CystumMax

Hey nice set up, You can go ahead and post your pictures, I won't have any problem with that. I was thinking about cutting the bar off, then i said no. I just use the remote.

CystumMax

It hasn't yet, I am going to test it a little more. putting fan back where the speak is a good idea, you can wire the fan into the 12V power from the car, instead of the screen. But you have to take the screen a part. to remove the speaker, so you can get more air vent. I was thinking about mounting the fan out side of the monitor case. http://www.crazypc.com/Merchant2/mer...ct_Code=5602it Not that great, but it should a little quite.
http://www.crazypc.com/Merchant2/mer...duct_Code=5603

I'll get some pic from my sound system later tonight, but my digital camera is pretty messed up.

nadir_s

well, since your headunit lights up blue, the screen looks pretty cool at night with all its buttons lit up. I did end up cutting my bar .. then regretted it lol. But then after the night time, it made me think twice... looks alright but u lose that factory look i guess.

oh well, time for a dash kit.

what did u end up doing for power?

PhillyDonut

iTrader: (3)

Note: I have not installed a carputer so am only speaking on research.

How about the Mac Mini as a carputer if you only want essentials?
And any of you running emulators?

My top concern is also the temp and I've thought of using this Inside/Outside Temp Gauge. It comes with a long wired sensor that is meant to be put outside of your car to monitor outside temperature, while the unit itself has another built in sensor for inside temp (or temp around the unit)... I also though about running a small AC tube through the middle console and out under the seat to cool the unit (I am planning on using laptop or THIS stated to be able to operate at 120 degrees and uses a 12V power supply!

Anyway, the idea is to put the outside sensor into the carputer casing so you can monitor the 'outside' temp as the actual temp inside the carputer so you won't boot the sucks when it is to hot to handle. I actually had this before but an older model and it is pretty accurate/consistant to the point that it is almost always reads 5 degree higher. Also, the blue indigo looks VERY nice too! My past problem with it is in HOT summers, the battery leaked once (but the unit worked like a champ), then I tough why not drop the voltage and splice into the dash clock's 12v to 3v so it is constantly powered like the dash clock. Btw, 2 AAA last about 8 months with a good amount of using the indiglo button

My million dollar question is do any of you know if there is such a device that can carry out an action. Let me explain. Say I build a simple GUI and with some buttons, and I click on this button labeled 'Open trunk', is there a device that can carry out the send a signal out from a program to trigger the trunk to pop? Of course I'd wired the device into the trunk mechanism. Kind of like pushing the trunk open switch on an alarm remote. All i need is a device that can send a signal from computer program. If there is, then I will have so much fun with voice commands.

Sorry to ramble, but man I am all excited about doing this again...

l3ftonm3

iTrader: (2)

My million dollar question is do any of you know if there is such a device that can carry out an action. Let me explain. Say I build a simple GUI and with some buttons, and I click on this button labeled 'Open trunk', is there a device that can carry out the send a signal out from a program to trigger the trunk to pop? Of course I'd wired the device into the trunk mechanism. Kind of like pushing the trunk open switch on an alarm remote. All i need is a device that can send a signal from computer program. If there is, then I will have so much fun with voice commands.

Well in windows when you go to your cd-rom drive in the task manager I remember you can right click it and tell it to eject. So in the same sense its almost the same command, would take some programming though.

Luigi38

iTrader: (2)

YES, it's possible. I had a project in school with cameras and a program in Java that moved the camera (move, tilt, zoom, etc). You would need a library that basically tells the programs how to handle the hardware (in you pc BIOS). I'm a sophomore, so I don’t really know how to write libraries, but if you find a CS dude, he can prolly help you.
Ohh and the relay to the trunk (or other things) so it can open it, or tap into the existing one.

I personally think it’s not worth the trouble.

ohh and then write your program (GUI) that basically does all the thinking.

Luigi38

iTrader: (2)

Another IDEA.
I have a modded xbox (200GB). I can burn games into it, movies, music and has a friendly GUI (interface), has a wireless remote and a controller
It has Media Center(similar to windows media center)
So, I'll think it will be better than a pc.
**I'll post pics tomorrow, forgot my camera****
it's just like a pc, so later on this summer I'm gonna slap it inside my car, under the passenger seat.
I'm swapping my bose system, so while at it I'm putting th Xbox.

sorry, I didn't mean to jack your thread.

RichMax

iTrader: (2)

a laptop hard drive would be ideal for your application, since it's designed to different tolerances (usually allowing for higher heat/vibration) from desktop hard drives. How do you plan to deal with the heat and cold (from a car being outdoors exposed to the elements)?

I was thinking about a carputer, but 3 things struck me:

****ing with inverters, etc... sucks.
****ing with long load and start-up times... sucks
****ing with a hodge-podge of software to get some results (like navi)... SUCKS REALLY BAD.

So I got an AVIC-N1. it cant do everything ur car-puter does... but it does everything it was designed to do better than a hodgepodge of off-the shelf equipment could ever do- plus it was designed for my car!
That said, I admire your work, and if you can eliminate some of these deficiencies... more power to you.

