Well, after about half a years worth of parts hunting(i.e. bargain hunting), money accumulating, planning, and researching, I finally got myself a carputer entertainment system installed. I will be posting pictures of my setup soon, don't expect any fancy set up, the system is very plain jane, but in my opinion, is pretty clean, and does what its supposed to do: music playing, video playing, gps capability, with the possibility of future upgrades associated with computers. Thoughts? Comments? Anything is welcomed since I'm pretty bored

EDIT:

Images added, scroll down for images.

 

i'm interested in seeing some pics. did you go mini itx? i've had plans for a computer in the max since about '98-'99. totalled the original car so of course it never got done. then after buying another in '04, i started on the project, bought an lcd, customized a center console peice and fabbed a mount, then i totalled that car (not my fault). so since then i've put it on hold, input shaft bearing job took priority. got that done a few months ago though so i should at least install the screen and take some pics... but yeah man, congrats!

 

more specs please.
if I could find a radio card for a puter I'd probably do it.
I'm not much of an MP3 /CD person.

 

yeap, mini-ITX route, but looking back, I could've gone mATX for more processing power and lower cost, since its not specialized.

specs:
the computer itself:

via m10000 board:
built in 1 gig processor
built in graphics
256 megs of ram
wireless capable

The screen:
-Xenarc 7 inch touchscreen in custom fold in casing (the non-motorized one, once folded in, the screen take up one Din slot, and looks alot like a cupholder. 4 way adjustable. I didn't go the double din built in way because A: security reason B: it will be next to impossible to see things clearly where it will sits.

The required amp:
Dual, I think 440 watt, don't know what rms it can handle, but got it on black friday for quite cheap, it's located in a location where I can remove and put in a better unit in minutes, so no biggie.

the goods:

-DVD capable

-GPS with voice navigation ( the whole reason I wanted a PC in my car)

-mp3, wma, CD, ogg, whatever format a computer can handle capable

-40 gig hard laptop hard drive (I may upgrade to 100, but 40 is enough for now)

-Bunch of divX music videos loaded

-10 channel equalizer outputting through a crappy built in sound card, but serves my purpose

Everything I listed here are subject to changes I can make, since its a computer, the possibility are almost endless. If you want to see the casing of the computer, and the screen, go to the post I made earlier entitled "what is the most expensive HU you ever put in a 3rd gen?"

Internetautomart: There are radio cards out there, but its a dying breed, alot of people went with satellite radio, which they interfaced with the computer via a custom serial cable, and the front end that I'm using (Road Runner) is capable of controlling it.

 

pretty slick. i thought about doing this awhile back, but decided against it for some reason. nice work man, id really like to see some pictures of you dont mind.

 

 

3rd gen experts can figure out what I did here.


NOTE: Not completed yet, still have to run power switch to the front, and some other things to make my life easier.

COMMENTS? Questions? Criticism? Hate Message? ALL WELCOMED!

Just noticed the date on the pictures, they are WRONG, these pictures were taken 1/31/2006

 

you put the computer tower where the drivers rear pasenger's feet go.....right?? under the carpet??? yop man, i wanna see this setou.. you live near me so maybe we can chill sometime

 

^^^^ would like to, but between work and school, I'm lucky to be able to squeeze in a couple hours of sleep man.

 

Just what the hell is a carpunter? Looks cool, keep us updated. If this works I would never have to leave the Max!!

 

carputer = stupid term people invented to call an in car computer system or car-computer. Its mostly complete, and it works, replacing my head unit and does a whole lot more.

 

Is that FrodoPlayer? if yes, you're running Windows? What's your boot time?

With no power sequencer, extra battery setup, startup/shutdown controller, etc... I'm assuming your computer can't withstand cranking and you just turn it on after you start the car?

A few more specs and install stuff would be cool. Obviously I have also looked into this, but you're right... the area we have for a touchscreen is way to low to make it easily usable.

