Car Computer
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Most peeps build them themselves which is the best way to go as you will need special power supplies and the like.
As for the screen. I couldn't find any companies that would do it, so gonna have to do it myself.
Best person to ask about all this stuff is either aftaab001 or dave0109, they have both done this.
Mark
As for the screen. I couldn't find any companies that would do it, so gonna have to do it myself.
Best person to ask about all this stuff is either aftaab001 or dave0109, they have both done this.
Mark
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892 Posts
if you need any specific info, just PM.PJH 160 said:
Ok, all the computer parts I can put together no problem! Only thing I'm stuck on is molding the LCD screen into the centre console. Anyone got any info about this, apart from asking the above mentioned people? or can point me in the direction of a web site?
Cheers
Paul.
Cheers
Paul.
would be glad to help you.. what specific info do you need to know..
by the way, the best place to find yourself the hardware is www.linitx.com or www.miniitx.com
for creens the best place to look is ebay.. you can pick up a vga touchscreen for around £150
Dave
by the way, the best place to find yourself the hardware is www.linitx.com or www.miniitx.com
for creens the best place to look is ebay.. you can pick up a vga touchscreen for around £150
Dave
Thats great I'll check out those links!
The info I'm after is what type of power supply do I need to get? And how do I wire it into the car? I would like it to turn on when I turn the ignition on and then shutdown the system when I turn the engine off!
thanks for any info provided!
The info I'm after is what type of power supply do I need to get? And how do I wire it into the car? I would like it to turn on when I turn the ignition on and then shutdown the system when I turn the engine off!
thanks for any info provided!
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892 Posts
The make of power supply you are looking for is made by Opus.
Ill tru and sort a link out for ya. They are pricey, but the best. £150
Ill tru and sort a link out for ya. They are pricey, but the best. £150
Thanks for that Mark,
I've bin given a list of a few things to look for!
Found the Opus power supply on www.mini-itx.com for £129, so thats not a bad price!
I've bin given a list of a few things to look for!
Found the Opus power supply on www.mini-itx.com for £129, so thats not a bad price!
Don't go for an Opus!!! They are far too expensive in this country. You can get exactly the same from Australia for £80, you then have to pay delivery costs to get it here. Luckily I have a friend out there right now if I decide to go for one like that - but I'm not. (see below)
I am in the middle of building an in-car mp3 jukebox system.
So far it has cost me:
40Gb Hard Drive - £22
Mini-ITX motherboard - £35
6" LCD TFT monitor - £45
60W 12v Power Supply - £60
Depending on what you want the computer to do, the price may vary.
The power supply is only 60w for the PC. This is because all mine is powering is the motherboard and a hard drive. No CD-rom, no floppy drive, no dogs-bollox graphics card. This means that the power supply is actually the size of about 17cm * 8cm.
The motherboard is 17cm * 17cm.
All of this fits in a custom box I have made for the glove compartment (now with locking key) and does not overheat.
To attach a computer to a car is pretty easy. A lot of people either use a standard ATX power supply (240v) and then buy a 12v invertor. This connects to your car battery, and you then plug your PSU into this as you would in a socket in your house.
The power supply I have brought (from www.mini-ITX.com) is by Morex, and to connect to the car, you simply connect to your battery, to ground, and to your ignition - the simplist way of doing this is to run a wire from the PSU to the ignition port on the back of the ISO connector for your head unit - the same one where you plug an amplifier in.
If you want the PC to act as a jukebox, you need a decent soundcard. The best, although slightly expensive even second hand is a Creative Soundblaster Audiogy card, which has an impressive 100dB noise to sound ratio. You configure windows to run at 5.1 surround sound, and get two 3.5" jack to phono cables. You plug one in the green socket of the sound card to the front channels on your amp, and you plug the other in the black connector to the rear channels of your amp. This means that all bass only goes through the rear channels (the .1) of the surround sound, whilst all other sound travels through the front, be it a pair of 6*9's or amped fronts.
You can be really cocky and have another amp set up to a set of fronts, and then run the card at 7.1 surround sound so you get the full works
If you need any help on this project email me at [email protected] (anyone can email me) as I may be going into a business with this project depending on the outcome. I have a couple of contacts where if I start buying in bulk I get a good discount.
Luke
I am in the middle of building an in-car mp3 jukebox system.
So far it has cost me:
40Gb Hard Drive - £22
Mini-ITX motherboard - £35
6" LCD TFT monitor - £45
60W 12v Power Supply - £60
Depending on what you want the computer to do, the price may vary.
The power supply is only 60w for the PC. This is because all mine is powering is the motherboard and a hard drive. No CD-rom, no floppy drive, no dogs-bollox graphics card. This means that the power supply is actually the size of about 17cm * 8cm.
The motherboard is 17cm * 17cm.
All of this fits in a custom box I have made for the glove compartment (now with locking key) and does not overheat.
