My carPC project: ongoing thread

[fastfalcon94]

Originally Posted by John Monnin

Is that power inverter still working for you?

Vector MAXX VEC024
12 Volts DC to 110 Volts AC
400 Watt (3.75 Amps)


I have a bunch of existing PC stuff that I want to use and I would like to have 110AC in the car for other reasons.
There are a lot of Cheap (under $50) power inverters avialable anything I should look for or avoid in one?

no idea, i only had a car computer for a few months. It worked fine when I had it though.

[Trover4]

due to my vast inexperience in the matter i cant quite figure out what you did for the radio bezel? Did you take the double din trim and cut the holes in it and modify it to fit with the faceplate of the touchscreen, or did you detach the faceplate of the touchscreen itself and go from there?

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by Trover4

due to my vast inexperience in the matter i cant quite figure out what you did for the radio bezel? Did you take the double din trim and cut the holes in it and modify it to fit with the faceplate of the touchscreen, or did you detach the faceplate of the touchscreen itself and go from there?

Detached faceplate of the touchscreen and modified the double DIN radio trim to make it all fit. Required a lot of plastic epoxy, a lot of sanding, and a lot of time.

[usernamex]

I've been in the market for a project-decent condition vr4. I have lots of plans once I finally obtain it. The first plan however is to get it running nice. Not a lot of after-market upgrades or anything, just make it purr =)

The upgrade that I will be doing though is a CarPC. And not once through out the article did I ever see the Intel: Atom processor mentioned. Have you guys looked into this processor?

AnandTech: Intel's Atom Architecture: The Journey Begins


From what I've heard it does quite well for itself and it doesn't even require a heatsink nor fan. For power consumption/heat purposes - wouldn't this be the ideal choice? Or is there a better choice for performance reasons?

Ideally I would like to build a PC that runs XP, dvd movies, and music smoothly. Games would be nice but I don't want to empty my wallet to put that whistle in there.

So any experience with the ATOM running xp and apps on it? What processor would you guys recommend otherwise?

Thanks for your time everyone,
Brandon

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by usernamex

I've been in the market for a project-decent condition vr4. I have lots of plans once I finally obtain it. The first plan however is to get it running nice. Not a lot of after-market upgrades or anything, just make it purr =)

The upgrade that I will be doing though is a CarPC. And not once through out the article did I ever see the Intel: Atom processor mentioned. Have you guys looked into this processor?

AnandTech: Intel's Atom Architecture: The Journey Begins


From what I've heard it does quite well for itself and it doesn't even require a heatsink nor fan. For power consumption/heat purposes - wouldn't this be the ideal choice? Or is there a better choice for performance reasons?

Ideally I would like to build a PC that runs XP, dvd movies, and music smoothly. Games would be nice but I don't want to empty my wallet to put that whistle in there.

So any experience with the ATOM running xp and apps on it? What processor would you guys recommend otherwise?

Thanks for your time everyone,
Brandon

The Intel Atom looks like it would be a good choice for CarPC applications, but I don't think it's even out yet. Another thing to look at would be the price for the processor and a motherboard to support it.

[BlackStealth]

On October 21, 2007, Intel presented a new processor for its Intel Essential Series. The full name of the processor is a Celeron 220 and is soldered on the D201GLY2 motherboard. With 1.2 GHz and a 512KB second level cache it has a TDP of 19 Watt and can be cooled passively. This processor is exclusively used on the mini-ITX boards targeted to the sub-value market segment.

The D201GLY2A is just right for a carpc environment.

Hey Wombat, how goes the steering wheel button project?

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by BlackStealth

Hey Wombat, how goes the steering wheel button project?

Haven't had my car with me for the past 3 weeks or so...borrowing my father's pickup. Been working on a project VR-4 I bought, which turned out to be way more time and money than I wanted to spend on it. Until I finish it and get it the hell out of my driveway, everything else has been put on hold

[BamBam]

Originally Posted by brenddie

When I was researching for mine I remember finding a guy that had a 10.4" on his 3000gt. To make it fit, it was installed in an angle were the bottom on the screen would go all the way to the shifter bay. Imagine the part that has the cruise control switch under the screen.

BTW , DigitalFX 3.0 rocks

Yep, that would be me

You can see the entire thread here.

Just to let you know, the 10.4" is a fantastic monitor. Very responsive (touch screen) and the viewing angles from the driver and passenger sides were perfect. The problem that I have with my build is that is does not look OEM (I had alot of imperfections with this 1st build) and, because it lays too flat, you get alot of glare at certain times especially when you're traveling down a street with street lights; every time you pass a light it reflects off the screen.

I just decided to redo the project and go with the 8" wide model which I purchased on Ebay here. So far, I really like this monitor and can live with the smaller screen size. I am going to start the fabrication this weekend. Oh, to give the seller a good plug, the guy sent me this overnight! Amazingly fast shipping. I ordered it around 1:00pm and it was at my home the next day by 3pm. I will certainly buy from him again.

[Wombat]

Originally Posted by BamBam

I just decided to redo the project and go with the 8" wide model which I purchased on Ebay here. So far, I really like this monitor and can live with the smaller screen size. I am going to start the fabrication this weekend. Oh, to give the seller a good plug, the guy sent me this overnight! Amazingly fast shipping. I ordered it around 1:00pm and it was at my home the next day by 3pm. I will certainly buy from him again.

I purchased my screen from the same guy and he did the same for me. Overnighted it to me even though we live about 2 hours from each other

[Master X]

I have two things I still need to do with mine. One is making the bezel flush with the screen like that. I was totally lazy on that. and then just cleaning up the wires a tad. I need to get a couple distributors.