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View Full Version : Anyone have a Car PC?



phrostbyte
June 10th, 2010, 02:05 AM
I'm looking to install one into my car (2010 Nissan Altima). Anyone did something similar? Anyone have any suggestions/gotchas on the process?

YuiDaoren
June 10th, 2010, 02:08 AM
I was considering one, but then I realized i didn't have a car.

Bits, pieces, and systems to be perused here. (http://www.mini-box.com/site/index.html)

phrostbyte
June 10th, 2010, 02:12 AM
Is is straightforward to hook a Car PC into a car's sound system?

YuiDaoren
June 10th, 2010, 02:15 AM
Is is straightforward to hook a Car PC into a car's sound system?
That depends on your car's sound system. Most deigns I've seen replace the car sound system entirely, replacing the radio/player with a small LCD console.

phrostbyte
June 10th, 2010, 02:23 AM
That depends on your car's sound system. Most deigns I've seen replace the car sound system entirely, replacing the radio/player with a small LCD console.

Replacing the whole sound system? No that won't be necessary. :p Apparently I do need to get an amp though. I have a general idea of what I will buy, but if everyone has any personal experience with this kind of stuff I'd be really happy to hear it.

McRat
June 10th, 2010, 02:48 AM
I run a laptop computer in the car/truck when racing or tuning.

They make secure stands that bolt into the base of the passenger seat, but I didn't like so I sold it. It was heavy and bounced around a lot.

Make sure that you've secured it adequately, and that it doesn't drain the battery when you are parked.

steveneddy
June 10th, 2010, 04:35 AM
There are very small form factor PC's available that run Linux, then exchange the tuner for an in dash LCD monitor with an audio amp that powers the speakers.

This is an old subject and some info can be found here:

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.101/.f

pwnst*r
June 10th, 2010, 06:16 AM
Steveneddy knows what's up. Follow his advice. Also, I've gotten a ton of info from this forum:

http://www.mp3car.com/

AgentWD-40
June 14th, 2010, 06:07 PM
I'm working on putting one in my car. So far I only have the dash kit and touch screen. Next month I'll be getting the PC and an amp. I'd like to replace all my speakers as well as I hate those stock "paper" ones.

steveneddy
June 15th, 2010, 01:18 AM
I'm working on putting one in my car. So far I only have the dash kit and touch screen. Next month I'll be getting the PC and an amp. I'd like to replace all my speakers as well as I hate those stock "paper" ones.

Sweet! Keep us posted of the progress and don't forget the pictures. We LOVE to see projects in progress.

I'd be happy if my GF would let me simply install one of those double DIN tuners from kenwood or alpine that look so cool. New stereo envy alert.

AgentWD-40
June 15th, 2010, 01:23 AM
Sweet! Keep us posted of the progress and don't forget the pictures. We LOVE to see projects in progress.

I'd be happy if my GF would let me simply install one of those double DIN tuners from kenwood or alpine that look so cool. New stereo envy alert.

I plan on doing a write-up about it when I'm finished (with pictures of course). I'll be sure to link to it from here. It may be a month or two before it's ready to go though.

sandyd
June 15th, 2010, 01:27 AM
Sweet! Keep us posted of the progress and don't forget the pictures. We LOVE to see projects in progress.

I'd be happy if my GF would let me simply install one of those double DIN tuners from kenwood or alpine that look so cool. New stereo envy alert.
I used to have one that replaced the radio, but I didn't really like it.

im now working on one that stores in the glove compartment (my cars glove compartment is big, really...), but Ill have to find a more powerful alternator first cause I use my 12v outlet as a battery charger....

The laptop I will be using is a Hp tx2 (w ntrig touchscreen!)

AgentWD-40
November 30th, 2010, 06:16 AM
It's been a while since I posted here, but I'm finally getting a good start on this project. At this point I have the PC up and running with the touch screen, but nothing has been installed in my car just yet. The PC is running Ubuntu Netbook Remix 10.04. I'm using Moovida Media Center to manage my music and other media. I've also got Navit installed for GPS navigation, but I don't have it fully configured just yet. I'll start a new thread soon with pictures and detailed specs soon and link to it from here.

honeybear
November 30th, 2010, 06:40 AM
I run a laptop computer in the car/truck when racing or tuning.

They make secure stands that bolt into the base of the passenger seat, but I didn't like so I sold it. It was heavy and bounced around a lot.

Make sure that you've secured it adequately, and that it doesn't drain the battery when you are parked.

you use freevo or mythtv to get the mp3 or tracks to play easily or use an LCD? Lcd is quite small, maybe using a sort of Ipad with linux on it ... would rock

how to mount that lcd on linux and which controller application program for that? mpd?
http://www.mini-box.com/picoLCD-256x64-OEM

Evil-Ernie
November 30th, 2010, 01:35 PM
Im a big fan of Mini-itx boards and a good place I use for bits is http://www.linitx.com , they are used a lot for carputers because of their size and minimal power usage.

What PSU are you using on your test bed? Remember you will need to take 12v off your cars electrics, Linitx have special PSUs that convert a cars 12v output into ATX cabling suitable for PCs.

dondiego2
November 30th, 2010, 01:41 PM
A radio with a usb plug where I can plug in my iPod works for me. I have a 60 gig hard drive in my iPod loaded with music and a usb plug with iPod control on my radio - stock from the factory.

Spr0k3t
December 1st, 2010, 02:16 AM
I have a full blown carputer in my car. Pick my brain if you would like. The only downside I have to say, to be 100% fully compatible with the hardware I wanted in my carputer, I had use Windows as the host operating system. If there were more drivers available for Sat receivers in Linux, I would have gone with nGhost as the primary front end.