i know i could just get a double din and make it easy on myself but
the carpc's interest me.

and it would be nice to have obd2 diagnostic software along with all my mp3s
at the touch of my fingertip, along with the other fun stuff i could do with it, i have noticed that they shells and hardware are pretty much availible instead of you haveing to custom build them

so minus OS you could get into this setup for 1000 which is what i would pay for a good double din setup

so my question really is buy or build a car pc

mp3car is where i have been looking for the record

thanks all

 

https://ls1tech.com/forums/stereo-el...-computer.html

Some info in there, I also posted a link in there to a neat little double din all-in-one carputer

 

thanks for the link revo is interesting

 

I was reading somewhere on here I think that u could build a bomb *** carputer for about 500 I'll look for the thread

 

i'd get a laptop or netbook. that way, it can sit in sleep mode on its own battery so the start ups are 100x faster when you get in the car.

Als, I proved that you can fit the 8.4" dynamix screen. I ended up being stupid and cracking it so I never had a trim made around it but heres what it looked like when i finally made it fit after sanding down the bottom. (camera angle makes it look crooked when its not)

 

wow thats big
and thats not a bad idea but i want to mount this under my amp rack



i agree with you about the boot time, but to me if i was going to do it with a netbook i would want it where i could take it in and out and in my case that just is not so (well its possible it would just be a pain to do

 

You could get a good setup running for not a whole lot. I would say build mainly because i like to build things. lol But to each his own.

Here's just a quick mock up of parts.

Motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128388

Processor:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116093

Ram:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231121

Soundcard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-019-_-Product

And of course a hard drive, I've heard some complain about stability being a major issue with regular drives. Then again I've seen other car pc's run just fine with a regular drive. If you wanna be safe you could buy a solid state disk, but it will cost you.

You would also want a touch screen they can be had for about $150-200 on ebay for an 8 inch. IIRC

A case can be had for pretty cheap, just check newegg for what you would like and of course cables. You'll also need a power source, some kind of power inverter. The down side of this of course if that if you leave it on it will drain your car battery.

I built my gaming rig for close to $1000.00 and you don't need anywhere near the specs I have in my main pc for your car pc.

But everyone has their own opinion, it's probably going to a bit of work compiling the parts and wiring the whole thing up, but I think it would be worth it in the end.

Just my opinion.

 

wow thanks for the work but those are actual desktop parts correct? like if were working on my home pc

 

motherboard: mini ITX or Pico ITX
CPU: built in ATOM or a 1.6GHZ CPU is all you need
RAM: 1GB
HD: SSD or a reliable laptop drive
Case: Look at the VoomPC cases, they look like amps
Power: Intelligent Automotive Power Supplies (look into it)
Software: open source frontends are popular, so is the Centrafuse ($65-$160)

LINKS
http://www.mitxpc.com/
http://store.mo-co-so.com/
http://www.cartft.com/

 

Since vga works long distances, the only thing holding you back is usb distance wise. The screen has to be within 15 feet of the netbook, unless you get powered hubs and then it could be 5 times farther.

 

did you guys that have done this give up any sound quality as opposed to a head unit??

and here are some specs on a pre build i have been looking at

Features
1. Intel D945GCLF Mini-ITX Motherboard with Integrated Atom™ Processor • Dual Core Intel® Atom™ Processor 330 integrated (1.6 GHz / 512 KB L2 Cache / 533 System Bus) Chipset
• Intel® 945GC Express Chipset with ICH7

I/O Features
• Integrated super I/O LPC bus controller
• Two SATA ports (3.0 Gb/s)
• One PCI local bus slot

USB 2.0
• Four back panel ports
• Two onboard header providing four additional port support


Audio Solution
• Realtek* ALC662 audio codec (5.1 channel HD audio)

LAN
• Onboard 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN


SPI - System BIOS
• 4 Mb Flash EEPROM with Intel® Tiano BIOS featuring Plug and Play, IDE drive auto-configure
• Advanced configuration and power interface V1.0b, DMI 2.0
• Intel® Rapid BIOS Boot Optimized POST for fast access to PC from power-on

System Memory

2 GB DDR2 DIMM 800MHz, PC2-6400 RAM
Memory Voltage
• 1.8 V
Wake-up from Network
• Wired for Management (WfM) 2.0-compatible
• Support for system wake-up using an add-in network interface card with remote wake-up capability
Expansion Capabilities
• One PCI bus add-in card connector Jumpers and Front-Panel Connectors Jumpers
• Single configuration jumper design
• Jumper access for BIOS configuration mode Front Panel Connectors
• Reset, HD LED, Power LEDs, power on/off, aux LED
• Two USB 2.0 header
• Audio header


