What all would I need to make a navigation system that looks stock. I don't want to remove the stock stereo or get a Garmin.

Here is what I have so far:

1)Screen (to be placed on dash or in ceiling)
2)Associated wires
3)DVD player?
4)GPS antennae?

How can I do this cheap, but put it together myself?

 

1)Expresso PC: $499.00
www.cappuccinopc.com/espressopc.asp
2)CoPilot: $399.00
www.travroute.com/products/default.html
3)4" Screen: $100.00
4)FM Modulator: $20.00

Total: $1020.00

Does that sound like it?

 

you need a PC to do that, not just a DVD player.

 

The Expresso is a PC.

 

Yeah, holy cow, that is a SMALL PC!!

Very interesting... Im installing a laptop myself. with 7" screen.

The thing to consider is how you would handle shutdown and startup.

Also $500 is a start, it could get a bit more expensive, to the point where a laptop would be better. So you are paying for the size, which I'll admit is very nice with this thing.
These folks have some cool stuff. Thanks for the post!

 

Well I have backpeddled. The pc/screen would have been nice...but for $1020.00 I couldn't see myself using anything other than the Nav and DVD (and DVD would be rare because I always drive).

So, I decided to go a different route I needed a new PDA anyway.

1)Ipaq 3765 = $205.00
2)Holux CF GPS w/Mapopolis = $240.00
3)CF Jacket = $30.00
4)Windshield Mount = $20.00

Total = $495.00

 

i was thinking about getting a laptop and a 7" screen as well...but, like you said, i don't know how i would handle the startup/shutdown.

the nastiest solution would be to have my roommate make a powered solenoid circuitry that will mechanically press the power button on the laptop when the ignition is switched on

another way to do it, i suppose, is run a wire from the ignition to the power switch of the laptop somehow...but that means i'd have to take the laptop apart...

one other option i thought about is to find/program a applet that will do auto-shutdown when the power source is switched from external to internal battery...but i don't know how to do startups

it'd be nice if we could use that DC-DC power supply with control line from the car's ignition, but not really sure if that'll hook up to a laptop

 

hm... isn;t a 400 bucks hassle-free Garmin GPS is cheap and good enough?

 

I wanted a color screen and voice navigation. Garmin Plus has black and white screen. I think you have to get the StreetPilot III for voice.

Plus, I'm at just a little over $400 for:

Ipaq, GPS antennae, and CF Jacket.

 

i c...
there's a new PDA that just came out from Garmin that can be used as a GPS system right?
i'm not sure whether it has the voice navigation or not...

 

Here are a few of my thoughts on you quandry. First the DVD player need to be a DVD navigation no just a DVD player. An issue I see with the palm type device is getting a NTSC or RGB signal output to drive the monitor. A laptop would solve these two problems. To start up the laptop, perhaps a "hot key" i.e. "f12" assigned to a startup function? a simple relay from the ACC setting to trigger a momentary relay would activate the "hot Key." A GPS antenna should be included with either the software/hardware for the laptop or the DVD navigation brain.