carputer

[speedminded]

I had one mounted in the trunk of my talon (before the bitch rear ended and smashed it). I used a Via Epia M1000 motherboard which is a mini-itx (it's about the size of a mouse pad). It has just about everything on-board, including the processor, video card (which has tv out, meaning you can connect to just about any monitor/screen). I used a 7 inch flip out screen with built in touch screen (which is up for sale if you want), it takes up one DIN slot. I used an opus solutions 150watt power supply which is design for in car computers (I hate the term "carputer") wires straight to your car and plugs directly into a motherboard like any other psu (also up for sale). Then I just bought a stick of RAM and a hard drive. I was in the process of lookin into a dvd player, was still decideing between slot load drive which was as big as a normal desktop drive, or a slim line drive from a laptop. Once I get some my car's performance done I really want to get another in car computer. but that won't be for another year or 2. It was really nice to have a huge music library always at hand, not to mention the videos and the would-be soon to come gps navigation.

oh as for the speakers, the first thing I tried was an FM modulator but didn't like the audio quality. So I bought a new head unit (nothing too flashy), a low end pioneer, becuase with any pioneer that has the option for a cd changer (the port in back), you can buy an audio in adapter (which was like $30). You could also buy a cheap dual (aka jensen) headunit as they all come with audio in.

I used a desktop harddrive (80gig western digital) for 1 1/2 years and it held up fine on my everyday car. Just mount the drive side ways, which should keep the disks from getting scratched. I really recommend he Epia M1000 it's not that expensive, takes up little space, and takes little power which are all things you want to look at when making a car computer. It has both s video out and composite out, and a 5.1 surround sound all on board.

Good info, i was building one for my Land Rover...Got a slot-in DVD player for $15 off uBid and a single slot unit that controls 7 fans with temperature sensors, temperature alarms, etc. Started fabricating the case, just the right size to use as a center console/armrest on the rear seats, and had a 7" slideout/flip up LCD in the dash. With 1024MB ram and the only thing i needed to finish it was a good graphics card with both video in and out...have a few minature cameras [to make rock crawling vids with] and was planning to run the Earthmate gps receiver and Street Atlas program with the 3D elevations...overlay that info with the videos's for some crazy off-road compelations. At 13mpg on premium, not to mention parts, that project got a bit expensive.

Now i wanna build one for the car using a laptop or shuttle for a stand alone ECU/Tuning, gps mapping (trackmate), record the in-car cameras, music, etc. Seen a few mini keyboards with programmable keys...