53 replies to this topic

[drummerian]

how much would you be looking for?

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

I'll be as honest as I can though first though. My laptop is 4 years old and its the hdd that was installed when I bought it from Dell. I use my laptop daily. I changed the hdd christmas just gone. It did used to randomly (maybe one a week) make a click noise, everything would hicup, then another week or so would go by. I was just gonna use it as an external backup drive, but if you'd like it then how does £12 posted sound?

[Fevmeister]

If it is a low budget project then put it on hold untill you have more funds because unless you have quite alot of money (£500+) then the 'pc' won't be very good. There is something that you should look at thought. But it takes up quite alot of room, especially in a Mini, it is a pc contained in a 7x7x7 square with a 6'' touchscreen contained within it. You wire it up as you would a headunit. It is quite easy. But I think they go for about £600-700.

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

Cheaper and more fun to build it from scratch! I wouldnt say you need more than £500 to have a good CarPC.

- Motherboard & 1Ghz - 1.5Ghz Processor - £80 - £150
- 1x 1Gb DDR RAM - £20 - £30 (eBay)
- CF IDE Adatper + 4Gb CF Card - £25 (eBay)
- 160w PSU - £40
- Case - £FREE (D.I.Y)
- 6" - 8" Touchscreen - £110 - £150 (eBay)
- Misc Cables / Extensions / Parts - £30


Your looking about £350 - £400 for a very tidy CarPC that does everything your home computer can.

Extra's like webcams, wifi and such would up the budget much either.
- Webcam - £10
- USB Wirless Adapter - £10

Edited by MiNi2iNFiNiTi, 24 March 2008 - 02:17 PM.

[drummerian]

yeah! im thinking can do it even cheaper than that to be honest!

[drummerian]

however, these screen i want will set me back:
http://www.lilliputu...p...0&Itemid=81

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

yeah! im thinking can do it even cheaper than that to be honest!

Some second hand stuff is like new, but dont skimp on the goods by buying cheaper stuff because you may find your not happy with what you have bought once you start playing aroud with it all.

[lil'jack]

however, these screen i want will set me back:
http://www.lilliputu...p...0&Itemid=81

#
thats the one i got, i got it off ebay for £170 posted from usa they do come up every now and then second hand but still go for the same money, silly really that people pay for used ones when new are same price.

[drummerian]

is it any good, i hear they have alot of problems!

[Fevmeister]

That lilliput screen is poor,. My friend has it, and it lasted 2 weeks in his jaguar

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

I had this one, and would highly recommend it! It has its own surround so you can either fibreglass it into the dash or cover it in material (my choice in the Focus) and not have to worry about taking the screen apart. I didnt buy it from Hong Kong though, someone in the UK was selling it at the time. The touchscreen is very good and easy to calibrate, can usually get away with using your finger instead of the stylus too. The only downside is when the sun is out you can forget about trying to use it while driving. Best advice I can give is either make your own interface with large fat finger ready buttons, or dowload one of the ones already made.

Edited by MiNi2iNFiNiTi, 25 March 2008 - 03:27 PM.

[Fevmeister]

infiniti, what functions do you have on your car pc in your focus?

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

I dont have it anymore, sold it just before christmas.

It had :

- Wireless (802.11g) internet access, but could also be used to transfer files from my laptop when I parked the car on the driveway.

- Wardriving, which for those who dont know is driving around detecting wireless access points and I admit now that I took advantage of the open networks but not for malicious usage.

- Bluetooth connectivity which I also used to sending files to and from my mobile.

- Webcams in front and rear windscreens which I used for kicks mostly, could you could record the streams.

- Play music, video and image slideshows using WMP11 / a custom interface I managed to mash together using code off the internet and a little photoshop magic.

- Boot up in about 5 seconds using the 'hibernate once resume many' style setup, using a CF IDE adapter and a 512mb CF card.

- Chat on MSN when in range of a connected wireless network using the windows on screen keyboard, possible only with the stylus! LOL

- Had a few emulators with my favourite roms like Sonic, Mario, etc. (the classics! ) and a cheap USB control pad which I configured using a program that mimics assigned keypresses.



I already had a standalone GPS system but you can buy USB ones and I probably would have if I didnt have a NavMan. These CarPC's can literally do anything your home computer can, providing you have enough juice to power everything! I was going to buy more USB toys and a OBD-II connector, but I decided to go to uni and then sell my car so it all went by the by. I had some crazy plans that I have never seen before in a car installation but had neither the time nor the money to do it all.

This is a little blog I had running while building it, was rolling under a different name back then

Edited by MiNi2iNFiNiTi, 25 March 2008 - 07:35 PM.

[Fevmeister]

That is amazing lol. But with these usb router wireless reception things that all the phone networks are offering you could plug one of those in now and just use the internet absolutely anywehre!

[MiNi2iNFiNiTi]

Yeah, because they are cheap as chips (Yes I am a student guilty of watching bargain hunt!) now but weren't really available when I was building mine. Those who live in the US, where they have city wide wireless, are really lucky. With wireless always available to a CarPC, you could be driving down the motorway with a voice call open on live messenger to someone who is sitting at home on their computer. The mobile computing age really is upon us!!!!

Edited by MiNi2iNFiNiTi, 25 March 2008 - 07:52 PM.