I stumbled across this durring some random surfing and just thought I would share. It has tons of possibilities, especiall if you hook it up with some wireless internet...

http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/sc.8/category.101/.f

 

i wouldnt do it if i were you. i had a car pc in my rsx when i lived in phoenix and it shut off all the time because of the heat there. i took it out quick... it just wasnt worth it... i had the wireless conection in mine too, but the computer always heated up so fast you couldnt get anything done.

 

And you used this specific product?

 

no but i have used two different ones and they both overheated all the time. so far everyone i have talked to in phoenix said they couldnt run one very well either.

 

I run one on my PC. my mobo is MII12000. I had it for about 7 months now..

It never overheated on me, never had a single problem with it yet. It never failed to resume from hibernation, never failed to hibernate and etc.

The trouble was to get the audio signal without much noise in it. I had to do some tricks to get rid of the alternator noise and etc..

Couldve been better if the CPU was a bit faster, say at around 2ghz..

 

What did you use it for?

 

So then you have not used this specific product?

 

Listen to the guy thezedsled, computers and heat don't mix. In fact, computers only work well if the CPU is maintained below 80F. Your car's interior routinely hits 140F in direct sun. Until cell based CPUs are housed in cryogenics, don't waste your money/time... unless you are into that kind of thing.

 

Here is my setup http://www.hypersprite.com/auto/tech-z-007/default.asp

I have a PC in my Z and the trick is pulling air from under the glove box. It is always cooler down there than the rest of the car because it has the fuel tank to insulate it. I have left in running in the summer with the windows up for hours.

I am running a mobile AMD processor though so its much faster than the VIA chips used in the one posted above, it uses less power and is easy to cool. I have no noise issues, I am using an M1-ATX power supply and it rocks. I spent under a grand for the whole setup and would do it all again in a minute.

Do your research, anything is possible! I'll never go back.

Chris

 

have you used this product? have you ever had a car pc in AZ?

i was just giving you some helpful info (from my personal experiences).. they might work in a cooler climate, but in pheonix... GOOD LUCK.

no need to be an @ss about it....

 

get passive cooling CPUs (VIA EPIA-based mobos would be ok) and then add a fan to it.

 

Questions,

How are you pulling air from below the glove box?

What front end is that?

Where did you mount your gps antena?

 

Look, I wasn't trying to give anyone a hard time but it is rather ignorant to generalize all PC's in general. There are in fact PC's that operate well above 80 degrees celcius and they have existed for a long time now. I am not talking about anything made by Intel or AMD here. For instance the aeronautics system utilized on the FA-18 can withstand operating temperatures of more than 155 degrees celcius. So since none of you have come forward and said that you have in fact used this specific product then I would say none of you are qualified to comment on it's performance or usability. Not all PC's are created equal and just because you had less than desirable results with whatever one you may have used doesn't mean this product will follow suit. So please stop the ignorant ranting and try to provide some decent feedback here...

 

Now that is what I am talking about. That's awesome!

 

If you have the know-how, build the PC yourself.. it's cheaper..

I used the passenger side mailslot as my enclosure and a mini-ITX motherboard with OPUS 90W automotive PS.. no extra fans or anything...

I don't have any problems with heat..only with the frigid cold.. my HD's will get errors occasionally (chkdsk) when it's like -18 below and the car has been sitting for a while.

but my CarPC has been alive for like 1.5 years now and still working reliable (knock on wood) .. I use it for GPS navigation the most and for mp3 playback and OBDII monitoring.. I can also surf via bluetooth connection to my cell phone..

My CarPC is here:
http://www.mp3car.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=32479

 

Hey dude... don't get defensive... I'm trying to school you on something you have no idea about... If you did have a clue: 1) you would not be looking at a VIA setup. 2) you wouldn't be asking people on this forum which is niche to the car more so than hardware.

How in the hell is generalizing PC's while referencing their inherent heat intolerances beaing "ignorant"? You are using a statement to rebut my opinion like "For instance the aeronautics system utilized on the FA-18 can withstand operating temperatures of more than 155 degrees celcius." to prove me wrong? I suppose the government would pay dearly for that extra 15 degrees of protection in a billion dollar piece of equipment. You are referencing a $200 toy here now.

Why are you so defensive about this thing? Are you hoping for a positive response from a stranger on a car forum? Before you ask someone like me on an anonymous forum about a "specific product", I suggest you do your own research. Tools like www.google.com will lead you to sites like www.mp3car.com where you may find the answers that are more detailed but I assure you, they will be the same answers.

 

Wow, I like yours even better! Would you say the VIA processor is sufficient or do you spend quite a bit of time waiting for it to load up your apps? From the time you start your car how long does it take to boot to a usable state? Are you able to multitask very well with it, like mp3 playback and GPS at the same time?

 

Personally I am in the midst of building a system very similar to hypersprite's. His system was my inspiration, and i plan to use fans to cool the ever living crap out of it. I have 2 120mm fans on the way, one for intake, one for exhaust so i have a constant flow of air through the case. I live in SC and i know that heat in the summer will be a real test. I would like to use a thermal switch to only allow the computer to turn on within a specified temperature range, that is if i start to have problems with it. I dont think i will though. I am also using a mobile amd processor and mobile HD. I cant wait to get all this stuff together. I am now trying to debate on weather i want to run windows meadia center or windows tablet pc edition.

 

That is quite enough out of you. You got cut short because you were making useless speculations and false statements that were in no way conducive to the information sharing that this form is intended to be used for. If you don’t have anything useful to post about the actual subject of the thread then please do not post at all. My statement above is valid and correct in every way. If you have not used the product that I gave a link to above; then you have no grounds to comment on its usability or functionality which is exactly what you did. The guidelines of this forum are clear, perhaps you should read them before you make any more posts.

 

Well, I was thinking if a guy was to utilize the storage space behind the passenger seat as his enclosure he could probably run an air duct into it coming from the cars ventilation. After all we run our AC 300 days out of the year down here anyway. It may take a little doing but I an pretty sure a guy could get some kind of flexible duct to tap into the ventilation system and run down under the console directly into that compartment. Then perhaps to make sure heat is adequately ventilated out he could position a 120mm fan just for the purpose of removing the hot air from the storage space. This would ensure that it not only runs stable but would also allow you to cool it down before you start it up on a hot day. Since the PC would have its own power switch you could just wait until the AC system has dropped the temperate to a point where it is safe to power the unit on.

One thing that does concern me is whether or not it would get too hot for the hard disks. Most of the manufactures only supply a maximum safe operating temperate and not a maximum safe inactive temperature. I wonder if they would be able to survive sitting in a hot car all day without data loss.