Just for drool factor the clock opening is just large enough for the screen from a Sanyo 8100... I'm working on getting a pinout for the screen connections and once a "carputer" is installed... I have an easily hackable linux driver that should work with a little tweaking and good-bye stupid clock. Hello LCD clock that's whatever the heck color I want it and could be dynamically set to the atomic clock via Redhat's time servers (as long as I have a wi-fi connection).

 

definately interested in the clock, once you got it up and working let me know!!

the front end is actually Road Runner, since I found it actually consumes less CPU processing power.

tank setup? nawww, but I do have a carnetix power regulator, that has a start up shut down controller built in, and it will survive cranking just fine, but I refuse to automate everything,(sometimes you need to bleed just know you're alive), so I favor the switch, plus, I don't want the thing on all the time when I start the car, only when I need it to be.

boot time is about 10 or 15 sec, shutdown is about 6, but don't quote me on it. (it's on hibernate shut down mode)

the low down:

amp to power speakers
DC-DC regulator
the computer itself
touch screen
(you figure out what the stuff below is for)
wood panels and blocks of 2x4 from home depot
cheap roll of carpet from home depot, fits perfectly, and looks very OEM

BTW, the install is non destructive, which means that if I decide to pull the system, everything can be returned to its OEM state, with no screw holes, no cuts, no nothing.

 

i could probably whip up the clock thing alot easier than i could get a hold of the rest of the computer stuff as that all costs money. Once i figure out this pinout, i can atleast hook it up to an existing computer and make sure it'll do what I want it to. And be almost as proud of myself. Just knowing i could put it in my car if i wanted to.

 

oh i was wondering too. looks good.cool

 

Where do you have this mounted at and what sort of case did you go with? what sort of process do you have to deal with should you want to listen to a CD? I mean... where's the CD drive?

How is the sound quality running an amp from the computer?

Just as a side note, I noticed you're also (also meaning like me) running with a leatherless leather-wrapped shift ****... for having such a nice computer system...

 

The case I used is the Morex 2699b mini-itx case, fits perfectly where I had positioned it. (It will actually fit snuggly either under the passenger or driver seat)

Both the computer and the amp are located in the rear passenger feet well, one on either side, I built a top to make a false floor, and it also made the whole thing pitless if that makes sense. To me, it is very OEM looking. As for the CD thing, as of now, the drive is still with the computer, but since most of the music I have is in mp3 format, its no biggie to me. I however, are in the process of running a USB cable and have a USB slot loading laptop DVD drive attached to it, and will maybe mount it behind the e-brake, and will fab an opening.

Also, the sound quality that is pumped through my speakers right now are better than that of my kenwood HU, and this is on a two channel cheap DUAL branded amp. The computer with an external soundcard is capable of 6.1 channels, but in my case, I am happy with the built in sound card. Further more, I can fine tune the output through the winamp software based equalizer. Over all, I am happy with the sound output, no alternator noise, no background noise whatsoever when there is no music playing, basically, very clean output.

As for the leatherless shift ****, the previous owner did put an aftermarket shiftknob on, but I didn't like the way it felt when driving, so I put the original back on. I just don't want to "mod" things needlessly, and everything and anything that I put on my car actually serves a purpose, it may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it serves it purpose and does it well.

 

well since there's a thread about it now, i guess i have to post a couple pics. i went with the standard xenarc tsv. the flip out version didn't even exist when i bought mine. as you can see, i need to do some finishing touches on my trim piece. on with the pics..



who knows this game?


mshvsf rules


i should probably get on with the install


sorry, i don't want to jack your thread, but i had to post a couple pics. congrats on your install man, hope it all works nicely.

 

Glad to see a fellow car-PCer. Don't worry about the thread jacking, as long as its on topic, I'm cool with it. I think it will be a very nice install once you get it done. BTW, what is your system specs? Did you go with add on graphic card or on board? Were you able to obtain the legendary 800x484 resolution?

