Lytheum

Hi everyone,

Ok I hope this makes sense. I want to put a computer into my car. I pretty much have the computer parts picked out, but have some questions. I used to have a cd changer. I still have the wiring and was looking at it. It appears the back of the cd hanger had a headphone jack that a cable plugged in. The cable ran to the front of the car and had a box that the antenna plugged into then it plugged into the head unit and picked up the signal on FM radio.

If i plugged that cable into say the speaker jack on a soundcard would it carry the signal like the cd changer did? That way i could play mp3's on the ocmputer and have them come over an FM radio station? or would that not work
Im sure i could just convert it to RCA and plug it into the input on the back of my headunit. That was just a crazy idea i had.

Second question is power inverters. What kind would I need to run a PC off? The pc power supply is going to be under 200 watts.

and finally my 3rd question. I need an LCD screen to use as a monitor. I was wondering what are some good LCD's that use composite input? I was thinking of either an indash one or a sun visor one. that way they can be hidden out of the way. Also on that note. I noticed LCD's run at weird resolutions. How would i go about setting up my pc to run at the resolution?

I know thats a lot, but my brain is goin nuts over here looking up all this stuff

Any input, comments, suggestion or anything else will be appreciated!!

Thanks,
Lytheum

maximafever

I am a Computer Instructor and I also teach teenagers how to boild computers at the local Boys & Girls Club and I also have a complete audio/video system in my car that I completely installed myself. If you want the computer to go in your car just to play MP3 audio it is a waste of time and energy. If you want to be able to have the capability of using programs such as the MS Office Suite so that you can work on them anytime that you need to without going home or to the office than it might be worth it. Just remember that in a Maxima there is very little room to add things such as a computer, especially if you are not using a laptop or an ultra-thin desktop. If you wish to make major changes to the interior of the car than it could be possible to have something done. 1st thing is that
the cd changer plug that you mentioned will probably not plug into the soundcard. Reason I say that is a PC soundcard is actually amplified at the signal coming from the card before you get to the HU. Car audio systems are amplified from the HU on for example you ever wondered why a PC speaker can be only 4" and and send out bass that sounds like its coming from at least an 8" speaker and the mid and high can only be 2" and sound like 6" speakers. So when you send an amplified signal into the HU you have a chance to damage it. The way car amplifiers work is the signal comes from the HU to the amp and then the amlifier amplifies the signal to the speakers. Now I may be slightly wrong on that note but I certainly would not try it without checking it out. You can look into upgrading your sound card to something that has RC i/o and is not amplified. On the LCD screen question there is a few screens that will work with a PC because they work the same way that your home tv would work with it but again that is adding more stuff and wires to get messed up. Here is my suggestion to your MP3 problem, 1. change your HU to play MP3 or 2. add an MP3 player into the system, you can use the new magnavox player that plays DVD, MP3, CD, CD-R, VCD, CD-RW and is very small compact and it fits very well underneath the seat of the Max and it has a slotted CD load system so there is no tray to come out and get in the way, and for games I would suggest PS2. I too thought of a way to put a PC in my car and it is just to much hassle unless you want to spend thousands of dollars redoing your car interior to handle the components remember you need a space for the PC, keyboard, mouse and if you're going to use the CD-rom drive it needs to accessable easily so the trunk is not a good place. You also don't want wires running everywhere and you don't want it to be easily seen.

Lytheum

well i don't have a maxima I just find this board very useful(you guys are awesome). Space isn't a problem as the computer will fit under the passenger seat. I would use it for mp3 playback, dvd videos, maybe some vcd's, divx movies i download and a ton of other stuff. Look around at mini ITX motherboards. They are only 17cm x 17cm. Im just kinda toying with the idea, but i've begun research and its very possible to do it seems.

My concerns come with getting audio signal from my the pc to the headunit. I have everything else figured out and im sure my dad would be more than willing to help me with wiring(He's a Nissan Certfied master tech so he pretty much knows my car inside and out).

nadir_s

Search for posts made by me, i recently finished this project a month ago and posted ALOT of info about it.

I bought a 150w power inverter for $30 at Fry's Electronics and it worked perfect.

I bought a $50 PS1-LCD screen.. it plugged directly to my computer which had a TV-OUT.

I mounted the computer in the trunk.

Everything was controlled by a IR-remote AND receiver i was able to buy for 7 bucks, it's exclusively used for Winamp and Media player.

I had the power on button up in the front and drilled it into the fuse cover panel under the steering wheel.

BTW, using a FM/RF modulator is going to kill the mp3 quality... if you have the Bose system you're out of luck. You're best bet for that is a cassette adapter... the Bose cassette player is pretty damn good.






This project satisfied my boredom, worked really well, but it just isn't practical... and also i hit too many bumps and ****ed the harddrive LOL (this is like 2 weeks after i got it running)

Lytheum

can anyone tell me who much power the alternator in a 93 sentra with a 1.6L engine puts out? or can anyone direct me to any sites about sentra's or forums like this one?

i want to make sure my electrical system can deal with the extra load this will put on it. im also running a 500 watt amp (200watt rms).

GundamWZero

PS1 LCD screens huh? Well, I think I found my headrest monitors!

lophix

iTrader: (3)

www.dashpc.com

now that was my dream, till i realised he was actually using a touchscreen lcd. I have a laptop thats hooked directly to my stereo's aux in, and has video out, so If i do decide to the the ps1 screens, voila! I'm gonna be driving down to houston and will be playing music videos all the way down thru my laptop.

nadir_s

YES

u can take em apart easily too, i plan to do that very soon as well.