XK-R

Hi,

Looking for a small PC to run Win98 and have the bare basics on it. Small compact and needs to run obviously 12v.

Planning on running the GEMS Dashboard software through it.

Cheers.
Eddie.

JackClark

Old laptop from eBay?? I have an old 'ickle Sony that fits the bill, I bought it for £2000.00, you'll probably find one on eBay for a fiver.

XK-R

Pref something a bit better than old laptop if you see what i mean. New for reliability etc.

David_Wallis

mini itx or similar with a touch screen monitor.. you can also get incar 'atx' psu's

Speak to chiark in the ice forum

infact Ill point him here

David

chiark

'ello

Mini-itx Epia with a Nehemiah core, in-vehicle specific PSU, touchscreen etc is what you want/need. Small, and practically made for the job... Check mini-itx.com for prices, and mp3car.com for forums etc. mini-itx.com now sell the vehicle kits, so there's no need to worry about hardware hacking etc.

XK-R

Cheers David and Chiark

Perfect just what I was after!

Thanks guys.
Eddie.

XK-R

Chiark - Found this one great!

http://www.mini-itx.com/store/?c=11#vk3677

The cheapest one with the vehicle kit. Basically I build it myself? Not a problem but it comes with everything I need?

WHat about startup and shutdown? Is this controlled via a remote switch or comes on if you wire the positive to the ignition and cuts off when you cut the power? Is there anyway of getting around this?

Nice one

Cheers,
Eddie.

Scooby Dooby Blue

Nick (VAL113R) has just built a PC in his car.
I think he got the mobo from lin-itx.com
DVD writer under the head unit etc lilliput touchscreen monitor n stuff

Drop him a PM if you want any details.

GC8

Ive been building these for a couple of years; you need a 12v/12v board rather than an inverter, theyre cumbersome and extremely inneficient. Mini-ITX.com are ok but theyre very expensive.

Simon

ali_j

why not get a bare bone system and hook it up to a touch screen and wire the cd to wherever you want, althoguh the ide cable would have to be quite long. hmm.. then again i didnt think this through. but you can hook up the on off switch to wherever you want this way.

GC8

In practice only a small footprint chassis with a 12v/12v board will work, anything else is cumbersome and it just wont fit, unless you drive a van...

XK-R

GC8 - Fancy building me one and how much? Basic spec one just with a CD drive. Nothing fancy at all. Just needs to run (Changed my mind) probably XP now. Haven't got time like I used to to build PCs etc.

Cheers Scooby Dooby Blue. What car is he using it in?

Cheers,
Eddie.

VAL113R

I am using an impreza

Running a fanless motherboard in the boot with a special psu wired into the ignition. When you start the car it waits a few secs and then boots the pc. When you turn the car off it switches the pc in to standby mode. It constantly monitors the battery voltage and if it drops below 11v for longer than 60 secs it powers the pc right off so not to flatten the battery.

I have run the vga and usb cables up the middle of the car and up front running a motorized touch screen monitor and a slimline cdrw/dvdrom. Not got windows on it yet as still finishing the wiring, but I plan to run the datalogit software off it for my apexi.

I also have a laptop hard drive in the boot, wifi card and am also to plug in a usb gps receiver for gps on the move.

The motherboard plugs into the aux input of the stereo so this carries the signal through the car speakers.

The carputer will be running windows xp and also some software called mediacar. This will allow me to play dvds, gps, mp3 etc at one press of the monitor. I am also looking to install a free to air digital tuner so I can get digital radio and tv.

There are loads of different bits on the market at the moment. You just need to shop around for what you want.

XK-R

Fantastic.

What actual PSU is that then as that sounds perfect. I assume you give it a dedicated permamant live to the battery and use the ignition as you will to be the switch?

Cheers,
Eddie.

VAL113R

It has 3 feeds, battery, ignition and earth.

I have mounted it into the boot beside the motherboard and run the battery and ignition down the left of the car. It is earthed in the boot. Its only a 90w psu but enough to run what I need.

http://linitx.com/product_info.php?c...roducts_id=598

I got a lilliput monitor from ebay and an empty case to install it in from a company in America call digitalwww

There is a new monitor just out but not sure what the quality is like.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...775933198&rd=1

XK-R

Perfect. Cheers for that

Will post some pics once done. I only need it purely to power the GEMS software on my ECU. Boots up straight into GEMS Dash Software. All gauges etc display on the screen.

Cheers.
Eddie.

King RA

Buy yourself an old, but reliable Dell Latitude CPX, these have built in cd drives. Get a lilliput touchscreen monitor and laptop power adaptor for car. Hey presto all done and dusted for very little cost. Add 5 gigs of mp3's and wire into car speakers with PCMCIA Audigy2 soundcard and have a very capable sound system too.

VAL113R

yeah but my mother board measures 17cm squared and the psu is a 3rd of that.

also I will never get a flat battery nor do I have to press the power on or off on the pc its all controlled by the psu

XK-R

And thats EXACTLY what I want the PSU to do.

cw42

iTrader: (1)

digital car uk forum here

I've been lurking on the above site for a while now, with a view to building my own in-car pc. Just waiting for my bonus to arrive, then the building will begin. The psu that controls startup and shutdown is the way to go.

chris.

jowl

I've sort of looked at this idea of an in-car PC for years on and off. I think I'm now getting hooked again.

Anybody put one in a Classic Scooby?

Would an underseat mounting be suitable....less distance for cables to travel.

main use would be mp3 player and / or PC-based Sat nav

cw42

iTrader: (1)

I was looking to do a boot install, until I realised the sizeable glove compartment would be perfect. Easy access, loads of room, able to slip dvd's/cd's in with ease
Once I get it up and running, I'll let you know how I get on,
chris.

GC8

Id suggest getting a Travla DIN sized chassis and mounting it in the second DIN slot in the dashboard.

Simon

jowl

I've only got 1 DIN slot on my Dash. Though If I could move the Cigerette lighter somehwhere then I could take out the ash tray and have a second slot available. One for Screen, one for Computer.

Though I did think about the glove compartment too. Take lots of pics CW42!

cw42

iTrader: (1)

will do!