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f1anatic

Car PC Survey  

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  1. 1. Car PC Survey

    • I have a Car PC and I love it
    • I want a Car PC but I lack the know-how or the money for it
    • I gave up on Car PC: too much time/money/effort
    • Interesting concept but I chose a brand name aftermarket infotainment unit
    • A windshield mount GPS navi and an I-POd will serve me just as fine
    • FTMW: This thread delivers !


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@ 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.

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Yeh, the thing I have noticed over the many times I have pulled the stereo and trim out of my dash is that automotive wiring harnesses, wire routing, connectors, etc... adhere to a much better standard than computers.

 

In a car, wires are all cut to exact length, routed perfectly around whatever, tied down well, not loose and flapping about.. simply put - durable. Computers simply don't adhere to these higher standards. My hope for my carputer is that sometime I will get the install to look like it was from the factory. Not just my screen, but the wiring, connectors, etc...

 

I know, it is all hidden, but I know exactly how everything is sitting in my dash, and it bugs me that cables are too long, flapping about, etc...

 

 

Just some ideas:

 

http://www.delphi.com/manufacturers/auto/ee/connect/other/usb/

 

http://www.molex.com/cgi-bin/bv/molex/jsp/products/datasheet.jsp?productid=18198&BV_SessionID=@@@@0700875576.1171101865@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccceaddkdjfmmmicflgcehedffgdfmk.0&channel=Products&Lang=en-US

 

The issue with the connector is the power. The smaller connectors can't hold the amperage or that gauge of wire that we require. So unless the power wires are a seperate connector, I don't think it can be done in a smaller connector.

Need a CarPC bezel? PM me!
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That's very true. Well, if I'm not powering the computer, it just got SUPER easy heh. I've been working on a custom fiberglass enclosure for the PC today. Should be about halfway done or so tomorrow. Ill let you know how it goes.

 

Now I just need to find carpeting that matches the trunk's OEM carpet. Any ideas? I don't have any custom audio shops around me in NY.

Need a CarPC bezel? PM me!
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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 ?
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Laptop harddrives can really take a beating, I personally wouldnt worry about it. I have mine mounted vertical, and no problems yet. Depending on the size of the laptop, you may want to mount it on the tray under the door/flap to the tire compartment. I'll have to show you where I'm mounting my computer.
Need a CarPC bezel? PM me!
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Yeah. Give me until the end of the night, or tomorrow, and I'll post pics of my new FB enclosure. It's coming out REALLY well.

 

Where can I find trunk carpeting (like subwoofer box carpeting), I dont have a local audio shop.

Need a CarPC bezel? PM me!
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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 ?

This is how I mount the full ATX motherboard and hard drive, as you can see, I have my hard drive mount vertically with a layer of IBM mouse pad as to dampen vibrations.

It has been like this for few months. The hard drive was set flat/ horizontal before for almost a year. It is a 4 years old 80GB 7200rpm Seagate hard drive.

Not a problem at all.

Second picture also shows the DSATX power supply.

 

http://aycu17.webshots.com/image/6576/2000964438465282926_rs.jpg

 

http://aycu12.webshots.com/image/5531/2000905022801510168_rs.jpg

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I haven't checked in a while but looks like everyone is making good progress.

 

F1anatic looks great!

 

Sebbery, that thing is awesome! I haven't had time to read everything in the thread. Can you cliff note me on the specs of that?

 

I went ahead and sprayed my bezel with flat black primer and decided to not let the paint hold me up on the rest of the progress as I can always take apart and paint later. The flat black primer doesn't look all that bad anyway. I still have to figure out power for everything but temporarily used the the aux 12v for the monitor and ran the laptop on the battery. Really cool man. Using the LSXVoid skin for RR. If you haven't checked it out http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=93192 . I like it.

 

I still need to relocate the trip computer but I'm getting there. I pumped to see a touch of what it is going to be after building that bezel for so long.

 

image0001.jpg.3086716013669b1b86ecbdd271fd5972.jpg

 

image0002.jpg.7dcf266aa593e19ae3e7693e260944ad.jpg

 

image0003.jpg.9ee12f49dfb554b187329af4e73edb5d.jpg

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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 free

Power 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.

2127937745_DSCF3632(Small).JPG.4685caca54da382b70e7b750703c0439.JPG

942665058_DSCF3633(Small).JPG.ba15fa7010382e43baa8d862da62cc9d.JPG

721428562_DSCF3634(Small).JPG.db2278796b21c4a66008a2ba12dbfb02.JPG

170106374_DSCF3635(Small).JPG.1aae134de0f317d56866aecdea3be800.JPG

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for the love of god, or wood, or magic mushrooms, please square up the touchpad. It gives me vertigo.

 

:lol: the taller they are...

Why don't you square up your monitor ? :icon_bigg

 

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.

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:lol: the taller they are...

Why don't you square up your monitor ? :icon_bigg

Done, used a T-square and the CRT geometry proves true. Your touch pad on the other hand.... I bet it looks awesome with the roll top cover closed. Anyway, looks good. Can't wait to see it in action.

ignore him, he'll go away.
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I've briefly looked over this entire topic.

I work in IT, I'm a tech. Been building and hacking systems for close to 12 years. I am very impressed with what I see here, it's clear to me that you guys are very informed, you know what you're doing and love doing this kind of stuff.

Me? I've barely had my LGT for less than a week, you could say that although the geek in me wants to start on such a project yesterday, the car simply smells too fresh still :) So I think this'll have to wait. Not to mention the fact that some hardware components cost quite a lot, such as the smart PSU controller. 80 bucks? Ouch! Don't know where all of you live, but for those that live in states which see hot summers and cold winters, I do have to question the level of stress the hardware undergoes, especially so the hard drive.

A hard drive's death is varying temperatures, repeated spin-up/spin-down cycles and so forth. A hard drive will last longer, for example, if ran nonstop than one which is constantly turned on/off, especially so in cold/hot temps. I can't even get myself to leave my iPod in my car, let alone a custom-built mini-tower. But if you guys have had luck with these set-ups, then I'm in no place to express my

skepticism :)

Having said all this, I'll chime in with advice from now on here and there ;)

Has any of you looked into the possibility of running much smaller devices for this very same purpose? For example I do know that some folks managed to slap various Linux distros on iPods which essentially turned them into mini-PCs. I'll have to dig for info, if I do start on such a project I'll keep everyone posted. One interesting "problem" would be to manage to hook up an external video output.

Check it out

http://www.ipodlinux.org/Main_Page

A ton of apps are available and more are continually added http://www.ipodlinux.org/Applications

I've learned now to take apart iPods with a hand tied behind my back and blindfolded. I've got a Mini laying around here somewhere unused. The challenge would be to figure out how to convert the little display ribbon to another jack/plug-in/whatever to be connected to a bigger screen.

So I dunno. Looking at such a possibility, it makes everything else seem an overkill.

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