Would U Ever Consider A Carputer

[scathing]

I am also quite interested in this carputer as well. If its properly integrated and your user interface is easy for in-car use (I tried to use my laptop in the passenger seat of a car yesterday and it was a pain in the ass), I'll probably look at getting one.

Carputer + this = win

[gexenon]

I am also quite interested in this carputer as well. If its properly integrated and your user interface is easy for in-car use (I tried to use my laptop in the passenger seat of a car yesterday and it was a pain in the ass), I'll probably look at getting one.

Carputer + this = win

I'll release a few screen shots of the inteface in the next few days. Get your feed back. iBurst will definately be futured aswell.

Using windows while driving is a very bad idea. Its not designed for touchscreen use, the front end will solve this problem.

[some_cs_student]

Hmm, there's a lot of discussion of this on the sites dedicated to it:

http://mp3car.com/

The ideas cool, free GPS appears to be almost impossible for Australia. The paid for GPS are integrated into some applications and not others.

Boot-up times are a problem. Although the creator of pyCar, http://pymedia.org/pycar/index.html got his bootup close to 10seconds (linux). Of course you can get fast times on windows too.

Anyway, just my 2cents, its a very interesting field and rapidly evolving too (I would like to see some installs in Skylines, I haven't seen any yet!).

Edited May 29, 2006 by some_cs_student

[MrBurns]

Hmm, there's a lot of discussion of this on the sites dedicated to it:

http://mp3car.com/

The ideas cool, free GPS appears to be almost impossible for Australia. The paid for GPS are integrated into some applications and not others.

Boot-up times are a problem. Although the creator of pyCar, http://pymedia.org/pycar/index.html got his bootup close to 10seconds (linux). Of course you can get fast times on windows too.

Anyway, just my 2cents, its a very interesting field and rapidly evolving too (I would like to see some installs in Skylines, I haven't seen any yet!).

Here's mine:

[some_cs_student]

Hmm, not bad . My plan was to one day integrate it into the dash, but I don't know if there would be enough room without a lot of cutting in a skyline.

That and it would take me forever to install because I would keep making changes (when I do eventually get my skyline that is)

[MrBurns]

Hmm, not bad . My plan was to one day integrate it into the dash, but I don't know if there would be enough room without a lot of cutting in a skyline.

That and it would take me forever to install because I would keep making changes (when I do eventually get my skyline that is)

Yeah, they're the same reasons why i went the way i did.

Also, i'm a bit paranoid about theft. With the pc in the boot, its a bit trickier to get at and when the screen is folded in, its just a black plastic panel - you'd never know it were there.

Another reason i went for the fold-in screen instead of flush mounted is that i reckon the soft touch panel on the things would melt in direct sunlight on one of our 40+ degree days. It might not melt after one or even two days, but after a year i reckon it'd start to show. In europe or cooler parts of US you'd get away with it, but down here i've seen some pretty tuff things turn to goop when left on the front seat.

[gexenon]

Yeah, they're the same reasons why i went the way i did.

Also, i'm a bit paranoid about theft. With the pc in the boot, its a bit trickier to get at and when the screen is folded in, its just a black plastic panel - you'd never know it were there.

Another reason i went for the fold-in screen instead of flush mounted is that i reckon the soft touch panel on the things would melt in direct sunlight on one of our 40+ degree days. It might not melt after one or even two days, but after a year i reckon it'd start to show. In europe or cooler parts of US you'd get away with it, but down here i've seen some pretty tuff things turn to goop when left on the front seat.

touch screens are pretty touch and can operate around 60 deg range. I don't think anyones car gets close to that.

[Primordial]

I just finished installing a CarPC on Sunday!! I used an IBM laptop simply for the fact that the unit has been designed to be moved around, unlike a normal PC which is usually designed to stay still. Also Im pretty sure the laptop hard drives are more shock resistant than the full size one due to the smaller platter size. With cars like ours (stiff suspension) this is very important unless you want to replace the hard drive yearly!

I installed the laptop under the drivers seat.

Features:

- Lilliput 7" In Dash Motorized Touch Screen (Built in TV Tuner) (Ebay - $570)

- IBM R40 Laptop (P4 2.0Ghz, 512mb RAM, 40GB HDD) (Free from work!)

- Laptop docking station for quick removal of the PC (Ebay - $25)

- Holux USB GPS Receiver (Ebay - $85)

- Wireless - For transferring music to my car

- Total cost (Including cables and other assorted stuff) -- approx $700

Software:

- Centrafuse

http://www.fluxmedia.net/

This software is the bomb! I tried heaps of different ones and found this one to be the best! Best of all - its free! It's all designed for use on touch screen with big buttons and stuff. It does all this plus more:

- Sat Navigation

- TV

- Web Browser (Requires Internet)

- DVD Player

- Mp3 Player/Video Player

- Visualizations (like winamp)

- ODBC II Vehicle communication (Requires connection cable to hook up to ECU)

- Local Weather (Requires Internet)

Ill post up some photos tomorrow...