f1anatic

I am having trouble with my Carnetix P1900 PSU. Anyone can help me ? If any of you have this PSU; then I will give you the details. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=97202

And fishbone you say nothing about my setup...How dare you ! Car PCs usually run to about 1000 (+/- 250) once is all set and done. Depends on how much fabrication, how many accessories and software is everyone running - and definitely how much of the assets s/he already has (like in my case a laptop).

naaah i will keep it

the way I am finishing this up...by May it should be ready

the taller they are... Why don't you square up your monitor ? When I will be doen with this shit...I will sell the car. This piece of plastic, rubber and metal called Legacy has eaten up my money, time, energy like nothing else in my entire life so far.

BMAC, here's the stuff I used: Dupli-Color Auto Spray DSGM318 Charcoal Metallic from Pep Boys 5 dollars

Hey peeps... Hey 1st Matelot Sea Weasel... What do you guys think of my control panel ? USB Touchpad (mostly to avoid touching the screen and using the computer w/o the front end software) red start-up shut-down button for PC Escort Passport Remote Controller inside (hidden) in the compartment there uis a USB hub with 3 ports open. When I add camera and OBD-2 functions I will use them. Either I will pull the cable from underneath or simply have it come out to the side, and go underneath the seat. Also inside there there will be the extra video/audio cables for the Xenarc. That compartment is otherwise compromised...(filled up with technology) but the armrest one is completely freePower for my 2 USB hubs (one in the above describes compartment and one next to the laptop, in the trunk) as well as the radar detector comes from the armrest cig plug. Power for the PC and the screen comes from the front. I decided to not try to match the paint. Too much work. It is close enough for all practical reasons. Just like my monitor/HVAC bezel - a little on the shiny side but oh well. As I said, I am just trying to work things out to my liking. It is not gonna be fancy like some of your stuff, but it is going to be functional. For sure...I am not counting on my Car PC to "pull wool" so as long as it is not very ugly, I am sure people will be largely ignorant.

I am at least another 2 weeks away from installing. I am too busy to move any faster.

well I am concerned about overheating and besides, I have a full size (225-45-17) spare tire

Where would you guys mount a laptop in the trunk of a sedan ? And how : vertical or flat/horizontal. Are you guys giving a thought to the horizontal mounting as a sure way to kill your hard drive quickly ? (Ya know...the reading had of the hard drive crashing against the disks?) Are you anchoring it in some way to dampen vibrations ?

@ PRELUDE; SEBBERY The answer is a frightening YES. I did put it on the car. And comes out easily too. i shaved off most of the pins (upper, lower and sides (vents)) and practiced a little cut into the dashboard trim precisely where that vertical metal frame would be. My end structure is very rigid and the only reason I "shaved" the pins and cut slightly into the edge of the dashboard trim was to make sure this thing comes out easily if I even need to. I quite understand your concerns but I have that covered. The role of that vertical metal beam is to provide support as well as bring the screen housing closer to this HVAC/cubby bezel. Unseen in the picture, is a piece of plastic that I epoxied on the lower horizintal edge of the bezel. This metal bar will have one end fitting into it then as you can see it is shaped to follow the Xenarc housing.

B MAC, how did you run it under the carpet between the hand brake portion and the trunk ? Anything I should know before doing this tomorrow ? With regards to the interest level; I think many people would love to do a car PC over a commercially available solution (think kenwood, pioneer, eclipse, alpine) for any number of reasons including price and versatility. However they realize the amount of fabrication - custom, individual fabrication - involved and they are not really educated about the project. It is the job of people like you and I, darkfox, seberry and a few others to describe the process, write idiot-proof instructions and even assist with the fabrication. Indeed a car-specific bezel that can just be screwed in or glued to the space there and just take the "guts" of a xenarc or lilliput would make the car pc business really take off. until then...it is just an enthusiast hobby.

No bro you did not offend me in the least bit. It would be cool if you could offer these people a solution for Lilliput / Xenarc screens - something that will not require lots of fabrication. I just don't see myself getting into this mass production business any time soon.

Well BMAC...not to sound mean...but how exactly do you think I am approaching this issue ? Why do you think it's been taking me so long ? Because when I decide on the install day, I just wanna dump everything in place in a few hours and be done with it. No more fiddling with it, no more doubts in my mind whether I would be able to pull the screen out of the dashboard if shit happens, everything modular, everything unified...everything plug and play. I bought some dark grey (GM grade) paint from Pep Boys and a clear coat. I can provide the exact paint code when I get home. It may be indeed too shiny as Funny Sea Weasel suggested but it can be sanded down with extra fine sand paper or similar. I thought about painting the entire assembly black, did that, resented the looks and decided to aim for the darkest grey/charcoal/petrol look I can do commercially available within 5 miles of my house in 1 trip. I think it is a decent result.

I thought you ultimately found my display relocation decent. Yay Rich, it is a money pit, a time waster as much as it is a proof of automobile coolness. If you just want Navi, get an external unit.

The fabrication is a "slut". A bitch wouldn't quite be indicative. But who knows...I may be talked into selling it. I am yet to mount the PC in the car...but the hard shit is over. You should see the control panel that I am making...complete with on-off switch for the pc, laptop touchpad and radar detector mute button.

Funny Weasel...whatcha thinkin' ?

Makes me wanna pay for them...though realistically I have no place to use them... Did you upgrade the fogs ?

These bulbs are often not in stock in US. There is a website www.powerbulbs.co.uk I may be wrong) which also sells them. Now I cannot say anything on Mr. Daniel Stern as my experience with him has been favorable. Just get yours replaced under warranty or get an el-cheapo from the auto store and wait for the good ones to come. They're worth.

I got a pretty close charcoal grey colour from Pep Boys to match it. I gave up on black. Now I am working my magic with the mute button (radar detector); PC remote power on button and the touchpad controller ...and making it all fit nicely on the center console.

Congrats on your baby. It turns out that the bezel originally had some kind of varnish applied to it...and if you attempt to put primer over, the primer will dry out with creases and wrinkles. So this shit happened like 3 times already - I spray the primer I see the wrinkles...I let it dry, I sand it down, put Bondo, sand again...this cycle took quite a bit. Espec since we're dealing with insanely low temps here in Chicago and things don't dry out quite quickly. I made my decision to use a black paint that matches the bezel of my Xenarc (remember, I kept the Xenarc bezel in there, unlike you guys who wanted just the screen itself). My greatest success comes in terms of wiring my laptop. I soldered a wire to the pulse/momentary switch on the laptop. It is not for those faint of heart...soldering required mad precision since the smallest mistake could disable the laptop/computer for good. Ran a wire to the outside (I made a knot so if by mistake I try pulling it, I will not break the solder), soldered to a stereo connector ...and another stereo connector will be soldered with a longish wire to a momentary switch inside the cabin. Now really all I have to do solder the rest of the wiring system and I am good to go... but these freezing times...freeze my advance...

So we all agree that the Rally 65W bulbs are the shit ? I am yet to try the Hi beams HIR, I do not get to drive in rural areas to need them...

Mine aligned correctly and no need to trim/cut anything.

I am having trouble matching the paint....I will have to paint the entire bezel. And I will do it flat black. I am having weather related delays myself...we are expecting around 0 F meaning some -20C over the week-end.

There is about 30% more useable light from the Osram Rally bulbs. For real. I do not need my fogs no more...but will not upgreade those bulbs till one dies...to yellows of course. They do throw light farther and put more to the ground. They are rated + 700 lumens over the OEM To me, they were worth the money.