To attach a computer to a car is pretty easy. A lot of people either use a standard ATX power supply (240v) and then buy a 12v invertor. This connects to your car battery, and you then plug your PSU into this as you would in a socket in your house.
The power supply I have brought (from www.mini-ITX.com) is by Morex, and to connect to the car, you simply connect to your battery, to ground, and to your ignition - the simplist way of doing this is to run a wire from the PSU to the ignition port on the back of the ISO connector for your head unit - the same one where you plug an amplifier in.
If you want the PC to act as a jukebox, you need a decent soundcard. The best, although slightly expensive even second hand is a Creative Soundblaster Audiogy card, which has an impressive 100dB noise to sound ratio. You configure windows to run at 5.1 surround sound, and get two 3.5" jack to phono cables. You plug one in the green socket of the sound card to the front channels on your amp, and you plug the other in the black connector to the rear channels of your amp. This means that all bass only goes through the rear channels (the .1) of the surround sound, whilst all other sound travels through the front, be it a pair of 6*9's or amped fronts.
You can be really cocky and have another amp set up to a set of fronts, and then run the card at 7.1 surround sound so you get the full works
If you need any help on this project email me at [email protected] (anyone can email me) as I may be going into a business with this project depending on the outcome. I have a couple of contacts where if I start buying in bulk I get a good discount.
Luke
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892 Posts
I think it is pretty much a waste to build a carputer with the only thing in mind to play MP3's with the range of things that are possible, GPS, Bluetooth phone control, Movies, Wireless networking (so you can transfer files from your home computer to your car whilst on the drive way), Internet, etc etc.
On another note, when you have windows installed, remove absolutely everything that isn't needed to make windows and the functions you want run. This will reduce the windows footprint.
This will make the boot time a lot quicker. I am aiming to get the boot time down to around 15 seconds.
On another note, when you have windows installed, remove absolutely everything that isn't needed to make windows and the functions you want run. This will reduce the windows footprint.
This will make the boot time a lot quicker. I am aiming to get the boot time down to around 15 seconds.
Forgot to mention all that. Mine has the possibility of running GPS which I don't want right now, but the software I have is an mp3 jukebox and DivX player, which can be run from any infrared remote. I decided to get a car steering wheel remote as it was the easiest to control the software with whilst on the move, i.e. changing albums, I don't even need to look at the screen.
The best OS to install is Win98SE - then get a copy of Win98Lite and strip everything out. I've made my program the Windows shell so it should boot within 10 seconds to the program - I'm working on it so that it could possibly go straight into a random track.
Unless you have a good spec PC, which isn't needed, don't even bother with XP as it'll take it's time to load. You can now get XPLite which does the same as the 98 version. This only costs about a tenner a license.
I can't be arsed with wireless for uploading songs. I've put an RJ45 socket at the base of the centre console, then run an RJ45 cable from the house to the car, uploads an album in about 10 seconds, opposed to 10 minutes with wireless.
bluetooth is shite, only thing it's useful for is dogging.
What's the point of Internet whilst driving? Also screens aren't big enough to get clear text without having to sit right on top of your screen.
I've also left the option open to connect a PS2 into the screen as it has 2 inputs - the PC actually has a copy of a SNES emulation program which runs quite nicely on the screen, so I'll probably end up getting a wireless gamepad to keep the missus quiet on the long journeys.
I work in IT and can't see the point of building a car PC with all the whistles and bells - while I'm at it I might as well put a printer in my boot and install some remote access software so I can work from the car when stuck in traffic....I don't think so! a car PC's only need is to be as mp3 and movie jukebox - at current I have about 8Gb of music which is 120 albums, to be honest I can't even see the point of me having a 40Gb hard drive....
The best OS to install is Win98SE - then get a copy of Win98Lite and strip everything out. I've made my program the Windows shell so it should boot within 10 seconds to the program - I'm working on it so that it could possibly go straight into a random track.
Unless you have a good spec PC, which isn't needed, don't even bother with XP as it'll take it's time to load. You can now get XPLite which does the same as the 98 version. This only costs about a tenner a license.
I can't be arsed with wireless for uploading songs. I've put an RJ45 socket at the base of the centre console, then run an RJ45 cable from the house to the car, uploads an album in about 10 seconds, opposed to 10 minutes with wireless.
bluetooth is shite, only thing it's useful for is dogging.
What's the point of Internet whilst driving? Also screens aren't big enough to get clear text without having to sit right on top of your screen.
I've also left the option open to connect a PS2 into the screen as it has 2 inputs - the PC actually has a copy of a SNES emulation program which runs quite nicely on the screen, so I'll probably end up getting a wireless gamepad to keep the missus quiet on the long journeys.
I work in IT and can't see the point of building a car PC with all the whistles and bells - while I'm at it I might as well put a printer in my boot and install some remote access software so I can work from the car when stuck in traffic....I don't think so! a car PC's only need is to be as mp3 and movie jukebox - at current I have about 8Gb of music which is 120 albums, to be honest I can't even see the point of me having a 40Gb hard drive....
yes it has. It started out as people connecting to others peoples phones via bluetooth offering "sexual" services - it was a big hit in London in the tube stations.