On a side note, the system have been in my car for a couple months now, freezing temp cold startup no problem and has been very stable.

I think this "mod" is worth a deeper look into, since the costs for my entire install costs less than most DVD GPS HU that are out there today.

 

hey that looks good, I am still thinkin about doin this too but I wanted to do the in dash motorized touch lcd. How did the 7' fit in the area? Did u have to do alot of cutting and stuff?

 

Hectic, since you have a 7" mounted in the stock stereo/cup holder space, i was wondering, how easily can it be seen from the driver's position? Any craning of the neck or is it pretty visible from where you sit?

 

disgruntled: thanks, my home pc is what's hooked up in those pics. i haven't built a pc for the car yet but odds are i will be upgrading my home pc and use my current mobo/cpu for the car. powering it is of course the problem and i'll probably get a pure sine inverter and run a controller card. i wish there was a dc-dc power supply out there that was capable. the $150w opus probably couldn't handle the load. anyway, current pc is a northwood p4, asus p4p800.

nforce:thanks, i didn't have to cut the double din window at all. i did have to cut out the cig lighter and ashtray and slide the stereo's mounting sleve in the void, apply bondo and shape with a dremel. i like how it turned out, but i have a little more work to do on it such as shave off more bondo right above the stereo and make it straight, then do a quality paint/finish job.

heh, i've wondered that myself it shouldn't be too washed out, i've estimated the angle and there's pretty good vertical visiblility..

 

ive also looked into doing this since its very cheap and very fiunctional

about 6 years ago when i was in highschool i had an old pentium 100 in the back seat with no monitor no keyboard nothing i just turned it on and had a winamp playlist in statup and had the sound output to a switch box that went to an amp VERY crude but it did work but i did have engine noise

i like the idea of still having a normal headunit and using the aux input for the sound that seems like a simpler and more functional setup but both your setups are very nice

what kinda prices did you guys end up spending on just the computer i remember looking and i think i could biuld one for 300-400ish with the special dc-dc power suply is that about what you guys spent?

 

i paid $373 for my screen shipped, which was higher than i was hoping but some sniper bumped it up $50 at the end of the auction. i'm not sure what they're going for these days, but odds are they're still in the $300's at least. of course you can get a cheaper screen but xenarc is by far the best. touchscreen, warranty, no dead pixel guarentee (which is over for me and it's not even installed) vga input, high resolution, quality picture.

 

I got my screen for 250 shipped, the guy who bought it only turned it on once, and decided to buy a motorized one. It was never installed in a car until now.

I got the whole CPU off ebay for 250, case, mobo, HD, memmory and all.

All together, I would say my whole set up should technically cost sub 700 bucks.

as for the fold out screen, it sits very snuggly in the compartment, with about 1 cm of room to spare.

 

this is so tempting.. i wanna do this now!

 

Nice Job! What did you do for the GPS functionality? I've seen the little GPS dongles on ebay for $20.00 or so. What software are you using for the GPS mapping?

 

GPS is obtained through a program called iGuidance, though there are many others where you can choose from. You will also need a GPS mouse/receiver, most seems to prefer serial, since they tend to be less problematic when hibernating and resuming the computer. The whole package can be have for 180 bucks or less, depends on where you shop

Also, GPS mouses should cost a bit more than 50 bucks each, or at least a brand that you know, or you will suffer from satellite drop and lost signals.

 

Looks cool !! It would be cool to interface it in to the cars ECU. You could use it as a built in PC for performance tweeks.
SEE NO Z.

 

actually it does, if only our cars had OBD-II, dude, its a computer, with the right software and hardware I/O, you can tune your ECU and do a whole lot more. People have successfully controlled their climate control, and popping door locks with in car computer set up.

 

well you could always get XM and run the audio to the computer

 

I've thought about it.
well this upcoming max may get a tad bit non-stock