In Car Computer :d

[Primordial]

By booting a OS up of a flash disk if runnign USB2 would this make the start up from cold quicker or slower?

Debateable... most likely slower.

[Michael_1882]

hmmmmmm great conflict of oppinion HAHAHAH hmmm it's still early days for me i have alot of planing ahead of me.

[hydie]

The motherboard you were looking at is the same that I bought, running 80Gb HDD and 1Gb Ram.... and here is the link to power supply

arh k then. did u buy the motherboard from ebay, or yeo? and thanks for the link to power supply.

[parish]

LOL... it just what I've been told... will let you know when I try it out...

hydie, got motherboard from eyo...

[Michael_1882]

I'm really keen on running a two screen set up, one motorised, and one mounted in like yours parish. I was thinking to mount a dvd disk drive aswell in......... thinking the glove box dunno it's not flat (anybody got ideas) and along side the disk drive some usb ports. Then again theres that whole laptop thing...........arrrrrrrrr to many options.

[hydie]

I'm really keen on running a two screen set up, one motorised, and one mounted in like yours parish. I was thinking to mount a dvd disk drive aswell in......... thinking the glove box dunno it's not flat (anybody got ideas) and along side the disk drive some usb ports. Then again theres that whole laptop thing...........arrrrrrrrr to many options.

yea agreed, there are so many options.

i was thikning about flush mounting my screen like parish, but thought if/when i sell my car, i want to take the computer with me, so im going to have a motorised in dash.

[syx]

I want to know whether its faster.

The flash memory is faster but whether the data will go through the usb faster, im not sure of.

theoretically usb2 is 480mbits/sec which is about 50-60 mbytes/sec which will be faster than your ide hdd works in almost all cases.

I'll do it on monday so we can get a definate answer.

No one wants to wait extra seconds for the music to start (or the wanky show off bits ) when they get in their cars

[MANWHOR3]

I get what you're saying RE the usb key. but, I seriously don't see a harddrive as lasting very long.

I suppose one option migiht be keeping all the music and crap on a dvd, but that would be pretty gay. no different to just playing an mp3 cd.

So could you guys post up where you bought the mobo and psu from? was the lili screen 2nd hand? or new.

cheers.

[kentenchi]

Hardware:

Via EPIA Mini ITX Motherboard (1.3Ghz)

M2ATX power unit

1Gb Ram

80Gb SATA Hard Drive

USB GPS Receiver

7” Touch Screen

Software:

Windows Xp

RoadRunner

FreeDrive

Winamp

hi im also planning to put a system into my car as well but i don't have a clue where to purchase the usb gps receiver or which brand i should be looking for?

[mikymouse]

Just run everything off a large laptop hdd. Make a USB port at the front of your car, so that when you need to upload new music etc, you just plug a USB key with your new songs in and transfer....easy.

Edited June 17, 2006 by mikymouse

[Liiger]

kentenchi: Check this one out.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/GlobalSat-SiRF-III-...1QQcmdZViewItem

You can boot from a flash drive, there is a bit of software I cant remember the name, but I can dig it out tomorrow - it will format the drive ready for you to install windows to it. You need at least 2 gig to install xp, although i guess you could get away with less if you used win2000 or linux or something. Oh, and you need a motherboard which will allow booting from the usb, if you look in the bios > boot order you will be able to see if it supports that

All in one guide:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/09/09/win...in_your_pocket/

Only really need 256meg to put windows on one apparently but 2gig would be much better for maps and all etc.

And usb would definitely boot up faster than a hard drive. Firstly think of the logic. Hard drive, motorised, need time to seek information based on platters etc. USB no moving parts, data can be accessed anywhere very quicky.

Bargin:

http://www.eyo.com.au/prod_C-RD2GB_proddes...s_warranty.html

My Q tho:

I've got a laptop atm, can I just get centrafuse, some maps from torrents, a usb gps thingo and run it through my lappy for testing?