It's since moved onto having sex in cars - open window means join in, flash of lights means come to watch.
Not that I would know of such a thing!!!!!!!!
It's since moved onto having sex in cars - open window means join in, flash of lights means come to watch.
Not that I would know of such a thing!!!!!!!!
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Sod the remotes, im using a 7" touch screen. Far cooler, i like cool things.L22 ARG said:
Yup, you right. I had a copy of window that had a foorprint of 8mb when installed. Couldn't do a whole lot with it thoL22 ARG said:
...and i cant be arsed with cablesL22 ARG said:
Wrong. The bluethooth phone control is awesome. Once you enter your car, the phone control sofware takes control of your phone. It downloads all your contacts. When yu receive and incoming call, you receive a message on the screen, which can also cut the audio. Press the screen to answer and talk. Also, you can send and read text messages via the screen.L22 ARG said:
Not whilst driving mate. Dunno where you live, but there are numerous wireless access points near me. So, whenever i am near one, i can check my email or whatever. Another reason for the Wi-FiL22 ARG said:
Yes, hopefully gonna have a PS2 or XBOX in mine too eventuallyL22 ARG said:
I work in IT too, and i want all the bells and whistles thank you please.L22 ARG said:
As for the hard drive size, not only do you have the MP3s to consider (mine take up more space cos i have most encoded at 256kbs for better qualtiy), but music videos too. Then there your movies. Bigger the better IMO.
Gonna put a DVD drive in my arm rest too when i get chance.
think it's one of those each to his own - sorry if i offended in any way, didn't mean to.
just I can't see the point of most of it when I can do it at work for free!!
A movie at full screen on a screen smaller than 14" should be no bigger than 700Mb - if it is then it has been encoded wrong. I do mine myself and get a full DVD at DivX AVI quality (756*520 - PAL TV resolution) with mp3 CD quality audio at around the 700mb mark each time.
Don't have a need for phone in my car - it's a work phone so as soon as I leave it's off!!!
Couldn't be bothered with touchscreen either - I think that's because I work with them in our factory unit - I hate them and didn't want one 1/5 of the size of that in my car - I though 5 times smaller = 5 times more problems!!!
I actually have an old laptop with a good quality screen. I looked at building that into the dash, but at 13.1" i think it's a little too big and too noticable to go in there!!!!
just I can't see the point of most of it when I can do it at work for free!!
A movie at full screen on a screen smaller than 14" should be no bigger than 700Mb - if it is then it has been encoded wrong. I do mine myself and get a full DVD at DivX AVI quality (756*520 - PAL TV resolution) with mp3 CD quality audio at around the 700mb mark each time.
Don't have a need for phone in my car - it's a work phone so as soon as I leave it's off!!!
Couldn't be bothered with touchscreen either - I think that's because I work with them in our factory unit - I hate them and didn't want one 1/5 of the size of that in my car - I though 5 times smaller = 5 times more problems!!!
I actually have an old laptop with a good quality screen. I looked at building that into the dash, but at 13.1" i think it's a little too big and too noticable to go in there!!!!
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892 Posts
Your exactly right, im not offended. Just another point of view and what i want from my carputerL22 ARG said:
S'pose it depends on how many movies you plan on having at any one time. I have 10gig of MUSIC videos alone and that collection i growing all the timeL22 ARG said:
Fair do's. I am one that does thing just for the cool factor tho, even if i don't neccessarily need itL22 ARG said:
Either way is good, but again, just for the cool factor, it had to be touch screen.L22 ARG said:
Ive seen a 15" TFT built into the dash of a 306!!!!L22 ARG said:
h:Did ya see aftaabs carputer?
aftaab001 has done this, check out his centre console here - http://uk.f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/aftaab0012002/album?.dir=/3be0
Mark,
I just got my stuff through the post today!
I got a 7" touch screen
1GB mini-itx MBoard
Opus 150W poper supply
Slimline CDRW/DVD - (Looks well nice)
160GB Maxtor HDD
Mini Keyboard (will fit in glove box)
I just need to figure out how to put the screen into the dash! Any info on doing this???
Also, which OS do you reckon will be good?
As said above XPLite? I havn't come across this yet, can't I just use normal XP and take out loads of stuff?
Cheers.
I just got my stuff through the post today!
I got a 7" touch screen
1GB mini-itx MBoard
Opus 150W poper supply
Slimline CDRW/DVD - (Looks well nice)
160GB Maxtor HDD
Mini Keyboard (will fit in glove box)
I just need to figure out how to put the screen into the dash! Any info on doing this???
Also, which OS do you reckon will be good?
As said above XPLite? I havn't come across this yet, can't I just use normal XP and take out loads of stuff?
Cheers.
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