Installing a computer in your car

tk1138 · Post by **tk1138** » October 29th, 2002, 12:14 am

...Posible? Yes, but there are SOOO many caveats, that a stand alone would be better in most respects. e.g. system boot time, system stability, tunning, etc...

codyhoover · Post by **codyhoover** » October 31st, 2002, 3:12 am

i have an old dell 166p1 laptop hooked up to the aux input on my alpine head unit. it works great. 4gigs of mp3s and music vids at my disposal. and when not in use i fold it up and under the passenger seat it goes. i havent put in a power supply yet but hey, its a laptop. it has a 2.5 hr battery.

FroSTeD · Post by **FroSTeD** » November 6th, 2002, 6:40 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by codyhoover: i have an old dell 166p1 laptop hooked up to the aux input on my alpine head unit. it works great. 4gigs of mp3s and music vids at my disposal. and when not in use i fold it up and under the passenger seat it goes. i havent put in a power supply yet but hey, its a laptop. it has a 2.5 hr battery.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Are you talking of Flash movies?

Because you can't run much videos on a P166. There is also a problem with the laptop : It's location. Try to easily skip a song when it's located under the passenger side

But of course, it is better than nothing!

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 6th, 2002, 10:26 pm

im in the midst of finishing mine, i built a custom case, suitecase PC actually using standard components, this is what i got so far (for those that are computer litterate):ECS K7SEM MicroATX Mainboard 145w MicroATX PSU ATI AIW 7500 Video Card Duron 750 (*may* upgrade to an Athlon 1600+) 320MB PC-133 RAM Onboard sound (will bump the SB Live! from my main system when i upgrade it) 40Gb 5400RPM Maxtor Hard Drive Pioneer Slot-Load DVD ROM LG Cordless keyboardI'm gonna use the AIW for the TV feature and the remote for mouse control. DVD-ROM for movies, 40gb hard drive for Divx and Mp3'sAll i need is the AC inverter, an LCD screen, i should be geting a co-workers 2 month old LG 15" 556 LCD this week, some cables, an adjustable LCD arm thats it..im gonna get an 802.11b card for pull-into-the-driveway-network-access. Im gonna hide some USB ports up front for easy connectivity to digital cameras, gamepads, webcam, USB floppy drive, whateverI;ve got a microphone mounted beside my visor for voice recongnition (which im trainning right now) and recording.I'll eventually implement a GPS system as well.My friend want to do one too, he hasnt started cause he has a few conserns, but i cleared them up last week, were gonna both have wireless connectivity and be able to network while driving, for passenger-vs-passenger network gamming and communcation.Its gonna be upto the driver to determine what safe to do while driving. With the voice reconsnition and wireless remote, it should be a problem, if configured properly, it shouldnt be any more distracting than a standard car deck, if not less

BumpNGlow · Post by **BumpNGlow** » November 7th, 2002, 12:31 am

but the question is... where do you hide it all? Anyone that knows me, knows I cannot give up my hatch for it. Under the passenger seat is my PS2 already, and under the drivers seat is my power inverter. Where else can it go?

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 7th, 2002, 2:31 am

its gonna lean standing up against the back of the hatch, and it wont be permanent, it'll be strapped back incase in need to remove it, ill hide it where the spare tire is when i get a 2nd vehicle. I have 2 8" CV subs in there as well strapped down with bungies, the A/C inverter will be mounted to the underneath of the trunk cover, and the amp to the back of the seat.The lcd however, will have an arm that will fold the screen against the bottom of the glove compartment so that 1)it can allow passengers to sit on there 2)hide so it wont attract attention to thevesBut i need to find the proper arm, im close but nothing certain yet, this is the closest i've found so far: <A HREF="http://www.ergomart.com/images/FSA_700_Specs.jpg" TARGET=_blank>http://www.ergomart.com/images/FSA_700_Specs.jpg</A> but i would need for the center and lcd pivots to allow to turn sideways for left/right pivot, other than that, its dimentions are perfect You know what, that computer andrew posted, if anyone has a 91-93 Mx-3, in wonder how well that would fit in the cubby-hole under the radio...oH, and BumpNGlow, i dont think that unit has any expansion slots, but you can get USB wireless devices in either 802.11b or BlueTooth standards, we did a bluetooth network here at work between one of our main machines and a TabletPC we has for a week trial, worked nice, it has a good 50ft range going through several walls...[ November 07, 2002: Message edited by: Nd4SpdSe ]