Edited June 17, 2006 by Liiger

[Primordial]

hi im also planning to put a system into my car as well but i don't have a clue where to purchase the usb gps receiver or which brand i should be looking for?

Get the Holux USB GPS off Ebay - $85

I've got one and its awesome! 20 Channel receiver and 45sec cold start time!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holux-GR-213U-Water...1QQcmdZViewItem

[Primordial]

I've got a laptop atm, can I just get centrafuse, some maps from torrents, a usb gps thingo and run it through my lappy for testing?

yep thats exactly what I did.. Centrafuse + Maps from Torrents + Holux GPS + Lilliput 7" Motorized screen = awesome!

You dont need a 12v power supply for testing with a laptop too

[hydie]

Get the Holux USB GPS off Ebay - $85

I've got one and its awesome! 20 Channel receiver and 45sec cold start time!

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Holux-GR-213U-Water...1QQcmdZViewItem

with that unit there, in the description it says

Built-in rechargeable lithium battery for Time- To- First-Fix(TTFF)

why does it need a bettery when it runs off USB?

[Primordial]

with that unit there, in the description it says

why does it need a bettery when it runs off USB?

Cos the battery saves your last position when the computer is off. So when you turn the computer back on, it only takes 10 seconds or so to re-aquire. If it didnt have a battery, it would take 45 seconds EVERY time to aquire the satellites. The battery never goes dead cos the USB re-charges it. You wont ever have to change the battery. If the battery dies (which they EVENTUALLY do), it will just take 45 sec every time you start it up to aquire.

[Michael_1882]

Hey Jon, i remeber when i was in your car and your girlfriend called i remeber you phone was in yoru pocket yet the carputer took over. I assume blue tooth. Can you run us through it, nobody has really touched on that, and after seeing it you car i though it's an eccelent idea.

Michael

[Primordial]

Hey Jon, i remeber when i was in your car and your girlfriend called i remeber you phone was in yoru pocket yet the carputer took over. I assume blue tooth. Can you run us through it, nobody has really touched on that, and after seeing it you car i though it's an eccelent idea.

Michael

Well basically, the phone talks to the PC via bluetooth. A USB bluetooth dongle for your pc costs about $60 from ebay (maybe less). When a call comes in, the sound automatically mutes, and the phone control screen appears. Your phone send the audio through the bluetooth to your laptop, and the sounds comes out the car speakers. You hook up a micorophone to to microphone port on your computer, and install the microphone where a normal car kit mic is...

So effectively your phone can be in your pocket (like it was when you were in the car), and you can take a phone call over the car kit.

The software for the phone control is integrated into the software i've been raving about: Centrafuse. It's relatively simple to set up too. The software can grab your contacts list and display them too, so you can dial from your car pc, instead of having to pull your phone out of your pocket

Attached is a screen shot of the screen that you can use to make calls etc.

Edit: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/High-Speed-Bluetoot...1QQcmdZViewItem

USB Bluetooth - $15 delivered + maybe $20 for a mic, and you have a $35 bluetooth handsfree kit!

[hydie]

hey guys, well im also a member on NS. and found this 'Noob Guide to CarPC'. so i thought i would link it here, it has got alot of useful infomation.

http://www.nissansilvia.com/forums/Ultimat...de-t125496.html

[Michael_1882]

Thanks Jon,

Thats helps heeps, how sensitive are the mics? Like do you have to mount it up on the roof type thing, becuase i allready have ultra sensors (from the alarm) there and they look dicky enough i think a mic woudl jsut highlight it. Wheres yours located?

[Primordial]

well you'd be best off getting a directional mike, because an omni-directional mikes pick up too much noise from the surrounding cabin (ie. engine noise), so your sound quality would be shit. The issue with the directional mike is that its gotta be pointed directly at your mouth, so there isnt many other places you can mount it other than up in the top corner...