Laptop Glovebox

[Hakosuka22]

Gday guys,

I bought a laptop a few weeks back and was thinking about throwing it the glove box? Haha Crazy yeah but I think it is possible. Had a look at some of the other topics with carputer setups and most of those things they did i plan to do (GPS,Aux Audio etc.) Measured it up and it should fit however i will have to gut the frame out of the glovebox and some of the plastic firewall thingo at the back of the glovebox. Thought I could put it on a small platform with sort of ball bearing cabinet type rails so i can open the glove box and slide it out. Any holes you see in my ideas let me know or any helpful suggestions!!

Also my other question is if there is a way of getting it in the glove box is there any way it would be able to connect to my Power FC computer. Ive heard rumors of programs and cabling available?

Anyone out there on the same nerdy wavelength? P.S. Have a 93' R33 GTS-T

Cheers

[MANWHORE]

fc datalogit

[skybarge]

Yeah FC Datalogit works, check the RX7 forums, they have some cool hacks and guides on how to make the serial cable

I'm in the same boat as you, well kind of, I hate the whole idea of a laptop in the car, I'd rather go cheaper proper PC

I'm creating mine at the moment

Total cost:

Motherboard, Harddrive, other pieces free

12v Auto switching car power supply 90w(enough to run the VIA low power systems) $80

serial to USB converter for datalogit/consult $7

consult connector(For now till PowerFC) $70

8" Flipdown monitor 1200x800 res(cheaper than a fixed monitor) $120

mini mouse $10

flexible keyboard $5

Bluetooth adapter $5 for phone, so i can use it handsfree if I need to, but i doubt i ever will

$292NZD(cheaper in AUD)

How much is your laptop worth? if it's just a throw away cheapo, sell it for as much as you can and get a VIA CPU and motherboard off Ebay, cheap as.

I've basically created an aluminium shroud where the normal stereo and AC sits, I'm going to mount the screen, a few USB ports and a lighter socket in there

relocating the headunit to where teh factory lighter socket and pocket sits(DVD headunit, with DTS dolby and a few other things, JVC DV9606 i think

I've got a 8cm BLue LED quiet fan from a previous computer that I'll be using to cool the power supply, the rest of it stays pretty cool already

Specs, nothing too flash:

VIA 1ghz CPU

256mb RAM

2gb HDD(Op system only, using 80gb portable for music and movies if need be)

Network card 100mb

Tiny motherboard, the size of a 1DIN slot

8" screen is the size of 2 DINs

MOving the AC controller into the centre console storage, so under the LID with some smooth wiring

Will have a 5.1 Jazz PC sound decoder with digital in powered by the power supply hidden in teh glove box, takse up about half the glovebox, but looks cool with flashy lights and won't be seen during normal driving, only for show

So the PC goes into the headunit AUX In, the headunit goes to digital optical to the DTS decoder,

The decoder goes to a 5 channel amp, for my 6.5" front comps(kappa infinity), 5.25" JVC Centres(not too bad, just for fill), 6x9" JVCs in the rear, then a D-class amp powers my JVC 12" sub in custom box

The 5 channel amp will be mounted behind the PC in the centre console too and the rear amp will be hidden in the boot.

I like hiding stuff.

For the OS I'm using WinXP but a much smaller version to cut back load times, it'll be round 500mb big in total, so it'll take round 10 sec to boot or so, at the moment with no OS, it boots to the "Cannot boot" screen in about 2 sec so it's nice and fast.

Other options for the future will be GPS and wireless, if i can be bothered

If you didn't want to go that crazy, you'd need a lighter socket to match the volts and amps of your current DC adapter, a small screen to mount somehwere, maybe a 7-8" single din that folds out, you can get touchscreen, but they are quite expensive, and you'd need a way of putting the PC sound into the stereo, if you've got one with AUX in already, then it'll be easy

[skybarge]

whoops, mines in an R32 GTS4

but the same sort of setup should work in yours

Just a different centre console design

[DRD-00F]

I had a laptop in my old car... I quite liked it

was very pimp