shadow1100mfp Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 i test for my license tomorrow (can't wait, it's supposed to be snowing at the time i go and supposed to get up to an inch lol). but as far as cars go, what is involved with putting a computer in a car? the main thing in interested in is playing music and movies from a computer, but a wireless card would be nice at the same time, both for wireless internet at the places i drive to, and wireless music syncing to the car. a full on computer would also be sweet, but basic music (itunes, vlc) and internet (firefox) are all im really interested in as a bare minimum. i live in an area where it snows from november sometimes (usually december) to march, and temps get well below freezing, but i don't think temp will be an issue as long as i let the car warm up for a while before (which i do anyway, atleast 10 minutes) as like the far end of the spectrum, though, id like atleast one (possibly 2) monitors, wireless internet, great speed for games, 900ish gb harddrives (250gb for regular files, 300gbx2 mirrored drives for videos and music) and a car program/cable setup that lets me run timings and info from the car to the computer with special software. i know this is all possible, but how do i go about it? i know harddrives arent supposed to be moved alot during operation, but is 0-100mph too much movement? (not saying ill be going that fast, just covering the speed of the car). also, since space in cars is at a premium (its actually a truck, so i dont have a trunk to put this in), what are some case options that will easily fit under truck seats (id say its about 6-7 inches of space between the seat and the floor, but it might be more, no more than 10 though) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Famicoman Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 http://www.archive.org/details/infonomicontv_002 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SomeoneE1se Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 you could custom mill a plastic case for the thing and then get a microATX mobo and that might fit under the seats... or behind? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 you could custom mill a plastic case for the thing and then get a microATX mobo and that might fit under the seats... or behind? under, the seats sit right against the back (its a supercrew ford f150) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 http://www.archive.org/details/infonomicontv_002 love it =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 6, 2007 Author Share Posted December 6, 2007 http://www.archive.org/details/infonomicontv_002 love it =] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Famicoman Posted December 6, 2007 Share Posted December 6, 2007 Thought you would Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nophix Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 www.mp3car.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakey Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 car only has 12 volts you need to get a 240 volt adapter that runs from your battery to your computer then you can use your computer in the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moonlit Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 car only has 12 volts you need to get a 240 volt adapter that runs from your battery to your computer then you can use your computer in the car Not strictly true, the internal components require no more than 12v so you can use a DC-DC PSU. This is more efficient (and usually smaller) than an AC-DC PSU and an inverter. Even easier, use a laptop and a car charger as the basis and you're well away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakey Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 to run a standard box computer in your car you need 240v because your power supply reduces it to the required voltage for each compoent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K1u Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Watch Episode 207, it will help. The show talks about using electronics in car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 Linitx has quite a lot of stuff for car PC's, worth seeing what they have and tracking down similar suppliers in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 I would just go touch screen tablet pc with a mounted arm system to hide away the lappy from prying eyes under the seet or dash somewhere. Using a power adapter to run off the laptops power supply through the lighter or extra power connector would work. I have one from my laptop to use whil on the road and it only cost like $20 at radio shack. Get a laptop with a SSD-HD and get rid of the bounce factor that could ruin a normal hard drive all while reducing power and heat consumption. http://www.olx.com/q/tablet/c-240 http://gardengrove-california.olx.com/itro...gps-iid-4896096 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 9, 2007 Author Share Posted December 9, 2007 to run a standard box computer in your car you need 240v because your power supply reduces it to the required voltage for each compoent. no, i've read up about car computers before, i just don't know where to start with it... it's best to use the inverter and powersupply, because it supplies a more stable power current, but using car power is possible but it isn't anywhere near as reliable as using the inverter, power supply (and possibly a whole nother capaciter) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 9, 2007 Author Share Posted December 9, 2007 Linitx has quite a lot of stuff for car PC's, worth seeing what they have and tracking down similar suppliers in your area. i'll check it out tomorrow, im headed for bed right now after 3 hours fixing my moms computer (turns out poweriso fucks up my computer, it takes away all features like start menu and appearence, and also makes the computer take 18 minutes to start up. after uninstalling it, im left with the normal setup of the computer and an unreadable .daa file, if anyone wants to take a crack at reading that without poweriso) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadow1100mfp Posted December 9, 2007 Author Share Posted December 9, 2007 Watch Episode 207, it will help. The show talks about using electronics in car. would this be the one? http://dl.tv/2007/12/dltv_episode_207_power_inverte_1.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
konfoo Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Please don't use a Cigarette lighter power inverter to power a PC. You risk frying your car's electrical system. If you want to power a PC you should get a DC-DC power supply designed specifically for a car PC which is connected directly to your battery and ignition lines. Off the shelf inverters are also not designed to handle high load (their capacity is usually 60-80% of advertised load), can't handle ignition spikes, and sure as heck won't shut down your PC gracefully. So on the flip side, with a crappy inverter, you risk frying you PC's power supply. http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/worklogs/8...2-bmw-325i.html is my old worklog. I would recommend the M2-ATX DC-DC with ignition/shutoff. You can wire it into your motherboard's ACPI to auto-power on and off the PC when you turn the ignition on. It also doesn't keep a constant drain on your battery like cheaper DC-DC PSUs will do. Which means you won't get stuck with a dead battery in the morning when you 'thought' the PC had been turned off the night before... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K1u Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Watch Episode 207, it will help. The show talks about using electronics in car. would this be the one? http://dl.tv/2007/12/dltv_episode_207_power_inverte_1.php Yah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nophix Posted December 9, 2007 Share Posted December 9, 2007 Here's a car you may be interested in checking out. he integrated EVERYTHING! I've been watching his build progress for years. Check it out! http://www.cardomain.com/ride/212327/1 Make sure to read the whole thing, because it is very detailed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakey Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 standard computers aren't meant to be bouncing around in the car anyway so you'll have alot of death beeps happening so just buy a laptop if you want a car computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarshReality Posted December 10, 2007 Share Posted December 10, 2007 I'd take the suggestion above and hit mp3car.com. Get an amp case mictoITX board and goto town. Alot of options are avail. from miniITX.com I mean for a car.. you dont need a supercomputer figure 1G would do nicely and for the purposes of power you want as low as possible. Artigo doesnt look bad, take that with some of the tips on mp3car and mount you a touchscreen in the dash where your radio is... add some BT and wireless and away you go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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