm cheap.

mp3

[tom]

As for special carputers, they may seem to be quite cheap, but they are very slow in comparison to normal computers. What I'd do, is build yourself a cheap computer, set it up through a normal monitor first, then install the relevant software to get it to work through a small screen.

There are details HERE on how to do it when the LCD is mounted inside a computer, for a car it is essentially the same.

For your PC, I'd reccomend:

Shuttle SK43G Barebone System - It's basically a mini-PC, it's tiny, and includes the case, a special motherboard, graphics card (with TV-Out), sound card and a power supply. QF: 057915 £117.00

AMD AthlonXP 2000+ - Well, you'll need a processor, this little beautie will be fine for MP3s/DVDs. QF: 060713 £31.99

Crucial 256mb DDR333 PC2700 CL 2.5 - A wee stick 'o RAM. 256megs is plenty. QF: 042151 £29.36

Sony 52x32x52x16 Silver - This little beaut' will play DVDs as well as burn CDs. And because it's silver, it won't look silly in your silver case. QF: 059692 £22.25

Alps 1.44 Silver Floppy Drive - You never use it, except when you first build your PC, but it's nice to have. QF: 055687 £3.89

Maxtor 120Gb 7200rpm 8mb Cache HDD - Well a 120gb hard drive is ample, you'll get thousands of tunes on that, or you can even rip your DVDs onto it to save changng disks. 8mb of cache will eman that it's plenty fast. QF: 043152 £45.89

Kensington TurboBall 4 button Mouse - a mouse like this allows you to move the cursor around without having to move your hand, ideal for in-car use. QF: 017791 £18.66

Microsol Silver Wireless Multimedia Keyboard - Wireless keyb allows you more freedom within the car. QF: 061874 £6.43

If you go to www.ebuyer.com, and search for those QF codes, thenyou can add that entire list to your cart quite quickly.

Well, added up, that lot equals £275.47, + VAT, and delivery, in total: £329.59

+ £60 for your screen and inverter, £389.59, not bad for a carputer, eh?

Sling that little beast in your boot, or under your back seat, and have wires coming off into the front of the car for the mouse/keyboard/screen, and simply use a 3.5mm to 2 Phono lead to plug the sound card into an amp. Bingo.

[mighty_mini]

i built my car pc for pennies. i used an atx mobo,900mhz amd athlon processor,30Gbhdd,DVD-writer,wireless keyboard&mouse(was expensive @ £40)

if you goto mediacar.com , this is the software i used. very simple,clear and carPC's arnt designed to run high res's.

The program is good and i tried lots of different programs.. i am a member of mp3car.com, fully of useful info too. best thing to do is look at the newbie guide.

my screen isnt the best, and nowhere near the best.. but for the price im asking, you couldnt get a screen at all.



as for your spec, unfortunaly its too high and will require a decent 800watt inverter, at least
.
my suggestion is to get onto www.mini-itx.com, go for one of the all-in-one boards. they're only 12" square, and have all the bits onboard,inc processor for around £100.

if you want, you can have a dc-dc power supply with the itx board for about £40 and it runs straight off the 12v supply.

the 533mhz-1ghz boards are amasing value for money and the nemia100 is the best around at £130-£150 depending on features that are included.

that board would fit under the seat of a mini, but i had mine in the boot. but will also fit under the dash too.

[philster]

i've dug out an old celeron400 that i used to use as my backup pc for when mine went belly up. Its got a dvd drive and a 10gig hard drive, usb, and network plus the main board is only 6" x 10", It also has onboard tv-out. I'd only need to get some memory for it.

I've just had a look at in-car pc power supplies and found a company that does them for as little as £20 this would avoid using a power invertor plus would cost less, weigh less, and take up less space which in a mini is obviusly a problem.

The pc also has infra-red onboard so that widens then posibilities further.

Sorry for hi-jacking the thread alex just got all excited there for a minute!