CystumMax

It is fun to have a computer in your car, You can do stuff that you can't do with Avic-n1. Perhaps you not a computer person. you probably hate them.

Same to you good luck.

CystumMax

That is very good question, and I think it can be done, but you have to Tab through a lot of wires, and some cases rewire stuff.

CystumMax

I acutaly do have a xbox which will be modified for that reason. That is a creative Idea, the more you have the better it will be.

Ladzio

iTrader: (8)

Wow, it's like a LED tails heat wave, so many folks do carputers all of a sudden.... including me

Good luck to us all!

Lytheum

carputers are fun, but i sold mine a few years ago. its cool, put not practical. I had a xenarc(7" vga screen)screen in dash and a mini itx computer under the driver seat. I built the setup right when mini itx boards first came out. they are very very small and dont produce much heat. I had it in my sentra for about a year before i sold all the stuff.

at first i ran it into my headunits aux input, but i changed it and ran output from the soundcard directly into my amps. it actually sounded better running it directly to the amps, but i lost my master volume controll. turning it up and down via windows is a pain.

the computer was powered from a 300w inverter. the case and the inverter were both small enough to fit under the drivers seat. turning it on was a bit of a pain because i had to turn the inverter on then the computer everytime. i was close to buying a 12v power supply, but they are a bit expensive. it did produce slight alternator whine in the speakers. i never did get rid of it all. grounding the computer case to the car chasis helped with some of it.

i could really only play with it while the car was not moving. its so hard to open up new mp3 directories in winamp. I ended up just making one huge playlist (6k songs) and setting it on random. my main issue with the whole thing was boot time. by the time it loaded into windows and opened winamp i would allready be at my destination. though most of my trips are short 5-10 min. if you drive for longer periods of time its not as annoying. also shutting it down got to be a pain. you cant just turn the car off. you have to sit and wait for the computer to shut down first.

nadir_s

yeah, u can control functions of your car through a PC ... i am working on it.

you can get PCI relays that can do things like this... otherwise, utilize serial ports. It's very do-able.

makdaddy386

Is the Lilliput screen the only one that is compatible with the carputer or what? And is the setup kinda mix and match as far as the CPU is concerned.

makdaddy386

By the way, if you can afford it, get the screen molded. Trust me, it's worth it.

DR-Max

iTrader: (3)

These carputers are ready to go. It even starts up or shuts down with the car's ignition. Everything is fully integrated. If money is not an issue, I would say these babies are it.

JuzzSomeGuy

sweet deal! I'd wreck if I had one in my car!

maxlauj95

Very nice and interest....any write on 'how to' hook this carputer...post if there are....Definite like to try.

nadir_s

Before you guys start a project, it's best to put a price tag on it and stay within those limits.

There are SO MANY options available now.

First, start with a motherboard. Take a look at VIA products, they have some pretty exciting stuff. 1ghz+ is the way to go now if you want a decent media-driven system.

Powering it is your second issue. Most of the VIA boards take a standard ATX power (harness). There are many products available for the VIA boards as well. There are some issues to keep in mind like having the system survive (doesn't reboot) when the car is cranking. Also, most of these power supplies (DC-DC) have features like auto-on when the car starts up and auto-shutdown when the car is turned off. OPUS is one company that comes to mind, as well as many ITUNER products.

Now, worry about your display and interface. Personally, I say you save up for a VGA touchscreen. They are about ~$300 for the lilliput screens. Alot of people have complained about them, but I would recommend them. I have spoken directly with the manufacturer as well as a few distributers and all of them have confirmed that their latest screens have a new power controller (weak link before that people had issues about).

Keep in mind that both lilliput and xenarc use the same LCD screens, just different power boards.

Now, you'll need some sort of GUI. MediaEngine is pretty good, based on winamp. It is skinnable so you can play with it and make something customized to your needs.

If your system is not going to fit in a single or double din (at this point not really possible with mini-itx boards), you might as well get a standard 3.5" harddrive.

GPS is a must-have if you are going to be building a carputer. I recommend the Rikaline GPS mouse that you can easily find on ebay for about $50-$60. The BU-303 GPS mouse is pretty good too. I have both, both of them are great and lock sattelites quickly.

There are different O/S to consider, but for the average carputer enthusiast, you can stick with XP.

RichMax

iTrader: (2)

Funny you should say that... I love computers. In fact, my undergraduate degree is in Information Systems.

I just think that sophisticated firmware/software has no substitute in the "carputer" arena. Unless you want to use some flavor of linux (good luck on your hardware and applications) your start-ups will be SO slow that most short trips render the carputer useless. You could leave it on a trickle current with an auxilliary battery, but... See how much would be required for something that any aftermarket headunit could do without added effort and cost?

You're right- carputers do more, and there is A LOT I wish this AVIC does... but when it comes down to it, the AVIC was made to be used in a car. The average PC just isnt. Again, though, I challenge everyone to find a work-around for these other issues...

DR-Max

iTrader: (3)

True...there's still a lot more developing needed to make the carputer a true automobile gear.