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September 14, 2004
CarPUTER
So I've been thinking about putting a PC in my car for quite awhile, and I just haven't had the time to get around to it. I've recently done some research into the cost of building one though. Here's the setup I'm thinking about:
| VIA EPIA ME6000, 600MHz, Fanless mini-itx motherboard | $132.00 |
| Lilliput 7" XGA Touchscreen | $279.99 |
| ITPS + PW-70a Combo (12V power supply and on/off regulator) | $86.99 |
| IBM 10GB hard drive | already own |
| 256MB RAM | ~$50 |
| Misc cables, case, etc. | ~$100 |
| Total | ~$650 |
Other options include a DVD drive for playing basically anything, a GPS for navigation, making the USB port easily accessible to insert a pen drive and play music off of it, and a wifi card to pick up wireless on the fly. The worst part will be mounting this thing somewhere inside the car (glovebox? behind dash?) and hoping the LCD fits. I'd really like to find a slightly smaller touchscreen LCD (maybe 5" or 6") instead of the larger one due to the location I'd like to put it in.
For those that don't know, I drive a 2003 Nissan Sentra Spec V, and in this car at the top of the center console there is a compartment with a lid on the dash. This would be an ideal compartment to hide an LCD in which could be popped up whenever it is needed. It doesn't really hinder the driver's view and there is quite a bit of room below and behind the compartment inside the dash for the LCD to slide down into if necessary. The only problem is a 7" LCD is really pushing it on the width of the compartment. I don't really want to severely modify this compartment just to make an oversized LCD fit in the given space. I'd like to get a second plastic form for this dash compartment and work with that one while I keep my car in one piece. I have to find out how much one of those might cost (or check around local junkyards for a wrecked Sentra).
As far as software's concerned it looks like I have basically two good options. There appears to be a Linux OS at mp3car.com and a Windows-based app called Media Car by Coyote (which appears to be a French site even though the app seems to be in English).
So that's the idea. I just have to get around to researching the LCD a bit more, finalizing whether I want to stick with the 600Mhz board or go with a faster one, and determining exactly how to mount this whole thing.
For those interested in doing something similar, these websites come in
handy:
MP3Car.com
mini-itx.com
Coyote Media Car
Mini-Box.com
Posted by Plocmstart at September 14, 2004 8:56 PM
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