PC question......(in car)

[Clouds_mate]

Maybe this should be in the ICE section altho its mainly about a PC,

What part would i need to be able to run a pc in the car? Would it be a different psu that goes into the fag lighter? Is this possible?

Would it be easier to buy a laptop and use that?

Can route finder use a usb gps reciever?

Hope someone can answer my questions if not all of them smileys/smiley2.gif



Thanks Muchly

[AdamW]

You are a bit of a computer Nerd aint ya smileys/smiley23.gif

[Clouds_mate]

was thinking, use as much of the old pc as i can, install a on board pc in the car.

Remove the headunit, insert a 7" touch screen monitor.

Use the pc as sat nav, dvd player, music player, wireless internet.

Have a wireless network so when the car is outside the house i can tranfer music across and movies etc.


Will be the fuckin Don

[KAMENi]

you can always use 12VDC to 220VAC (or 110) inverter, and then use normal PC supply. i think it will be the easiest way, although, if you know how, you can adjust the PC power supply so it works on 12VDC.

the most expensive part in that installation will be the touchscreen LCD, but it can easily work smileys/smiley20.gif

[Clouds_mate]

can get touch screens for around £150 matey

[AL1900]

A guy I know from work has a PC fitted in his Mk4 Golf.

He's just fitted Sat Nav (only cost 30 quid!).

It's got touch screen which only cost about 100.

So now he's got access to 1000's of MP3's etc.

It's amazing and has cost a fraction of an in car DVD player would.

I haven't a clue how it all goes together but can definatly be done! Go fot it!!!

[KAMENi]

that's pretty cheap. i cant get them under 300£ here, and that's over e-bay with delivery

everything else is pretty simple, depends what are your wishes

[Clouds_mate]

what else would i need?

Iv got :

512 ddr
120gb hdd
2000xp process

all i would need is a little motherboard and some way of getting power. Oh plus the screen

[KAMENi]

check out how chris (http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/main/) handled that issue

it's pretty simple actually, and all you need to do is add a LCD

[Clouds_mate]

so this guy just used a full normal pc then got a normal power converter?

[KAMENi]

yes, it's as simple as that. he placed it in his boot, under a false floor with 2 amps and put 4 ventilators to cool things down.

if you'll be going for a touchscreen, you wouldnt need that USB keypad he used because you'll get all the control over LCD

[Clouds_mate]

going to set up a pc tonight for this. then sell my head unit and then buy the touch screen...

[gordy]

Good luck matey, if it works which it should then it will be very smart

lol u'll never be out your car now

[Clouds_mate]

do i go for a 7" screen and remove my headunti and make a custom center console to host it or do i just get a single din 7" screen to just replace my current headunit

[KAMENi]

?

what are you trying to ask?

[saxoash]

get 7" motorised screen boss you can get them fairly cheap on ebay, bit more expensice for a toutch screen

[Clouds_mate]

sat nav and tv card orderd smileys/smiley17.gif

[VTaaRon]

i just use my laptop plug it in to the aux in and can listen to all music and films thru the car audio and watch a 16" wide screen!

[Clouds_mate]

nah i didnt fancy doing that. wanted to go all out and get it pc installed

[Chris]

A few people on the FTO forum have got Carputers. Got the hard drive in the boot and a touch screen in the custom dash. Apparently it isn't too hard to do!

Chris smileys/happy.gif

[Clouds_mate]

yeh i no mate. plus its easy to make a fit for yours. because of the two din thingy lol

My mate who i used to work with was going to do it in his fto, think he heard about it from one of the fto forums

[reevesy_vtr]

CLICKY (http://web.njit.edu/~cas1383/proj/my_car/car_pc/index.htm) on that and have a look.

[Clouds_mate]

right, guna get it sort and put in the car shortly. Just 1 thing..

How stop having to turn the pc on everytime i start the car up? Cant i like put it in low power mode when the car is turned off or something.

Please help.


A thank you smileys/happy.gif

[Gav]

u could get ya self a shuttle. some come with motherboards already in. small and compact would fit in the boot or under seat. then just wire it up however ya do that. there ya go a full pc in ya car. no need to mount mobo with everything showing.

[Clouds_mate]

i dont get what you mean mate?

Do you mean by a prebuilt machine?

[Gav]

u never heard of a shuttle pc? tower on the right. they have very small motherboards in and everything fits just snug. normal ddr memory and u can fit up to i think a radeon 9800pro in there.
/members/naX/C6536_xmas-pc.jpg

[Clouds_mate]

just thinking i got two full pcs i dont use at home. But i cant seem to get past the powering problem.

[KAMENi]

can get touch screens for around £150 matey


can you tell me where did you find that offer?

a friend of mine wants to do the same thing, and needs LCD touchscreen. he has everything else

thanx

[bear_westy]

hmm for the power question... u dont really wanna be leaving a pc running in your car when your not in it tbh... why not just hard wire it to the battery ( in-line fuse of course ) and have a buttoon on the dash as the on/off switch??

[KAMENi]

the problem is that you must wait for the system to boot.
this friend of mine (that's looking for a touchscreen) came up with an idea that the PC will be constantly on (during the day), and when you turn off the car and get out, you push the "hibernate" button
good idea smileys/smiley20.gif


bout the power supply, i think it could be done with some expertise with electronic circuits. it can be done because the highest voltage a pc requires is 12v (besides the monitor), and we all know that car batteries are 12v+, so you really need to make a voltage stabiliser on 12V, 5V, 3.3V (i dont know if there are any more needed, maybe inverted like -5V or something similar)

[KAMENi]

here's a link (http://www.aaroncake.net/circuits/cdsupply.htm) to a scheme of a power stabiliser.
look and read, i think this is what you need


the only thing you need to keep an eye out is how much current can one of these regulators give