Mechanical
Board Style - Mini-ITX/microATX compatible 6.75” x 6.75” (17.145 cm x 17.145 cm)
Desktop Board Power Requirements ATX12V or SFX12V

Environment
Operating Temperature 0° C to +55° C
Storage Temperature -40° C to +70° C


2. M2-ATX Car PC 160W DC-DC Automotive Power Supply w/ additional P4 Cable
Smart Car PC Power Supply
- ATX, 6-24V wide input range
- Intelligent shutdown controller
- ON/OFF motherboard control
- Survives vehicle engine cranks
- Battery deep discharge prevention
- High efficiency, 90 watts output
- "Anti-Thump" Amplifier remote control (mini-blade)




3. VoomPC Car PC Aluminum Enclosure


The VoomPC car PC enclosure can take one 2.5" notebook size hard drive, mounted on silicone rubber shock-mounts, easy install under the seat or trunk of the car. The VoomPC enclosure can fit M1-ATX or M2-ATX power supply.

Dimensions: 210mm (8.3") x 254mm (10") x 56mm (2.2") WxLxH
Weight: 3.7 kg ( 8 Ibs )


Case Includes

•Silicone rubber shock-mount for HDD
External power cable
Color: Black or Blue

4. 1GB DDR2 DIMM 800MHz, PC2-6400 RAM
•1GB DDR2 DIMM 800MHz, PC2-6400 RAM



5. 160GB SATA 2.5" Notebook Hard Drive

•Capacity: 160GB
•Average Seek Time: 12ms
•Dimension: 3.94 x 2.75 x 0.42 inch (WxDxH)
•Weight: 0.22 lb
•RoHS Compliant


$ 349 without os or screen

 

I have no noticed no difference in sound quality, but have always had the Realtec 8xx codecs and have a number of different formats from mp3 to flac

I have had one in my car for well over a year now built using desktop components(other than the intelligent power supplies) and no problems with them - other than those I have caused myself

warning - it can be rather addicting, especially with HP tuners in there always logging and then the learning/tuning

 

that was kinda the reason i wanted to do it

did you just get a sound card that had 5.1 capabilities?

 

I just use the onboard sound, it is capable of 7.1 and even has optical output

 

do you have pics of your setup in the CompuTA?

 

so you just used the stuff of the motherboard no soundcard?

do they make external sound cards, i have never looked im just curious
trying to figure some of this out

im on carmp3 but the faq section is mostly stuff from 2004 and the technology has changed so much since then, its hard to go by that and i dont want my first post over there to be "tell me what i need"

 

I do have a few but it aint real pretty - yet, touchscreen is currently mounted on cupholder on pass side of center console, waiting till I figure out how i want to handle sound(been looking a little for a car amp with a optical input), pc itself is in back where cd changer is mounted

yep, just sound off of motherboard(wanna make sure that the codec is pretty good quality though). they do make external usb sound cards which some use but i think the onboard is more efficient power wise which is the biggest concern with a carputer - i am running 2 power supplies, a DSATX for the main PC and a M2ATX up front for the screen, USB DVD/CD, Fusion Brain(used to interface to steering wheel controls, and for temp sensors, and accelerometer - so far) and also powering a USB hub)

Been on MP3CAR for a while, used to be a lot more activity over there

 

i dont drive the car much its more my weekend toy/show car but i have pumped all the money into the motor and exterior and i figure why skimp on the brains of the operation, but i want to start simple and easy. which is why i wanted one of the units from mp3car that has all the components i need and i dont have to put that part of it together. but im just a little unsure on the audio part of it (more or less not sure what i need) i think for my needs one of there little prefab jobs will work, just not sure if the audio on them is up to snuff.

that make anysense rick

 

sure does - the pre built you had above looked like it would be fine sound wise, 5.1 is really overkill in the car anyway, one of my earlier home motherboards had that same codec - Realtec662 and sound was ok hooked to the stereo, not audiophile mind you but sounded pretty decent.

at this time i am only using a pair of the channels which are hooked to the stock monsoon through a gm9-aux hooked to output on the rear panel of the pc(if your car is late 1999 or beyond it will work - long as the head unit has a CD/AUX button)

just lots cheaper to do it yourself if so inclined and then much easier to upgrade/modify - at least half the price with a lot more umph HP Tuners itself cost me more than the rest of it(excluding the music of course ) and I would not be confident that the prebuilt could run everything I wanted at the same time

 

The only reason to get a Car computer is For Hp tuners or data logging IMO

Just get a double dim like i did tht has GPS , SD slot CAn hold 32gb(10,000 plus songs) of mp3s,Videos, DVD. Has USB expansion so u can add a Hard drive if you want, Ipod support and Touch screen, custom Backgrounds and boot up screens. cost 400$ for the Radio and boots alot Faster then a Car computer