tk1138 · Post by **tk1138** » November 7th, 2002, 4:44 pm

Have you looked at switching power supplies to go directly from battery voltage to your system power? It might be cheaper, deffinatly more efficient....Also, Maxtor hard drives are good & all (I used to work for them), but it's probably not going to last if you drive your car with it in (ON or OFF). You can get HDs for laptops that are designed for the abuses of motion (some rated for 20' drops while there on!).Good luck though.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 7th, 2002, 7:40 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by tk1138: [QB]Have you looked at switching power supplies to go directly from battery voltage to your system power? It might be cheaper, deffinatly more efficient....Also, Maxtor hard drives are good & all (I used to work for them), but it's probably not going to last if you drive your car with it in (ON or OFF). You can get HDs for laptops that are designed for the abuses of motion (some rated for 20' drops while there on!).[QB]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>1)There are DC to DC Computer Power supplies, but i still want to be able to use it out of the car. Cheeper, yes, but limit its usability2)I'm gonna give it a shot, i've heard good things and shouldnt have a problem with any hard drive in the car. You are right, laptops even portable Mp3 players (nomad, ipod, etc) use laptop hard drives. Theres a pioneer car cd players with i think its a 10gb drive built in. At the store where i work, we do have adapters to use a laptop hard drive in a regular pc, its like 9.99cdn or 19.99cdn, i cant remember, and it comes with rails to mount it (2.5" drive) in 3.5" drive mount. so worse case, thats what i resort to..Heres a discussion i started about it: <A HREF="http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php ... did=389688" TARGET=_blank>http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php ... =389688</A> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>IBM travelstar drives can sustain 150-200g while operating, and up to 700g while not operating. Feel free to drive your car off a cliff.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>[ November 07, 2002: Message edited by: Nd4SpdSe ]

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 15th, 2002, 12:59 am

Just an update, after 4 hours straight of work, i finished making the mount and mounting my 15" lcd in my car, its a little crude, but not bad for a prototype/temporary mount, although noone can sit on the passender side

monty73741 · Post by **monty73741** » November 16th, 2002, 2:07 pm

1.hey barry love the ide adpter........ 2.linux i like it...but i find it not really user friendly..plus applications are kinda hard to find unless you do the r&D urself...but its still cool........ 3. wouldnt the itegration of a wireless nic be great for transfers from home pc to car...also if their are any freenets..you can hook to the net for free jason

BumpNGlow · Post by **BumpNGlow** » November 16th, 2002, 8:38 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by monty73741: 1.hey barry love the ide adpter........ 2.linux i like it...but i find it not really user friendly..plus applications are kinda hard to find unless you do the r&D urself...but its still cool........ 3. wouldnt the itegration of a wireless nic be great for transfers from home pc to car...also if their are any freenets..you can hook to the net for free jason<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I think the wireless NIC card is a must have if you get a carputer! Can't get any better than parking in the garage and transfering movies/mp3s/games.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » November 17th, 2002, 4:21 am

i cant wait to implement that, but im undecided to either get Bluetooth or 802.11bBluetooth would be cheeper to setup, costing about $160cdn in equipment, but its hard to share internet over it, network access is no problem. My ideal 802.11b would cost about $400cdn, but should be easier to setup, plus its what most other networks use. On TheScreenSavers on TechTV, they showed how to make your own 802.11b antenna with a pringles can for about $16us, and has a ~2 mile range, although its technically illegal. So you can grab internet from any unsecured wireless network upto 2 miles away. It would be neat, someone build a carputer, setup a webcam, grab some high-speed internet and have a live feed from an Mx-3 meet

<A HREF="http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/howt ... 72,00.html" TARGET=_blank>http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/howt ... 00.html</A> If my friends puts a carputer in his prelude, we could network our cars. It would be neat to run netmeeting and talk to each other, and not worry about cell phone bills.[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Nd4SpdSe ]

BumpNGlow · Post by **BumpNGlow** » November 17th, 2002, 11:40 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Nd4SpdSe: If my friends puts a carputer in his prelude, we could network our cars. It would be neat to run netmeeting and talk to each other, and not worry about cell phone bills.[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Nd4SpdSe ]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Yah, I was thinking about that too... you could setup 2 carputers, and on long road trips you can IM each other, and your passengers can play LAN games w/ each other... transfer movies, etc. all while driving... that would be hella pimp.

Psyrg · Post by **Psyrg** » November 22nd, 2002, 12:51 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Have you looked at switching power supplies to go directly from battery voltage to your system power? It might be cheaper, deffinatly more efficient....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I have thought of using an older AT style motherboard as they only expect a +12V, +5v and GND to be supplied, unlike ATX computers which have various other wires. With a huge filter and a really good regulator you could down convert the 13.8V from your cars altenator to 12V. If the regulator is of the MOSFET switch mode type you could easily get away with the setup as thet dont cause any noticable voltage drop if the input is 12V or less. Getting 5V from 12V is a simple matter.However, a laptop would be far simpler. Somthing like the very small <A HREF="http://www.transmetazone.com/articlevie ... cleID=1067" TARGET=_blank>Libretto</A> laptop would be the order of the day. If mounted correctly, you would even have an LCD display.

Cheers Psyrg

Ogimoj · Post by **Ogimoj** » November 27th, 2002, 1:56 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by Psyrg: However, a laptop would be far simpler. Somthing like the very small <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I've considered going the laptop route, but the one problem I can't get over is being stuck with the on-board sound card (since mp3's would be the primary function of my carputer) I already have a laptop that I was intending to use, but it (like any other laptops I've seen) has only a 2-channel output at questionable quality. Any body know of a way to put a PCI card into a laptop? I've seen PCI cards that allow you to put PCMCIA's into desktop machines, but not the other way around. I'm sure if I could get ahold of specs for the "geek" port on the back, I could make something work, but no luck there, either.

MX-3.com

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