I want to build and install a CarPC. The only thing that keeps me from doing so is that I think driving the car on rough streets will take its toll on the hard drive, making it fail in a few months or so. A perpendicular-mounted hard drive will help but side to side vibrations will have the same effect on the HD heads. So my question: How long have you had you CarPC installed and any issues to date.

Thanks

 

Get a 7200rpm 2.5in notebook hard drive, its meant to handle a little more abuse than 3.5in desktop counterparts. If price was no object you could get a Solid State Disk. If you don't plan on a CarPC form factor and case, meaning using desktop PC components and cases, you could suspend the hard drive via rubber bands or some sort of elastic so its floating.

TK

 

http://www.mp3car.com/

 

i've had mine up and running for over a year now, no problems with the HDD or any other components. I just got the new Intel Atom with the Intel motherboard and a few other goodies. Go for it if you haven't so far.

 

As Icey points out, your best source and where to ask this question is www.mp3car.com. Whenever asking a question here though, be sure to search thoroughly. The guys on www.mp3car.com have no mercy.

I can tell you from personal experience that when building a CarPC, you must use components that are as at least as robust as what is inside a laptop computer. Anything less than this will fail quickly if your car is exposed to temperature extremes or normal “car-jostling.”

Something else… Even if it works fairly well, you can hardly resist the temptation to update your CarPC’s software and hardware. It’s a continual updating process. It becomes an addictive hobby.

--Spike

 

Mine is at least 2 years... probably close to 2 1/2-3. Same install, hard drive is installed vertically.

 

^^ Most likely my failure with a CarPC was due to the weather in Minnesota (minus 25 degrees F is not unusual in the winter, and the car’s interior can go to 125 degrees F in the summer). Wide temperature swings happen in the spring and fall here, and that results in significant condensation (which is very bad for electronic components).

It’s the temperature extremes that kill the device; a vertical mount won’t make any difference in this hostile environment.

I experienced constant failures due to extreme temperatures and condensation inside the car's interior. The solution was simply using a laptop.

--Spike

 

I've had mine in for well over a year. Horizontally mounted 250GB 3.5" hard drive. The car was in storage over winter however.

The only thing I've noticed is on cold days in the fall the drive doesn't like to start right up sometimes, but it usually just takes a restart to get it working.

I just used a standard 3.5" drive because I have 3 or so sitting around. If one does eventually fail it'll cost me nothing to replace.