Carputer (pc In My R33)

[kleicl]

hey guys just feel free to move this post if it is in whe wrong section..

OK.. hear goes. just been surfing the web a few years a go when getting my first car.. and came across a website that has many threds and posts about Mainly US people putting computers in their cars... when on the site the other day came across a skyline.. wow..

gave me an idea iv got an old laptop lying arround so i thort this mite be a kewl idea. turs out its easyer than it seams...

just a frew options what is out there

1tb hard drive if ya got the money i have a 120gb one

wireless usb stick for when you are in a wirless hot spot

wireless usb stick pay per month . telstra,, etc,,, like using the 3g network

dvd's music

gps

the list goes on

you can also hook up a digital gauges,,

but i an %80 done on this project all i need is a lcd 7'' touch screen and putty it in and i am done..

well what i am trying to ask has anyone done this and can help out on things they should of done iff the would do it again,.

if there is enough intrest i will be posting pictures of the build.. please leave ur comments bad or good as i want to know what you recon..

thanx

[cosmic starz]

post up your info and pics - I'm into PC mods etc and always have about 6 including laptops lying around and bring worked on , lots of other members will also probably be interested in getting a carPC up and running on a modest budget

[Bliksem]

Theres a few threads on the forum, interested to see pics also. One of my mates has set one up in his R33 and is now redoing it using an ASUS eeePC

[shanusr33]

i had a mate build me a small pc centarian something or other in a motex case with dvd burner usb outputs runs on 12 volts with xp media centre so it looks like a jukebox on screen. this was about 2 years ago, had it in my car ever since and love it. in my glove box is the usb hub and mini foldable keyboard and wireless 3g thing for internet so its all there and works perfectly. i decided for a mousepad built into my middle console rather than touchscreen cause when running normal windows applications such as typing on these forums or clicking around web pages on a 7inch screen makes life a little difficult.

i wish i knew about computers i could give you more details, but as far as the build goes good luck! i dont regret anything about my project, except that i've so much music and crap on there it runs a little slow. installing it wasn't hard cause my car was in parts when i did it orignally, but loads of fun. it didnt' fit in the dash or under the glovebox neatly so its in my boot, which i thought would be a pain to turn it on but i only use it when i know its a long drive coming up and therefore i turn it on before i leave the garage anyway.

[bubba]

I'm running a carpc in my 32 using a VoomPC-II enclosure, it's a 1.2Ghz onboard mini-ITX with 1Gb RAM, 120Gb 2.5" HDD and a slim DVD drive. PC cost about $500 to build and the touchscreen was more than the cost of the PC itself.

I have a trackball stashed to the left of the centre console for when I need to do something that is a bit hard with the touchscreen.

Don't have a keyboard in the car as there is no need, have tried a mates 3G broadband dongle and it's mint. PC is about the size of my amp and resides in the passenger footwell up against the side of the centre console, gives me easy access to DVD drive and USB ports.

It's a fairly removable setup. You could get pretty fancy if you wanted to graft things like the screen, USB ports, slot-loading DVD drive into the dash.

I use it for music (outputs to the aux port in my deck) and for diagnostics (remapped stock ecu, have consult cable permanently plugged in).

For the screen, make sure you get one with VGA input or it will look like shiet

Edit: have been contemplating organising a group buy on the VoomPC setups (shipping is a killer) and I have a local supplier of 7" non-motorised in-dash VGA screens (they have others too).. not sure if there's enough interest though.

Edited January 21, 2009 by bubba

[kleicl]

yea guys thanx for your comments.. i will be getting some pix up soon just working out the small details but will keep you all posted so far it has cost me..

$38 for the case and

$16 for cable

$32 for fans and switches

$25 For odds. solder heat shrink etc..

then the 7'' VGA touch screen about $250

so i will be trying to do it all for under $400 ( but like most of you ive got an old computer)

thanx

[bubba]

What power supply will you be using?

I initially started out with old desktop components but ended up with small form factor stuff in a purpose made case.

[kleicl]

i have wired a the two contacts where the switch is to have a button switch all works ok..

and the laptop needs 18v so unfortuantly i can not run it off my car.. so i will be using a 150w power inverter... 12v DC IN = 240v AC out this willl be in the boot where i will run cables down to under the drivers seat..

i will have switches so i can switch

INVERTER on/off

Screen on/off

Fans on/off

computer touch switch

and main power on/off

At the moment the full start up takes 26sec and full shutdown 10. so all in all it is quite quick tho i need to hit a button. but thats all ok..

thanx mate..

will get pix up soon,,,

[bubba]

This is why I opted to go for an actual CarPC solution, the case came with an intelligent power supply that takes in 6-24V (IIRC) and puts out a regulated 12V, it will even handle the voltage drop while cranking so the PC won't reset!

