Car PC

slimmyslim1420 · Post by **slimmyslim1420** » February 10th, 2006, 10:40 am

I would like to know what all I need and where I can get it at a good price to hook up car pc in my car? I don't know a whole lot about it so I figured I would ask you guys.

Post by **Custommx3** » February 10th, 2006, 2:32 pm

Best bet.. mp3car.com

Depends on your usage.

Get a XENARC touchscreen. Lilliputs are crap. I bought a Lilliput, the touchscreen died after 30 days.

Get something that doesnt require alot of power. You dont need a gaming machine in your car, so Id get an EPIA motherboard. They are small, and dont need alot of power. Im using a EPIA M9000, but I wish it had a little more cpu power.

You'll need to get a decent DC-DC power supply that regulates voltage, and a shutdown controller too.
Im using an OPUS Solutuions 250W dc-dc power supply. It boots the PC when I turn the ignition on, and shuts it down when the car is turned off. It also regulates power and has a cut off timer incase windows hangs during the shutdown process.

Get atleast 512M memory.

Harddrive... Id suggest a laptop harddrive, more durable.

GPS, get a decent one. Im using a Holux GM-210. Seems pretty good. Was about $70. You'll also need some software for your GPS like Destinator, Mappoint, ect.

Id suggest a Slot load DVD player. Im using a pioneer one, Looks more like a cars CD player since it has no tray.

XM, Im using a XM direct reciever with a reverse engineered cable to connect it to a PC and software.

Audio out.. you have 2 choices really. You can use your headunit's aux input, or direct it to an amp like I am.

FM radio, use your cars headunit, or you can wait till the USB one with RCA output to amp and carPC audio input, to be available (prototype stage currently)

Rearview camera

Im using a TV tuner card with Video input for my rearview cam

You'll need an interface, Im currently using Roadrunner with my own custom skin.

Here are some pics...

Main menu with rotating Mazdaspeed logo

Game console Emulation

GPS

MP3 Player

XM radio ( I hadnt activated it yet so the song listings arent there)

A few Apps

(To monitor the Megasquirt)

It also shows your local weather too including a 5 day forecast. (No screenshot)

There are SO many things you can do. Just need an app, and be able to skin, and you can do anything. I plan on getting myself a relay controller to raise lower my windows, sunroof with the touch of a button.

I think thats it.. post more Q's. I as well as ND4SPDSE have a carPC, so he may be able to give you a diff opinion.

-Barry

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 10th, 2006, 4:13 pm

Custommx3 wrote:I as well as ND4SPDSE have a carPC, so he may be able to give you a diff opinion.

My opinion only differs because I'm ol' skool with different ideas, wants and needs. But you've covered pretty much everything.

If your using an EPIA itx system, you don't need a 250w psu, especially since you'll be using low-power laptop components GM-210 as well. Paid $150 for it a few years ago. My friend bought one off of ebay for $30-something. They work really good. But you can use any GPS receiver, the only thing, if it's USB (and most will be), make sure it's driver emulates COM (Serial) connection since most software only works with COM connection. Two GPS software's I recommend is Streets and Trips 2006 and iGuidance 2.1.

Slot loads are kick a--. I didn't get one cause I wanted a CD-Burner function. You can get the slim slot-load combo and dvd-burner drives, but they're friggin expensive.

I'm using the Aux input on my deck, it passes though my car's system. I keep the pc at a constant volume and use the desk's volume controls. Pioneer had a box that accepts optical-in. Eventually I want to get that, it'll give me surround sound in the car

I have a TV tuner as well, but I use it for watching TV (not while driving of course)

For price, it depends on what you want. Myself and my friend who I've done 2 for his cars, we use desktop components. Basically I say price out a computer for your needs + LCD and there's your price. You can use like a basic Pentium3, or built it to a full fledged gaming pc. Or your can get those capuccino mini-pc's or build a custom ITX solution. Price depends on needs/wants. Like back-in-the-day, a 7" Xenarc LCD was twice the price as a desktoip 15" LCD, so i started out that way. Now things have changed. The CarPC has it's own market so you have plenty of choices.

Post by **Custommx3** » February 10th, 2006, 6:05 pm

Im really old school.. LOL

Depending on your power consumption, the 90w ones they sell on ebay are not gonna handle alot of components.
Using alot of USB stuff that are powered via USB are going to draw alot of power. Also drives, fans, XM, Camera, + MB and cards can draw alot of power.

Im curious, do those ebay power supplies, do they have a shutdown controller and timer? Voltage regulation? (power surges kill drives).

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » February 10th, 2006, 6:52 pm

Custommx3 wrote:Depending on your power consumption, the 90w ones they sell on ebay are not gonna handle alot of components.
Using alot of USB stuff that are powered via USB are going to draw alot of power. Also drives, fans, XM, Camera, + MB and cards can draw alot of power.

Im curious, do those ebay power supplies, do they have a shutdown controller and timer? Voltage regulation? (power surges kill drives).