[Alex1380]

i already got the pc to go in. right as for the screen ill have it. ill email you shortly. if ill connect the pc to it yet im not sure i mite just get a ps2 or connect my game cube to it.
thanks
Alex.

[mighty_mini]

just to get u all thinking a little more :tongue:

USB GPS-receivers on ebay go for £40-£60.

this means u can have sat nav and even pinpoint speedo readings. dont have 2 bother with a speedo cluster then, hehehe.

overall though, for what you can do with a carPC, its excellent value for money.

could u get a sat nav system, brand new for under 300? which talks to you? whilst playing MP3's/DVDS/DIVX/RADIO/GAMES/ETC


also i had a webcam for my rear view mirror, but unfortunatly never got round to fitting it in the bodywork like i wanted to.

i would suggest a Wireless network card (if you park within 100ft of your house) so that if you want, you can just transfer files over instantly... and have access to internet from your car if u needed it quickly b4 u went out

[rob mini]

thanks for the ideas peeps, looks like i wont be buying that ps2 so quickly now

rob

[Alex1380]

I've just had a look at in-car pc power supplies and found a company that does them for as little as £20 this would avoid using a power invertor plus would cost less, weigh less, and take up less space which in a mini is obviusly a problem

where!!!??? tell me where i find one
tell me
tell me!!
tell me NOW
lol
thanks
Alex.

[philster]

here's the website that sells the 12v power supplies, look under 'mini itx products'.
I'm gonna get one ordered in next few weeks so i can get cracking.

icp

I've stripped that old 400mhz system and it's pretty compact without the case and drives.

Here's a pic of the components without the power supply, i've decided on ditching the dvd-rom drive because i've got the ps2 already.



this will give you a idea of how compact the m/board is



I like the wireless networking idea although i did think about mounting the harddrive in a caddy so i can just remove it then plug into the pc in the house.

[mighty_mini]

just a note on the HDD...


Basically its a spinning disc (as simple as it sounds to explain) the heads are very close to the surface and possibility of buggering the HDD is present.. i found with my HDD that mounting it on its end was the best solution for preventing any problems.. either that, or get a laptop HDD.

I never caused any probs with my HDD, in fact im using it in my xbox now, no bad sectors etc.


Nice sized board you have, decided where you will mount it yet?

[Miniman]

kool this all looks really kool or ye does ne1 kno y thy make pc cases so big wen thy have so much room left in them i could fit my pc into such a smaller cae and i alredy have a midi case

[philster]

just a note on the HDD...


Basically its a spinning disc (as simple as it sounds to explain) the heads are very close to the surface and possibility of buggering the HDD is present.. i found with my HDD that mounting it on its end was the best solution for preventing any problems.. either that, or get a laptop HDD.

I never caused any probs with my HDD, in fact im using it in my xbox now, no bad sectors etc.


Nice sized board you have, decided where you will mount it yet?

yeah i have thought of possible damage to the harddrive and mounting it on its side makes good sense cheers mate.
Iam also in the process of trying to find a suitable box, i've found two at maplin.co.uk that would be suitable.
As for mounting iam toying with the idea of mounting it inside one of the rear bins. I was thinking of under the rear seat but that would be difficult if was to have the hardrive vertical.
Also i'm looking into different input devices, i already have an infra-red sensor that allows me to program any remote to work with it. It takes a bit of setting up but the results are worthwhile. I also want some sort of hard wired input device like a keyboard or mouse but obviously you don't want to be mucking about with either of these while driving. There must be some products available its just a case of having a look about.
I also though of adding a smartmedia card reader so i can add music and video through that or even play them straight from it.

[philster]

kool this all looks really kool or ye does ne1 kno y thy make  pc cases so big wen thy have so much room left in them i could fit my pc into such a smaller cae and i alredy have a midi case

This is usually down to the fact that most people want a pc to be upgradable so you need spare 5 1/4" bays and so on to do this, plus on many newer pc's cooling of the processor/graphics etc. is a big issue on smaller cases.
You can buy small pc's just check these out

spoton computers