It also waits a set time (I have it at 60sec) after the key is removed and then soft-offs the PC so you don't corrupt/damage anything.

I also have a button on the dash that acts as a power/reset button incase I need to manually shut down.. or I get pulled over with pr0n on the screen

[Bliksem]

Bubba, did you get yours through MP3car.com?

[gumflapper]

ive looked in2 doing this aswell and ive come acoss that VoomPC and it looks nice...

[BAMR33]

I've got an AOpen mini pc (MP915-B) as a media computer hooked up to the LCD tv and it does an unreal job. It would also work very well as an in-car pc.

I bought mine off ebay for $138 posted which is friggin good considering how small it is and still has a 1.7Ghz Intel M processor, 512mb ram, 40gb hdd, usb, firewire, wifi, dvi out etc. etc.

http://www.pcstats.com/artvnl.cfm?articleID=1965

[bubba]

Bubba, did you get yours through MP3car.com?

Got it from mini-box.com, I got two to halve the shipping and have recently acquired the 2nd setup back (dude cbf) so will put it in the stag. Not sure whether to go for the same screen that's in the 32 or try for something bigger..

[bubba]

ive looked in2 doing this aswell and ive come acoss that VoomPC and it looks nice...

I got the VoomPC-2 barebones kit, very happy It's sturdy as and has handled being in my stiffly sprung, 2-wayed, button clutched 32 just fine

[TRIX34]

Is this what you bought http://www.mini-box.com/VoomPC-Enclosure;j...mp;category=101 ???

And did you just buy a screen and then install it all???

Or is there something that i am missing???

[bubba]

Is this what you bought http://www.mini-box.com/VoomPC-Enclosure;j...mp;category=101 ???

And did you just buy a screen and then install it all???

Or is there something that i am missing???

No, I got the VoomPC-2 barebones kit, then added local bought harddrive, dvd burner and ram. Screen I got from a mob over east, cost a pretty penny but I was pretty fussy - good quality, indash, single din and non-motorised..

[J3TR33]

i might be interested in a group buy, depending how tempting it is, lol, and imagine everything you could do with this, watch tv, dvd, music, web, gps navigation etc awesome

Edited January 29, 2009 by J3TR33

[bubba]

Guys, if you *might* be interested in a group buy, shoot me a PM with whether you'd want it in pieces/assembled/with screen and I'll start looking into prices/shipping/etc.

Installing them is pretty easy if you can install a car stereo, all you need is an earth point, a relay, a 12v feed and a switched ignition source. I went about mine in a rather epic way as I was consolidating power to pc, stereo, screen and gauges.

[J3TR33]

Guys, if you *might* be interested in a group buy, shoot me a PM with whether you'd want it in pieces/assembled/with screen and I'll start looking into prices/shipping/etc.

Installing them is pretty easy if you can install a car stereo, all you need is an earth point, a relay, a 12v feed and a switched ignition source. I went about mine in a rather epic way as I was consolidating power to pc, stereo, screen and gauges.

i am looking at a second hand package that has come up in another forum which i might buy, but if that falls through il definetly be interested in a group buy,

the only thing that concerns me, is that if it comes from america it will cost more now and shipping... due to our weak currency...

but if these can be sourced locally in aus, would be good,

most people are lazy and would just want the whole package,

MSY has good prices on normal computer parts, they might have parts for carpc as well, that might be a good start...

say if we tell them to build a xx number of car pc's to a certain spec and then buy a x number of screens...

just a thought...

[jrm]

I just finished installing my CarPC v3 (my third version of a CarPC over the years..) this weekend.

This latest build consists of:

* Xenarc MDT-X7000 in-dash motorized 7" vga touchscreen

* Intel D945GCLF2 Mini-ITX ATOM 330 (dual-core) motherboard/CPU combo

* 2GB DDR Memory

* Seagate Momentus 320GB 7200rpm 2.5" disk

* M2-ATX Automotive power-supply

* Automotive mini-itx case (very similar to voom case, but I dont think its a genuine voom)

* USB Wifi (Asus WL-167 802.11B/G)

* USB GPS (BU-353)

* USB 3G/HSPDA

This latest version boots a whole lot faster and seems a whole lot better than my v2 (Intel P-M 1.2ghz/1gb/30gb 4200rpm disk + 120gb 2.5" usb ext in the same case) and I'm pretty happy with it so far.

I'm using centrafuse for front-end, which I have found very reliable over the years.

I would recommend using the mp3car site as a reference for carpc information, as it can be invaluable for ironing out those weird bugs that you'll inevitably run into.