Well, I've seem basic systems run on 150w'ers with no problem. a 800Mhz Via C3 is hardly power hungry. USB devices only draw a max of 500mA each, which isn't much. Plus, it isn't a regular motherboard, itx motherboards are designed around low power consumption, the EPIA series probably the best ones. Drives, laptop style HDD and slim optical drivers are again designed for lower power consumption as well as smaller real-estate. Fans, dont' need much, the lower power consuming components will create less heat, you'll need less cooling. You don't need Delta fans, just the basic one on the cpu and maybe one for the case to move the air arond would easilly do the trick.

Oh, and want a small, check out this power supply:
http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=10#picoPSU

I dont know about the eBay ones, i wouldn't trust ones. Get power supplies from known brands. Bad power kills components. Shutdown controller and timer...dont know and personally, I wouldn't care to have or need it. But 90w is really basic, PC and that's all would be my guess, but I can't see why 150 would do the job for a good itx carpc config.

mr1in6billion · Post by **mr1in6billion** » February 10th, 2006, 7:26 pm

Just to expand on all the great stuff Custom said

Custommx3 wrote:Best bet.. mp3car.com

mp3car and mini-itx are your best resources, they have everything.

get an EPIA motherboard.

I have the M10K, which is awsome. At 1ghz is does mp3s dvds and everything else perfectly. I might go up to the SP series (1.3ghz), but only if I come into a good deal of money. If you have a good amount of money you can even get the the pentium M, which goes over 2ghz.

OPUS Solutuions 250W dc-dc power supply. It boots the PC when I turn the ignition on, and shuts it down when the car is turned off.

Get an opus, tho I highly doubt you'll need the 250. My computer is running off a 60w supply (hard drive, internet, dvd). If you add a bunch of periferials you'll need deffinatly need more power, but the OPUS150 should be enough.

Get atleast 512M memory.

I'm running on 256. Again this is more dependent on how much added stuff you tack on.

Harddrive... Id suggest a laptop harddrive, more durable.

This is a money issue. Laptop drives are a bit more durrable, take up less space and use less power, but you pay a lot more for them.

id suggest a Slot load DVD player.

You pay more for the slot load, but it's well worth it. It's both more durrable and it just looks sooo damn tight.

Audio out.. you have 2 choices really. You can use your headunit's aux input, or direct it to an amp like I am.

The nice thing about Epias is they have 6 channel suround sound, with your choice of output in the form of 3, 1/8in stereo plugs, or digital composite.

Rearview cam
Im using a TV tuner card with Video input for my rearview cam

Most screens come with VGA and RCA inputs, spending the extra $10 for the multi input version will save you the need for a TV tuner car (unless you want tv in your car

)

You'll need an interface, Im currently using Roadrunner with my own custom skin.

What front end you use is up to you. Roadrunner is a common choice. Centrafuge, MediaEngine, and Frodoplayer are also worth a look.

Thats my .08 cents

~M16B

slimmyslim1420 · Post by **slimmyslim1420** » February 11th, 2006, 4:41 pm

So basicaly I need a LCD touch screen, a motherboard, a power supply, ram (memory), a hard drive, slot load dvd, and a case to put it in. For the hardware. Then GPS XM and an interface along with other accesories for the rest. I seen on mp3car that they would builb your kit in the casing of your choice are those good deals? I would guess it would be cheaper to build my own but I was curious. Let me know if I'm missing anything on my list.

ariesdude · Post by **ariesdude** » February 11th, 2006, 5:31 pm

For a while i was thinking about getting a tablet pc like toshiba portege or fujitsu or viewsonic. It already comes with a touch screen and all i would need to do is to mount a docking station in the car and make all the connections to the docking station - that way i can disconnect the laptop and take it with me for other work and when i am in the car i can just plug it in. I thought it might be much cheaper to get a 2GHz laptop with the 512mb ram, 90GB HDD and DVD and wireless etc etc etc than to buy everything individually.

Post by **Custommx3** » February 13th, 2006, 10:44 am

Build it, dont buy it, its cheaper...
but the streetdeck does look cool

brakecrasher · Post by **brakecrasher** » February 26th, 2006, 4:46 pm

@Custommx3
A question:
i'd like to connect the pc to show in a monitor
all car data, like speed indicator, thacometer, oil temp
battery charge and so on.
Can you tell me something abouit it?

Post by **Custommx3** » February 26th, 2006, 7:05 pm

Yep, you'll need some sort of aftermarket Engine management system like a megasquirt (cheapest) or something like a haltek. Then you'll need a PC to show it on your monitor.

brakecrasher · Post by **brakecrasher** » February 27th, 2006, 5:38 am

I look around for megasquirt, but looks llike quite
difficult to install......

BuGS · Post by **BuGS** » March 1st, 2006, 10:24 pm

You might also looking into getting an Xbox and modding it. My brother did that. Then he got a indash pop-up 7" touchscreen and that worked awesome.

Saucy · Post by **Saucy** » March 13th, 2006, 6:14 am

how much would a decent car pc setup be?

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » March 13th, 2006, 9:12 am

That is the question.

"what did your set-up cost Barry?

Also, very nice looking.

<--- jealous.