Uber CarPC

[Guest TommyH]

to make an uber carputer, i found the folowong

flash drive

mobo

512mb ram

case

power supply

this would cost about 1k, but when the prices come down a bit, it would be worthwile, if you dont want to see it, or dont want to allocate alot of room for it.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Why can't these mini-ITX boards have something better than a VIA chip? Like a Core 2 Duo or something. Hell, make it a quad core Xeon

[Guest TommyH]

they do make a core duo, but i dont want that much power on a tiny little 7inch screen thats mostly beeing used for GPS and music........really. and I thought you were more of a mac person. but the core duo is like $400. My whole computer(excluding monitor) cost $550. 2.8Ghz, 1.5 Gb of RAM, NVidia GeForce 6200 graphics, tv tuner, santa cruz sound card(left overs from predecessor, also wifi) and 300Gb Hdd.....super sweet pc. THanks dad! but im pretty sure it wouldnt work well in a car, even though it is a very small form factor, its an hp media center pc......so, you can go for power, or placement...you choose, its your money.

[Guest F14CRAZY]

Easiest would be to find a nice laptop with a broken screen

[Guest TommyH]

but wheres the customizing in that?

[TheBlackMoon]

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> Is this the part where I stay very quiet and humble and not mention that the carputer was my primary goal for starting mods on my car?

Should I not mention that, using a separate Marine battery in the trunk (which powers the amps) and a 400W Inverter (Most Mac users can get away with a lot less that that, like 140W), I was powering a Mini-ATX motherboard in a "cube" that has all of the features of a standard PC + a wireless Network card and TV Tuner (Standard, not HD); that for now, to keep it out of site til I'm finished all I want to do, it sits in the trunk and uses a standard VGA cable to run to my 6-1/2" monitor in the front console (where the '90 has a storage compartment stock) and a Slot-loaded USB DVD-Rom in the center console? Perhaps I should also not mention that, outside of the cost of the CPU/Memory and monitor, my carputer, with the cube case (bought at any computer show for about $70-80) cost less than $300. The motherboard's nothing fancy, but just a regular mini-atx with sound, video, and networking onboard. I added my own AGP video card, but it wasn't necessary (onboard video was fine for business apps), and onboard sound allows for 7.1 or 5.1 channel surround (with the proper amps and speakers). Hard Drive was an 80GB I had laying around. CPU, Memory, TV Tuner, DVD I also had around, so had to consider comparative pricing. Wireless G card bought at a computer show for $8, but you can get them from $25-50 retail, and monitor was to portable accessory for the Playstation 2 which I gutted.

Most of that setup is removed for upgrades, unfortunately, or I'd forward pics, but believe me, it can be done quite reasonably and safely. Oh, btw, if you're wondering about the marine battery setup, a 4Gauge Hot line runs from the main battery's hot to the trunk, and a short (<18") ground lead grounds to the trunk. A Marine Battery is not only slow draining, but also slow charging, so the length of the hot lead isn't a problem and, contrary to poular belief, it has yet to "strain" my charging system; been in the car for about 5yrs or more now without an isolator (burned out 3 isolators before finding out the CS-140 was cooking them because it was too powerful).

Ok, I'm really going to shut up now... <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

F14, I have to remember to holler at you when my "boy" gets back to Port Huron from Iraq (if that ever happens!) so that we can meet and hang out! I was up there early last summer and just didn't think about it til almost time to come back to Md.

[Guest TommyH]

I do understand that it can be done rather cheaply, and I do have everything to make it work, minus display, but it want it to be something that cant be seen, doesnt take up a lot of space...and is rather new. It was all just sugestion, and i didnt know that it was you who started this whole carpc thing.....so.....sorry. And, and all the computer shows around me have stoped, i dont know why, just one day, they didnt come, and thier web site was shutdown. so my only source for stuff is newegg, ebay, and my stockpile.

[Guest TommyH]

also....why do you need a tv tuner? its not like your gonna watch tv while driving, and i dont see how one can brag that " I got a tv tuner in MY carputer, and you dont! HAHA!"

I really dont, not to be mean, its your car and stuff.....so do what you like, i just dont see the point of haivng one. and the hard drive i choose for this is so expensive is because it is a solid state drive, basicly, a super-high capacity flash drive, because i want very little if any moving parts in my carputer. because where i want to put it, i dont want to ever have to get it back out...ever.